Lighthouse Center 1/23--Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron

Little Blue Heron

 I had never been to the Lighthouse Center in the winter, but since I was in the neighborhood this morning, I swung by there. I know from the Barnegat CBC that it can be a productive spot and with the two over-wintering rarities that I found there, it turned out to be so. 

Tricolored Herons are turning up more frequently in winter and in more places in the county than in previous years. It used to be that you'd be able to find one on LBI in the marshes off Bayview Avenue, but this year there are confirmed reports from Island Beach SP, Manahawkin, and the Lighthouse Center as well as LBI. Today, the tide was very low, so I was able to walk around a point and up a little creek that empties into the bay. About 100 yards into the marsh, I saw four Great Egrets and with them, two Tricolored Herons. Great Egrets do hang around in small numbers, but four, to eBird is apparently not a small number. I tried to very surreptitiously creep up a little closer, getting behind a stand of phragmites while I dug my camera out of my bag, but I wasn't sneaky enough since all six birds flew off. As I stood on the bank of the creek cursing, I saw one more white heron way out in the marsh. I took a couple of shots of what I though was one of the egrets since I already had my camera out. However, when I looked at the bird blown up in the viewfinder, I saw that it had a gray/blue beak and realized that it was an immature Little Blue Heron hunkered down in the reeds. It's a crappy shot, but it's all I got. 

I walked around some and then returned to the creek, hoping that the birds would have returned. I looked out in the marsh where I had previously seen them and they weren't there. But much closer, standing in the creek, was one of the Tricoloreds, which promptly flew away as soon as I reached for my camera. More cursing. 

In a few months, these two herons won't be rare. It hasn't been an especially warm winter, but the marshes freeze at a little lower temperature than the freshwater ponds, so there has been food for them to find. With the oncoming storm and absolutely frigid temperatures for the next few days, it will be interesting to see if they stick around. 

27 species
Brant  40
Canada Goose  7
Mute Swan  8
American Black Duck  7
Greater Scaup  20
Long-tailed Duck  2
Bufflehead  50
Red-breasted Merganser  8
Mourning Dove  3
Killdeer  4
American Herring Gull  5
Common Loon  1
Little Blue Heron  1     
Tricolored Heron  2     
Great Egret  4     
Great Blue Heron  1
Northern Harrier  1
Belted Kingfisher  1
Northern Flicker  1
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  1
Tufted Titmouse  1
American Robin  50
House Finch  1
Song Sparrow  1
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler  3

Marshall's Pond 1/15--Cackling Goose

I don't like puzzles. When I see someone doing a jigsaw puzzle, my eyes glaze over. I'm not interested in finding the six differences between two seemingly identical pictures. I don't care where Waldo is. 

So when Steve texted me this afternoon that the Cackling Goose was back at Marshall's Pond, I was almost glad that I was stuck in the house waiting for a repairman to show up, because looking for a cackler in a spread-out flock of 300 Canada Geese is not an easy puzzle to solve. 

Back in December I ran over to the same pond to get a Cackling Goose, but whether this is the same one or another (there may even be two, judging from one of my photos where a second small goose seems to be photobombing me), who knows. My friend Bob Auster claims that if you look at any large flock of Canada Geese, you'll probably find a Cackler. Where's Waldo? Maybe he's there and maybe he isn't. 

Goose the size of a Mallard

But a couple of hours later, I was free to go and since I already had the rarer Greater White-fronted Goose and Ross's Goose on the year list, I figured it was worth a drive into Toms River. Marshall's Pond isn't all that large and the geese tend to congregate in its western section, so they're fairly close to the edge of the water and Steve had given me a landmark where he had last seen the bird but even with all those advantages, it still took me over 20 minutes to finally locate the cackler in the honking, ever-shifting flock of Canada Geese. It was a Mallard that helped me. In the middle of the flock the duck was floating around and right next to it was a goose no bigger than it--and then I saw the stubby bill and the short neck and knew I had the cackler, but if it hadn't been next to the duck, I'd probably never have found it, because all the geese are in different positions, sometimes stretching their necks, sometimes hunkering down, sometimes scooping water, sometimes having their heads tucked into their wings. But a goose the size of a duck? Puzzle solved. 

Red-shouldered Hawk

The other cool bird of the day came in the morning when I was knocking around Jackson. After a couple of unexciting walks through some local spots there, I drove over to Butterfly Bogs where there are usually a lot of ducks--I was hoping for something new but I all I saw were the expected species--lots of them, but nothing new. I went back to the car and as I was opening up the hatch I turned to my right and saw, low in a tree not 15 feet away from me, a Red-shouldered Hawk, apparently oblivious to my presence. I quietly put my scope in the back of the car, got my camera off my shoulder and took some photos of a bird I more often hear ("keer, keer, keer") than see, and certainly have never seen this close. Not a rarity, but a nice little exclamation point on an otherwise dull morning. 

Colliers Mills 1/9--Red-headed Woodpecker

 This morning I decided it was time to play "Find the Red-headed Woodpecker" at Colliers Mills. It's a game I like to play because I almost always win. And they're beautiful birds to see. Red-headed Woodpeckers are not considered "rare" in Ocean County, but there are really only two places you can reliably find them--Colliers Mills and Cloverdale Farm. Occasionally one shows up at Island Beach in the spring, but the key word here is "reliably." What's funny to me is that over in Burlington County I can think of 4 or 5 spots where they're pretty easy to find and yet there the bird is listed as rare. 

The way I play the game is to walk over to the woods north of Success Road and serpentine around, playing the call on my phone a couple of times. Then I scan the dead the trees and walk through all the leaf litter and after 5 minutes I'm ready to give up. Then I find one flying from one tree to another. Today that's what happened, except after the first one, another one followed it into the same tree. And then another. While the birds aren't considered rare, the eBird filter doesn't "think" you should see more than two, which is silly, since they breed there and the word "breed" implies >2. After I watched them for a few minutes go from oak to oak (the ground was littered in acorns), I started back out. Before I got to the gate that gives onto the field, I found a fourth in a different stand of tree. The 6th 
Law of Birding says, "You only need one," so this would have amounted to showing off, if I hadn't seen a fifth bird later in the morning in the trees east of the police firing range. Five Red-headed Woodpeckers does seem excessive. The 7th Law of Birding states that "No matter where you stand, the woodpecker is always on the other side of the tree," which explains the low quality of my photos.

I made my usual loop around Turnmill Lake and the Borden's Mill Branch pond, where there were no waterfowl except for a flyover flock of geese since the water was still frozen despite the relatively warm temperatures the last couple of days. It wasn't until I emerged on Hawkin Road that I added anymore birds to the year list: a Red-tailed Hawk was hunting over the pone on Hawkin, a Brown Creeper amongst the juncos, and quite a number of Chipping Sparrows in the brush at the start of the road, another count that, because they're supposed to be scarce in winter, broke the eBird filter--5 was acceptable, 10 too many

Only 20 species for the walk, but I won the game, again. 

Canada Goose  18
Turkey Vulture  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Red-headed Woodpecker  5    
Red-bellied Woodpecker  9
Blue Jay  16
Carolina Chickadee  9
Tufted Titmouse  1
Golden-crowned Kinglet  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  5
Brown Creeper  1     
Carolina Wren  4
European Starling  15
Eastern Bluebird  3
American Robin  2
American Goldfinch  1
Chipping Sparrow  10     
Dark-eyed Junco  25
White-throated Sparrow  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1     

LBI 1/6--Ross's Goose and Lots of Ducks

Ross's Geese

 On Sunday's Barnegat Christmas Bird Count, two rare species of geese were found--the Greater White-fronted Geese that Mike and I discovered in a town park in Ocean Acres, and two Ross's Geese on the lawn of Maris Stella, a Catholic conference center on LBI. According to my de facto rules, these were worth chasing, but I wasn't able to until this morning. Of course, when I drove up to the property on Long Beach Boulevard, there wasn't a goose in sight. Ah well, on to Barnegat Light SP where I could do some real birding.

At the park I ticked off the Barnegat Light specialties--Harlequin Duck, Purple Sandpiper, Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich ssp.), along with Great Cormorants and a lot of different ducks, including all 3 scoter species. The scoters made me especially happy, because for some reason, it is always difficult for me to track down White-winged Scoter in the county. I also had a couple of American Wigeon in the pool behind the dunes, which is unusual for the park, and a small flock of Black-bellied Plovers standing on the edge of the pool. 

Harlequin Ducks

I couldn't get onto the jetty from the beach. The tide was as high as I've seen it, and the tidal pools ran the length of the jetty so there was no access to it unless you ducked under the railings at the end of the concrete walkway and walked that slippery path--which I don't do no more. It was fine, I could see the Harlequins from the beach, and the other ducks were easily viewed from other points. 

The duck I don't get at the light is Common Goldeneye, so I left some energy to go down to Sunset Park in Harvey Cedars to look for them in that historical spot. On the way down I passed the Maris Stella conference center and saw 9 geese feeding on the grass. (Orthographic digression: it is Maris Stella which means Ocean Star instead of the expected Stella Maris which would mean Star of the Sea and the transposition that a lot of birders have put down for the Ross's Geese. I hate the spelling of "Ross's." I was taught that a to make the possessive of a word that ends in 's' you merely put the apostrophe at the end of the word, avoiding the ugly double "s's." With "Ross's" you wind up with three esses in a row--really atrocious typography.) 

It was easy to see that there were no Ross's in with the 9 geese and I was just about to completely pass the center when I saw a bigger flock of geese in the back. Screeching to a halt, I got out, walked back to the driveway where I could get a better angle, and there, feeding next to a shed and partially blocked by a wooden platform, were the two Ross's. According to one birder, he'd see them at Sunset Park early in the morning, and then they flew up to the center's grounds. Very satisfying to find them.

At Sunset Park, there were about a billion Brant, lots of Buffleheads, a few mergansers and Greater Scaup, but no goldeneyes that I could find in what open water there was. I stopped at my back up spot at 24th Street where I almost always find a goldeneye in winter, and there may have been one there but if it was, it was mixed in with a mile-long skein of scaup and I had neither the optics nor the patience to find one. Next time. 

32 species for a winter day.

Species   Count
Ross's Goose   2
Brant   350
Canada Goose   95
American Wigeon   2
Mallard   38
American Black Duck   30
Greater Scaup   25
Harlequin Duck   9
Surf Scoter   3
White-winged Scoter   1
Black Scoter   2
Long-tailed Duck   32
Bufflehead   137
Red-breasted Merganser   23
Black-bellied Plover   20
Sanderling   4
Purple Sandpiper   1
American Herring Gull   155
Great Black-backed Gull   3
Common Loon   5
Great Cormorant   12
Great Blue Heron   1
American Crow   1
Carolina Wren   1
European Starling   60
American Robin   27
House Sparrow   1
House Finch   5
Savannah Sparrow   1
Song Sparrow   1
Yellow-rumped Warbler   4
Northern Cardinal   3

Whitesbog 1/5--Red Crossbill

After bustling around Manahawkin yesterday, I just wanted a quiet walk today so I drove over to Whitesbog, even though I knew all the water would be frozen and that I couldn't expect to see or hear much. Since I didn't see any Tundra Swans on Union Pond's ice, I decided to walk the Ocean County side. Sometimes the swans stand on the ice of the Upper Reservoir. I walked up there via the Antrim Bogs, which were pretty quiet except for what my informant there likes to refer to as the "tweety birds:" Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch. I was surprised at how many Hairy Woodpeckers I was hearing. Usually, I get one, maybe two. Today I had five scattered all over the place. 

The breach between bogs

There were no swans on the Upper Reservoir, nor eagles, or any other raptors that I look for there. On my way back I was undecided if I wanted to go to the dogleg, knowing that I'd just have to backtrack. At one time, a few years ago, the road would have led me back to my car, but because the beavers were constantly clogging up a culvert that ran beneath the road, connecting one of the reservoirs to an old flooded blueberry field, the Whitesbog owner sent over some heavy machinery and just made a breach in the road so the water could flow freely. My informant built a rudimentary bridge for us, and after that got a little sketchy, the guys at Whitesbog put in a more solid wooden bridge. But erosion of the banks last year collapsed that bridge. I know they want to fix it, but it isn't a priority. I rationalized walking over there on the one in a hundred chance that they had repaired the bridge. They hadn't.

I was standing at the edge, looking at the ice, thinking about how much habitat the beavers have changed since I've been walking Whitesbog, when I heard a call that I at first took for another Hairy Woodpecker, but it didn't sound quite right. Fumbling with my gloves, I opened up Merlin. 

Now, I don't believe in a lot of what Merlin hears, especially when there are a lot of birds singing and calling in the area. The app hears 10 times more Golden-crowned Kinglets than I do, though, to give it it's due, I've also been alerted to birds like Cedar Waxwings and Blackpoll Warblers that I can't hear, but that I find when I'm aware they're around. I find it is most reliable when there is only one bird calling or singing. Today, that bird that I heard, and that Merlin also heard, was a Red Crossbill. It was calling from across the water on the other side of the old blueberry field where there are lots of pine trees. To get over there, which was probably about 500 feet away, I would have to backtrack completely, a walk of over a mile. 

Red Crossbills are notoriously flighty (pun intended) always on the move, looking for the next pinecone. I've come across them in some seemingly odd places like the Cranberry Bogs on Dover Road and at Stafford Forge. But, if there is a big stand of pine trees and it's winter, it's worth stopping a moment to listen. And it's always worth going the extra (half) mile to maximize your chances of listing something cool. 

Ocean Acres Lake Park | Stafford Forge WMA 1/4--Greater White-fronted Goose, Trumpeter Swan

Greater White-fronted Geese, Ocean Acres Lake Park

The day started at 5 AM down on Beach Avenue in Manahawkin, where I met Mike to start our annual survey for the Barnegat Christmas Bird Count. Obviously, in winter, in the dark, the only birds one expects are owls. We had one Eastern Screech-Owl and one Great Horned Owl call from different parts of the woods along the road and after about 40 minutes we moved over to Stafford Avenue where we heard 3 more Screech Owls and another Great Horned.  We hope for other more exotic owls--we've had them in the past, but we were happy with these two species, especially the individuals that were calling loudly and seemed like they were just off the road. 

We moved down the road just before sunrise and parked at the Bridge to Nowhere. We were hoping for Short-eared Owls hunting the marsh, but we struck out, the second time in a couple of weeks where I've been unlucky in the morning. For some reason, they get reported at sundown. They should still be active before the sun comes up, but apparently they don't know that. We did get a Northern Harrier starting the day shift, as well a Bald Eagle and little flock of Great Blue Herons, but we didn't linger, since we have a fair amount of territory to cover. 

We parked my car in the Manahawkin WMA lot on Hilliard and took a walk in the woods and fields there--best birds were a Rusty Blackbird in with a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds, both kinglets and a Belted Kingfisher. 

After a Wawa coffee run, we looked around the fields near MATES, and had some Yellow-rumped Warblers and a Sharp-shinned Hawk. We also had our first huge flock of Canada Geese--about 400--on an athletic field. We scanned them for Cackling Geese, but there weren't any in there. Driving around the residential area nearby we didn't find much beyond the expected tweety birds. 

We hit our other spots--the bay from East Bay Avenue, a drive through Mud City and then we drove over to Manahawkin Lake where there was another huge flock of Canada Geese, but they were too far to pick out anything unusual. We did get about 20 Ring-necked Ducks there. 

Then it was up Rt 72 to Ocean Acres where we like to check out the retention pond just off the highway. About half the water was stiff, but among the big flock of Mallards we managed to add Green-winged Teal to our day list. Deeper in the community there is a big park with a lake but for the last few years it hasn't produced very much, and Mike suggested skipping it, but since it was still early we figured what the heck and drove over. Again, most of the water was frozen, but standing on the ice was our third big flock of Canada Geese. These were close enough to scan with a scope and while Mike was hoping for a Cackling, for some reason I got it into my head that finding something more exotic would be cool. Again, out of the 300 or so geese there, nothing looked like a candidate for the RBA. We did get a couple of Killdeer and had our first bluebirds of the day. We got in the car and were driving through the parking lot to turn around when we saw more geese feeding the in the grass. "Wait a minute, I said, one of those isn't a Canada Goose." Mike stopped and we looked and I said, "Greater White-Fronted Goose!" Mike, looking through the flock, said, "They're all white-fronted geese."

"No, there must be 15 of them." (It turned out to be 17 in the flock when we carefully counted.) Finding one GWFG is a noteworthy. Finding a flock of them is an event. Last year, Steve found about 24 GWFG at Shelter Cove, which I think is the record for the NJ. The Sixth Law of Birding is "You only need one." But 17 is pretty impressive. Since neither Mike nor I am on any social media or rare bird alerts we couldn't get the word out directly, but Mike texted one of our friends who runs the local RBA and she put out the message. Not that it mattered. No sooner did we get back in the car than the grass was empty of geese. Mike said they flew back into the lake, but we couldn't find them. Word reached me later in the day that someone had gone to look for them and they weren't there, so there, as in so much of birding was luck for us with that flock's life line briefly intersecting our life lines and adding a bird to the Barnegat CBC. 

Trumpeter Swan,
Stafford Forge WMA

We putzed around some more after lunch, but I was getting fatigued and we both had another rarity on our agenda--the continuing juvenile Trumpeter Swan at Stafford Forge.  So around 2 o'clock we wrapped our end of the CBC and drove down the parkway about 6 miles. I'd gone there yesterday--twice-- when the entire lake was frozen and dipped. I was especially outrage when I saw someone report the swan sleeping on the ice because I scoped that lump and it was either ice-caked vegetation or a dead swan. But later in the day the real swan reappeared--there must be hidden, inaccessible areas of the lake where it can hang out unseen--so I was determined to add it to my year list for the state and county. It took us all of about 2 minutes to find the bird this time--it was the only swan on the lake--in fact, aside from 3 Mallards, it was the only waterfowl there. We looked, we snapped some pictures, we headed home. 

For the day we had 53 species for our contribution to the 101st (!) Barnegat CBC, plus the Trumpeter Swan.