Lake Barnegat 1/3--Long-billed Dowitchers

About a month ago, one of my "stumble-upon" birds was a flock of Long-billed Dowitchers in the mudflats of partially drained Lake Barnegat in Lacey. They can now be described as the "long-staying" Long-billed Dowitchers, because they are still there. Out of all the rarities that are popping up on my alerts, they seemed like the easiest ones to get for the year and besides, I have a sort of proprietary interest in them. I even got a text New Year's Day from a birder who lives nearby there to tell me that "my" dowitchers were still present. 

So, after a couple of very long days of birding, I figured I'd take it easy and just hit a few spots in that area and see what I could add. I started out at Bamber Lake because that's a reliable spot for Tundra Swans--except for today when the lake was completely devoid of any waterfowl. An inauspicious start to the day.  Deer Head Lake, a bit west of Lake Barnegat, had lots of Canada Geese and I'm not that obsessive that I felt I had to make a list or count them. 

Finally, at Lake Barnegat a quick scan of the mud turned up the flock of dowitchers, mixed in with an eBird filter-busting number of Greater Yellowlegs and one Killdeer, the other new species for the year. I scoped from 3 different vantage points on the lake, but no matter where I stood, the dowitchers were still distant. One lousy digiscope was all I could manage. 

I made a couple of other stops: Bay Parkway in Waretown, where I added a few birds to the Ocean County list, and Eno's Pond where this winter's dearth of passerines continues. But one cool species for the day was enough for me and then it started to rain.