Assunpink 1/8--Trumpeter Swan

Trumpeter Swans (left), Tundra Swan (right)

If there is such an oxymoron as a "Common Rarity" then the Trumpeter Swans, that have been wintering at Assunpink for about the last 10 years, qualify. Where they come from is a mystery, and why only Assunpink, in the entire state, the only place to find them is also unknown. The only question is just where they'll--west end of the lake, east end of the lake, or Stone Tavern Lake (which is part of Assunpink.) 

Today I started on the west end of Assunpink Lake, which I imagine as shaped like an asymmetrical dumb bell, the wider part on the west, then a long handle that connect to a smaller cove in the east. I'd heard that the swans had been seen behind the island on the main part of the lake, so I walked over there, but they weren't around. Not much was around, in fact. 30 Ruddy Ducks when there are usually hundreds, a few Buffleheads, 3 hen Hooded Mergansers...not much at all. 

I started walking the dirt road towards the east end, stopping at all the cuts to view the lake. It wasn't until I got to the last one, on the east side that I finally found them, at the extreme east end, sleeping, naturally, with a smaller swan. I texted Bob Auster, who got there a little after me, that I'd found them, but a scope would be helpful. Fortunately, he was on his way, and was carrying his scope. The only way I could identify them as Trumpeters from that distance and in that posture was by looking at their butts, which weren't pointy, as Mute Swans would be. I met Bob on the road, and we walked down the trail where he set up his scope. A few times one or the other of the swans would lift its head so that we could see the black (not orange) bill and confirm the distant id. The 3rd bird Bob determined was a Tundra Swan, also rare, if you're in Monmouth County. I probably would have skipped that bird if it wasn't for Bob; it was smaller than the other two, and a Tundra Swan had been reported in company with the Trumpeters, and it wasn't the first time I'd had both species on that lake, so I took the check mark. Meanwhile, I was thinking, "Another year of lousy looks." 

Red-shouldered Hawk

With that tiny achievement on our record, Bob & I birded our way back to the main part of the lake and then around to the north side. We spotted a few interesting birds like Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Hermit Thrush and spotted the Red-shouldered Hawk that was incessantly calling as we walked the road. It was loud. We could hear it still when we were about 1/2 mile away on the berm of the lake. 

While I was happy to get the Trumpeter Swans "out of the way," the most satisfying sighting of the day was the "stumble-upon" flock of Snow Geese that I found on the way up there, on Rt 539 in New Egypt. They were in a corn stubble field. Of the literally hundreds of times that I have passed that field going to Assunpink or Colliers Mills, this was only the second time I have seen Snow Geese there. 

When I passed by later in the day, they were still there, in almost a perfect square in the middle of the field.