Island Beach SP 3/16--Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing, Reed's Road

My favorite bird. And somehow I'd cruised past the Ides of March without seeing a Cedar Waxwing. I'd tried all the likely spots around here--Colliers Mills, Jumping Brook, Double Trouble, Whitesbog without finding one, never mind the flocks that you usually see. Waxwings are notorious for wandering, looking for berries or fruits, so just because they were in one place yesterday doesn't mean they will be there today. 

However, I hadn't been to Island Beach in a while and I'd seen them reported at a few of the bayside trails, so I gave that a whack this morning. I started out, as usual, on Reed's Road, which was quiet, as I expected--it is probably about a month before migration gets going--and while a close Horned Grebe in the bay was good to see, I thought I'd have to go a little further south to find what I was looking for. On the way out, though, robins suddenly started flying from one side of the trail to the other and when I looked up into the trees to follow them I saw smaller birds with the look of what I always think of as space cadets--masks over their eyes, and helmet of feathers. There were about 10 of them, going by, not staying very long in any one spot. With the overcast and the distance, I managed a couple of very poor photos. 

The rest of the morning I hit a lot of the bayside trails and made one walk over the dunes to look at the ocean (Long-tailed Ducks, Surf Scoters, a single gannet). Big flocks of Brants were at almost every stop as were Buffleheads. As to land birds, not much, though at the kayak access (A-15), I did find one Fox Sparrow and had two Common Ravens fly over me, croaking. An impressive corvid when you see them that low. 

No shorebirds and the only raptor I saw was an eagle flying over Reed's Road. Altogether, a paltry 32 species for the 8 miles strip of park that I covered, walking 5 miles on the various trails. 

Species   Location
Brant   Tidal Pond Trail
Canada Goose   Kayak access
Mute Swan   Winter Anchorage
Mallard   Reed’s Road
American Black Duck   Tidal Pond Trail
Green-winged Teal   Kayak access
Greater Scaup   Johnny Allen's Cove Trail
Surf Scoter   Interpretive Ctr Trail
Long-tailed Duck   Interpretive Ctr Trail
Bufflehead   Reed’s Road
Red-breasted Merganser   Reed’s Road
Horned Grebe   Reed’s Road
Mourning Dove   Reed’s Road
Herring Gull   Reed’s Road
Great Black-backed Gull   Reed’s Road
Northern Gannet   Interpretive Ctr Trail
Great Blue Heron   Winter Anchorage
Bald Eagle   Reed’s Road
Northern Flicker   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Common Raven   Kayak access
Carolina Chickadee   Reed’s Road
Carolina Wren   Reed’s Road
Northern Mockingbird   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
American Robin   Reed’s Road
Cedar Waxwing   Reed’s Road
House Finch   Reed’s Road
Fox Sparrow   Kayak access
White-throated Sparrow   Kayak access
Song Sparrow   Kayak access
Red-winged Blackbird   Reed’s Road
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Tidal Pond Trail
Northern Cardinal   Reed’s Road

Horned Grebe, Spizzle Creek