Assunpink 1/5--Trumpeter Swan

Trumpeter Swans

After failing on two rarities on Tuesday and then not finding the Townsend's Warbler at Eno's Pond yesterday (I was hoping for a rollover rarity), I decided to get a "gimme" today and drove up to Assunpink, where the presumably returning (for 10+ years) Trumpeter Swans can be found. Easily. They seem, this year, to hanging out at the east end of the lake, not making their annoying forays to nearby Stone Tavern Lake. All you have to do is find a couple of big swans and then wait for them to lift their heads out of the water so that you can see their all black, Canvasback-like sloping beaks. It took me all of 5 minutes to put them on '24 list. Which was fine, because I didn't feel like standing in the sub-freezing temperatures looking for them. When you can see clouds of vapor coming from the swan's mouth, it's cold. 

But once you get moving, it's fine, so I walked from the east end of the lake all the way around to the sluice on the north side and then back to where I parked, at the model airplane field. Not a lot of variety of ducks today--Ruddy Ducks were in big numbers, but all the other waterfowl was sparse. Even the geese only totaled about 100. However, I added Common Merganser, Hooded Merganser, & Green-winged Teal along with the Ruddy Ducks to the year list. 

I haven't been to Conines Millpond (incorrectly listed at Corrines on eBird) for a couple of years, but seeing that a Black-headed Gull had been seen there the last couple of days, I drove down there--it's more or less on the way back home. My streak of 1 ended, because I couldn't find the gull--only two Ring-bill Gulls among the approximately 1000 geese. There once was a birder in NJ who used to post on Jerseybirds all the birds she chased and missed. I once kept a database for a month on what she didn't see. I don't want this blog to emulate her, so enough with the swings and misses. 

Again, the numbers of ducks there were small--a few of both mergansers, 5 or 6 Buffleheads, a black duck, some Mallards. I did, however, see my first Bald Eagle of the year. 

I also inadvertently started a Mercer County list. CR 539 is the dividing line between Mercer and Monmouth. On the way south, down to Allentown I saw a Northern Harrier hunting over one of the Reeds Sods Farms and listed it. Since it was on my right, it was in Mercer. So, my Mercer County list stands at 1. 

The Assunpink List:

30 species
Canada Goose  100
Mute Swan  2
Trumpeter Swan  2     
Mallard  13
Green-winged Teal  5
Hooded Merganser  2
Common Merganser  4
Ruddy Duck  185
Great Blue Heron  4
Turkey Vulture  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Belted Kingfisher  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  6
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  2
Blue Jay  2
Carolina Chickadee  6
Tufted Titmouse  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
Golden-crowned Kinglet  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Winter Wren  2
Carolina Wren  2
Hermit Thrush  2
American Robin  2
American Goldfinch  2
White-throated Sparrow  17
Song Sparrow  8
Yellow-rumped Warbler  4
Northern Cardinal  1