March Recap--Brink of Disaster Edition

Eastern Bluebird, backyard

 Considering how close I came to catastrophe this month, I'm rather pleased with its results. One minute I was looking at Killdeer in a drawn down bog, the next minute my car was practically in the bog, reaffirming my core belief that you are always that one minute from disaster. Around that unfortunate incident I got in some good birding in Delaware and New Jersey, finding some of my favorites (American Avocet, Sandhill Crane, Brown-headed Nuthatch, all in Delaware) and adding 21 birds to the year list. All the additions have been previously documented save for the Red-breasted Nuthatch on the list. That was a happy find at Reeves Bogs, where I was forced, due to flooding, to walk a long distance on Cooper Road in the woods, where I not only heard the RB Nut but saw it climbing down a pine along with a couple of its white-breasted cousins. In Burlco, at that time, it was flagged as rare. 

Our feeders have been entertaining this month, hosting so many Pine Siskins that sometimes they can't all fit on the feeder and end up grazing in the grass, and quite a few Eastern Bluebirds. Shari, seeing the bluebirds bought mealworms for them, which they seem to snub. The starlings like them, though. 

For the month, 125 species. 

Species             First Sighting
Snow Goose   Whitehall Neck Rd.
Brant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Canada Goose   Colliers Mills WMA
Mute Swan   Sunset Park
Tundra Swan   Whitesbog
Wood Duck   Whitesbog
Blue-winged Teal   Manahawkin WMA
Northern Shoveler   Bombay Hook
Gadwall   Bombay Hook
American Wigeon   Waretown
Mallard   Colliers Mills WMA
American Black Duck   Bayview Ave Park
Northern Pintail   Whitesbog
Green-winged Teal   Bombay Hook
Ring-necked Duck   Colliers Mills WMA
Greater Scaup   Sunset Park
Lesser Scaup   Sunset Park
King Eider   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Eider   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Harlequin Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Surf Scoter   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black Scoter   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Long-tailed Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Bufflehead   Sunset Park
Hooded Merganser   Colliers Mills WMA
Common Merganser   Bombay Hook
Red-breasted Merganser   Sunset Park
Ruddy Duck   Sunset Park
Wild Turkey   Bombay Hook
Pied-billed Grebe   Bombay Hook
Horned Grebe   Waretown
Rock Pigeon   Bayview Ave Marina
Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd
American Coot   Lake of the Lilies
Sandhill Crane   Bombay Hook
American Avocet   Bombay Hook
American Oystercatcher   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black-bellied Plover   DuPont Nature Center
Killdeer   Colliers Mills WMA
Piping Plover   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Long-billed Dowitcher   Brig
American Woodcock   Crestwood Community Gardens
Wilson's Snipe   Brig
Greater Yellowlegs   Bombay Hook
Ruddy Turnstone   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Dunlin   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Purple Sandpiper   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Bonaparte's Gull   DuPont Nature Center
Ring-billed Gull   DuPont Nature Center
Herring Gull   Sunset Park
Great Black-backed Gull   Sunset Park
Forster's Tern   Prime Hook
Red-throated Loon   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Loon   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Northern Gannet   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Great Cormorant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black-crowned Night Heron   Point Pleasant Canal
Little Blue Heron   Manahawkin WMA
Tricolored Heron   Joe Torg Nature Preserve
Snowy Egret   Brig
Great Egret   Bombay Hook
Great Blue Heron   Colliers Mills WMA
Black Vulture   Dover
Turkey Vulture   Colliers Mills WMA
Osprey   Bayview Ave Park
Northern Harrier   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Cooper's Hawk   Whitesbog
Bald Eagle   Bombay Hook
Red-shouldered Hawk   Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk   Colliers Mills WMA
Short-eared Owl   Bombay Hook
Belted Kingfisher   Whitesbog
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Whitesbog
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker   Whitesbog
Northern Flicker   Whitesbog
American Kestrel   Milford
Peregrine Falcon   Cedar Bonnet Island
Eastern Phoebe   Whitesbog
Blue Jay   Colliers Mills WMA
American Crow   Colliers Mills WMA
Fish Crow   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Raven   Colliers Mills WMA
Carolina Chickadee   Colliers Mills WMA
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Horned Lark   Whitehall Neck Rd.
Tree Swallow   Bombay Hook
Purple Martin   Brig
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Whitesbog
White-breasted Nuthatch   Colliers Mills WMA
Brown-headed Nuthatch   Prime Hook
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Reeves Bogs
Brown Creeper   Colliers Mills WMA
Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd
European Starling   Colliers Mills WMA
Gray Catbird   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Brown Thrasher   Brig
Northern Mockingbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Bluebird   Colliers Mills WMA
Hermit Thrush   Colliers Mills WMA
American Robin   35 Sunset Rd
Cedar Waxwing   35 Sunset Rd
House Sparrow   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
Pine Siskin   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd
Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Fox Sparrow   Prime Hook
Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd
White-throated Sparrow   Crestwood Community Gardens
Savannah Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs
Song Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee   Bombay Hook
Red-winged Blackbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Brown-headed Cowbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Common Grackle   Colliers Mills WMA
Boat-tailed Grackle   Bayview Ave Park
Pine Warbler   Whitesbog
Yellow-rumped Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Northern Cardinal   Colliers Mills WMA

Killdeer, Lake of the Lilies