Barnegat CBC 1/2--Virginia Rail, Sedge Wren, Owls

Mike & I, joined by Joanne, did our usual section of Manahawkin for the Barnegat CBC. We three met long before dawn on Beach Avenue in Manahawkin, and it was there that all the truly interesting birding for the day was accomplished. We had at least 5 Eastern Screech Owls whinnying along the road, 3 Great Horned Owls hooting noisily, two of which we actually saw sitting on the wires that run out to the old AT&T, and one Barred Owl, which we'd never heard before on the count. The owls along would have made the day a success (tempting to just go home and go to sleep), but along with them we heard two Virginia Rails calling from the marsh and, after an absence of several years, we again heard a Sedge Wren clicking away in the reeds in the very spot we'd come to expect it in the past. 

Then the sun came up and birding seemed more like census-taking than discovery. Some slightly unusual birds we found were 

A Great Egret in the marsh of the Bridge to Nowhere

Two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers in a weedy corner of Stafford

A few Gadwalls on the pond in Ocean Acres

A couple of Ruddy Ducks in Barnegat Bay.

Ring-billed Gulls, Manahawkin Lake

The bay had a great raft of Greater Scaup too, along with Buffleheads and 10 Great Blue Herons roosting on a little island, Unfortunately, that vantage point is now closed off to us. I always thought it was a little sketchy, our being there, but today there were PRIVATE PROPERTY signs posted in abundance, and it was made quite clear to us by a homeowner that he wasn't interested in the CBC or how long we'd been viewing the bay from his property, or the property of the wedding mill next door. It wasn't like he was carrying a shotgun or anything, but we K-turned around and left. Too bad, that's always been a good spot. 

We also found that the little retention pond on Cedar Bridge Road that we used to drive around is now closed to vehicular traffic. That wasn't a tragedy as we could walk it in about 15 minutes. And we noticed that a little section behind it has been taken over by Forsythe, which seems to determined to gather any little undeveloped section it can find from Galloway to Brick and put in the portfolio of preserved land, which is great by us, except a lot of it also closed to the people who'd like to bird it. 

Another anomaly today was hunters. Usually, we do the count on a Sunday, so hunters aren't a consideration, but since yesterday was New Year's Day, the count was bumped to a Monday. Still a holiday, but legal for hunting, and with a lot of people off, a lot of guns were being toted through the fields of Manahawkin. No conflicts between birders and hunters, but the occasional gunshot tends to keep the birds in hiding and there were next to no ducks in the impoundments, for obvious reasons. 

I missed a couple of unimportant species that Mike had--House Sparrow, House Finch, maybe something else. They're on the count's records, just not on my list, which totaled 61for the day. 

Species               First Sighting Canada Goose  Beach Av Mute Swan  Bridge to Nowhere Gadwall  Ocean Acres Pond Mallard  Manahawkin Lake American Black Duck  Bridge to Nowhere Ring-necked Duck  Manahawkin Lake Greater Scaup  East Bay Av Bufflehead  Bridge to Nowhere Hooded Merganser  Bridge to Nowhere Ruddy Duck  East Bay Av Rock Pigeon  Bridge to Nowhere Mourning Dove  93 Cedar Bridge Rd Virginia Rail  Beach Av 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 Great Egret  Bridge to Nowhere Turkey Vulture  Levi’s Rd Northern Harrier  Bridge to Nowhere Cooper's Hawk  Ridge Av Bald Eagle  Beach Av Red-shouldered Hawk  Bridge to Nowhere Red-tailed Hawk  Bridge to Nowhere Eastern Screech-Owl  Beach Av Great Horned Owl  Beach Av Barred Owl  Beach Av Belted Kingfisher  Bridge to Nowhere Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  Levi’s Rd Red-bellied Woodpecker  Bridge to Nowhere Downy Woodpecker  Bridge to Nowhere Hairy Woodpecker  Bridge to Nowhere Northern Flicker  Manahawkin WMA Blue Jay  Bridge to Nowhere Carolina Chickadee  Bridge to Nowhere Tufted Titmouse  Bridge to Nowhere Golden-crowned Kinglet  Pond off Cedar Bridge Rd Red-breasted Nuthatch  Bridge to Nowhere White-breasted Nuthatch  Bridge to Nowhere Winter Wren  Bridge to Nowhere Sedge Wren  Beach Av Carolina Wren  Levi’s Rd European Starling  Ridge Av Hermit Thrush  Bridge to Nowhere American Robin  Beach Av House Finch  Bridge to Nowhere American Goldfinch  Levi’s Rd American Tree Sparrow  Bridge to Nowhere Fox Sparrow  Manahawkin WMA Dark-eyed Junco  Levi’s Rd White-throated Sparrow  Levi’s Rd Song Sparrow  Bridge to Nowhere Swamp Sparrow  Bridge to Nowhere Red-winged Blackbird  Bridge to Nowhere Brown-headed Cowbird  Ridge Av Common Grackle  Bridge to Nowhere Boat-tailed Grackle  Bridge to Nowhere Yellow-rumped Warbler  Beach Av Northern Cardinal  Pond off Cedar Bridge Rd