November Wrap-up--A Lot of Ducks

American Black Ducks, Double Trouble SP

A fairly productive month, especially if you like ducks (and geese and swans) and I do. November is the month the Tundra Swans return to Whitesbog and Reeves Bogs, and the month that the sea ducks start to show up at Barnegat Light. A Thanksgiving Day trip to Brig got Shari & I a pretty hen Common Goldeneye as well as scads of Gadwalls and Northern Pintails. Aside from the Eurasian Wigeon at Lake of the Lilies (or "Lillies" as they insist on spelling it on their big wooden sign), none of the ducks were particularly rare. I kept hoping that I'd spot a Tufted Duck among the flocks of Ring-necked Ducks at Whitesbog or Lake Carasaljo, but of course, I didn't.

Tundra Swans, Union Pond, Whitesbog

It was also a good month for Wilson's Snipe, that somewhat elusive non-shorebird shorebird. A couple of days after I found a pair at Lake of the Lilies, I was walking past the back impoundments at Bunker Hill Bogs in Jackson when I flushed another pair. Their habit of diving into the reeds precluded any photos. 

But the best sighting of the month in terms of sheer fun came early in the month at Reeves Bogs. I was walking with my informant along Bear Hole (named so because in the good ole days they hunted bears there) with his dog Gunny, who, being a dog, was sniffing all the phragmites and brush grass and stuck his nose deeper into the reeds, flushing an American Bittern which flew up and over the reservoir, giving us great looks as it headed to a spot inaccessible to snuffling canines. 

For the month 113 species in Atlantic, Burlington and Ocean counties. 

Species    First Sighting
Brant    Cedar Bonnet Island
Canada Goose    Cranberry Bogs
Mute Swan    Lake Carasaljo
Tundra Swan    Reeves Bogs
Wood Duck    Cranberry Bogs
Northern Shoveler    Brig
Gadwall    Lake Carasaljo
Eurasian Wigeon    Lake of the Lilies
American Wigeon    Lake Carasaljo
Mallard    Cranberry Bogs
American Black Duck    Double Trouble SP
Northern Pintail    Whitesbog
Green-winged Teal    Cranberry Bogs
Ring-necked Duck    Whitesbog
Common Eider    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Harlequin Duck    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
White-winged Scoter    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black Scoter    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Bufflehead    Lake Carasaljo
Common Goldeneye    Brig
Hooded Merganser    Lake Carasaljo
Red-breasted Merganser    Ocean County Parks Offices
Ruddy Duck    Lake Carasaljo
Wild Turkey    Crestwood Village
Rock Pigeon    Colliers Mills WMA
Mourning Dove    Cranberry Bogs
American Coot    Lake of the Lilies
American Oystercatcher    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black-bellied Plover    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Killdeer    Whitesbog
Marbled Godwit    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Wilson's Snipe    Lake of the Lilies
Lesser Yellowlegs    Colliers Mills WMA
Greater Yellowlegs    Colliers Mills WMA
Ruddy Turnstone    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Dunlin    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Purple Sandpiper    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Pectoral Sandpiper    Whitesbog
Bonaparte's Gull    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Laughing Gull    Lake Carasaljo
Ring-billed Gull    Lake Carasaljo
American Herring Gull    Lake of the Lilies
Great Black-backed Gull    Lake of the Lilies
Pied-billed Grebe    Lake Carasaljo
Horned Grebe    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Red-throated Loon    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Loon    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Northern Gannet    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Double-crested Cormorant    Lake Carasaljo
American Bittern    Reeves Bogs
Great Egret    Brig
Great Blue Heron    Whitesbog
Black Vulture    35 Sunset Rd
Turkey Vulture    Crestwood Village
Osprey    Cattus Island County Park
Sharp-shinned Hawk    Cranberry Bogs
Cooper's Hawk    Reeves Bogs
Northern Harrier    Whitesbog
Bald Eagle    Double Trouble SP
Red-tailed Hawk    Colliers Mills WMA
Belted Kingfisher    Cranberry Bogs
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-headed Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker    Cranberry Bogs
Downy Woodpecker    Cranberry Bogs
Hairy Woodpecker    Whitesbog
Pileated Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Flicker    Cranberry Bogs
Merlin    Whitesbog
Eastern Phoebe    Reeves Bogs
Blue-headed Vireo    Cedar Bonnet Island
Blue Jay    Cranberry Bogs
American Crow    Cranberry Bogs
Fish Crow    Double Trouble SP
Common Raven    Double Trouble SP
Carolina Chickadee    Cranberry Bogs
Tufted Titmouse    Cranberry Bogs
Tree Swallow    Reeves Bogs
Ruby-crowned Kinglet    Bunker Hill Bogs
Golden-crowned Kinglet    Cranberry Bogs
White-breasted Nuthatch    35 Sunset Rd
Red-breasted Nuthatch    Cranberry Bogs
Brown Creeper    Lake Carasaljo
Winter Wren    Double Trouble SP
Carolina Wren    35 Sunset Rd
European Starling    Whitesbog
Gray Catbird    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Mockingbird    Whitesbog
Eastern Bluebird    Cranberry Bogs
Hermit Thrush    Cranberry Bogs
American Robin    Cranberry Bogs
Cedar Waxwing    35 Sunset Rd
House Sparrow    Lake Carasaljo
House Finch    Cranberry Bogs
Purple Finch    Whitesbog
American Goldfinch    Cranberry Bogs
Snow Bunting    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Chipping Sparrow    Reeves Bogs
Field Sparrow    Whitesbog
Fox Sparrow    Colliers Mills WMA
Dark-eyed Junco    Cranberry Bogs
White-throated Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Vesper Sparrow    Double Trouble SP
Savannah Sparrow    Reeves Bogs
Song Sparrow    Cranberry Bogs
Swamp Sparrow    Cranberry Bogs
Eastern Meadowlark    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Baltimore Oriole    Double Trouble SP
Red-winged Blackbird    Cranberry Bogs
Rusty Blackbird    Whitesbog
Pine Warbler    Whitesbog
Yellow-rumped Warbler    Cranberry Bogs
Northern Cardinal    35 Sunset Rd