Barnegat CBC 1/2--Virginia Rail

Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, Hooded Merganser, Ocean Acres Pond

Mike & I once again participated in the Barnegat CBC, birding the Manahawkin section, which seems to have been handed down to us from a long line of great birders; we used to do it with Pete Bacinski, and yesterday we were still able to point out a tree where Pete had found a flock of Purple Finches, and we laughed about how he would have been in a furor at a car zipping up and down Stafford Avenue (The Bridge to Nowhere) for no goddam reason at all. 

Because of the Gordon Lightfoot conditions (early morning rain) we started later than usual figuring there was no sense owling, so it was a nice surprise when we got to the end of the Beach Avenue at 6:30 to hear 3 Great Horned Owls calling back and forth; perhaps a duetting pair and an interloper? We listened to screech owls but they were not whinnying. 

We ran our usual route: from Beach we went over to Stafford which runs between the Forsythe property of The Bridge to Nowhere and the Manahawkin WMA. Placing birds can be a real nuisance. If one really wanted to be accurate you'd have a lot of birds in both spots as they fly over the road. Interesting birds there were Greater Yellowlegs, Northern Pintail, Northern Harrier, a distant Peregrine Falcon on the hacking tower, and couple of Redtail Hawks. 

Ring-billed Gull, Manahawkin Lake

From there we went to parking lot off Hilliard and walked the Manahawkin WMA trail for a while, picking up the expected tweety birds. While a flock of robins is not particularly interesting to us, it is just one more brick in the wall of data of 80+ years of counting birds in that area of NJ. Manahawkin lake was our next stop where we ran into another participant. He did our work for us, pointing out the two somewhat unusual birds: a Pied-bill Grebe and a Ring-necked Duck. It was there that we saw our first pigeons of the year (yay) and also, loafing on the beach, the first readily identifiable Ring-billed Gulls, which, of the big three (Herring and Great Black-backed being the other two), is my favorite as it seems prettier and gentler than the other two brutes. Of course, if one saw a bag of French fries in your hand it would turn into a monster. 

After a Wawa stop (House Sparrow), we drove around the Southern Regional School District area (for want of a better name) where again, we picked up a lot of common birds to add to the list including Black Vulture. No rare geese in the field where Pete and Mike once found a Cackling Goose. 

Our section includes a little slice just west of the Parkway. There is a little pond just off 72 that often productive and yesterday was one of those days. We had Gadwalls and Green-winged Teals (the latter listed on eBird as "infrequent") along with the usual ducks.

A quick lunch, then it was back to Beach Avenue to walk the old AT&T property which is restricted access but we had permission for the CBC. Nothing of real note there among the Song Sparrows and Yellow-rumped Warblers except for a couple of American Tree Sparrows. We had heard one at Manahawkin, but these were the first we'd seen. Two adult Bald Eagles were roosting in trees at the edge of the marsh and we added one more Northern Harrier. 

Our final stop was back at Stafford Avenue where we again ran into the other birder covering the area. At the end of the road we finally got our Boat-tailed Grackles for the day and year. From his vantage point he could see the eagles we'd listed over on Beach. The last bird of our day was arguably the best; certainly the only somewhat rare one for the day and we owe to our buddy who told us where to listen for Virginia Rail. We got it just after dodging the speeding maniac who would have had Pete cursing. 

For the day we added 61 species and 1681 individuals to the database. 

Species      First Sighting
Brant   East Bay Av
Canada Goose   Bridge to Nowhere
Mute Swan   Bridge to Nowhere
Wood Duck   Bridge to Nowhere
Gadwall   Ocean Acres Pond
Mallard   Bridge to Nowhere
American Black Duck   Bridge to Nowhere
Northern Pintail   Bridge to Nowhere
Green-winged Teal   Ocean Acres Pond
Ring-necked Duck   Manahawkin Lake
Greater Scaup   East Bay Av
Bufflehead   Bridge to Nowhere
Hooded Merganser   Bridge to Nowhere
Red-breasted Merganser   East Bay Av
Pied-billed Grebe   Manahawkin Lake
Rock Pigeon   Manahawkin Lake
Mourning Dove   Manahawkin WMA
Virginia Rail   Bridge to Nowhere
Greater Yellowlegs   Bridge to Nowhere
Ring-billed Gull   Manahawkin Lake
Herring Gull   Bridge to Nowhere
Great Black-backed Gull   Bridge to Nowhere
Double-crested Cormorant   East Bay Av
Great Blue Heron   Beach Av
Black Vulture   Southern Regional HS
Turkey Vulture   Bridge to Nowhere
Northern Harrier   Bridge to Nowhere
Bald Eagle   Beach Av
Red-tailed Hawk   Bridge to Nowhere
Great Horned Owl   Beach Av
Belted Kingfisher   Bridge to Nowhere
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Bridge to Nowhere
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Manahawkin WMA
Downy Woodpecker   Bridge to Nowhere
Northern Flicker   Manahawkin WMA
Peregrine Falcon   Bridge to Nowhere
Blue Jay   Manahawkin Lake
Carolina Chickadee   Manahawkin WMA
Tufted Titmouse   Beach Av
Golden-crowned Kinglet    Popper St
White-breasted Nuthatch   Popper St
Carolina Wren   Beach Av
European Starling   East Bay Av
Gray Catbird   Manahawkin WMA
Northern Mockingbird   MATES
Eastern Bluebird   Manahawkin WMA
Hermit Thrush   Bridge to Nowhere
American Robin   Beach Av
House Sparrow   Hilliard & Route 9
House Finch   Manahawkin WMA
American Goldfinch   Bridge to Nowhere
American Tree Sparrow   Manahawkin WMA
Fox Sparrow   Manahawkin WMA
Dark-eyed Junco   Beach Av
White-throated Sparrow   Beach Av
Song Sparrow   Bridge to Nowhere
Swamp Sparrow   Beach Av
Red-winged Blackbird   Bridge to Nowhere
Boat-tailed Grackle   Bridge to Nowhere
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Bridge to Nowhere
Northern Cardinal   Manahawkin WMA