June Wrap-up--Winter Waterfowl Edition

 

Common Eider, Barnegat Light

Most of the interesting days of June--the trip to Bermuda, the great day at Brig, the Yellow-breasted Chat, etc., have been chronicled already and there's no reason to go back over them--you can follow the links if you haven't been assiduously keeping up with me. The surprising sightings of June were the number of winter waterfowl that I came across. It started early in the month when I stopped at the Bay Parkway marsh in Waretown. Across the little inlet, sitting on a stony peninsula, was a Red-breasted Merganser. Obviously rare for the month, but nothing to write about. Okay, a lingering duck. But then, on my first trip of the month to Brig, I came across a flock of Ruddy Ducks.  Not flagged as rare, per se, but the number of them was out of the ordinary. On one of the walks to the north jetty at Island Beach I came across a flock of Common Eiders (definitely rare) a pair of Black Scoters, and a Surf Scoter. Over at Barnegat Light, when I went to hunt for the Roseate Tern, there were two Brants on the beach side of the jetty. Not to mention the Common Loon I saw the other day in the inlet at Island Beach, or the Green-winged Teal yesterday at Brig. Like a very warm February. 

Red-breasted Merganser, Waretown

It was because of these oddball sightings that I was able to pad the list up to 141 species for the month (13 year birds, including 4 on Bermuda), since June is a notoriously slow month--the warblers and the shorebirds have passed through to the north and a lot of what is resident is nesting and therefor quiet and out of sight. I didn't range very far in New Jersey in June, but Bermuda does lend an international tang to the list.

Species          First Sighting
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck   Port Royal GC #17 Pond
Brant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Canada Goose   Colliers Mills WMA
Mute Swan   Brig
Wood Duck   Whitesbog
Blue-winged Teal   Brig
Mallard   Colliers Mills WMA
American Black Duck   Whitesbog
Green-winged Teal   Brig
Common Eider   Island Beach SP
Surf Scoter   Island Beach SP
Black Scoter   Island Beach SP
Red-breasted Merganser   Waretown
Ruddy Duck   Brig
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon   Wawa Forked River
Mourning Dove   Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Double Trouble SP
Common Nighthawk   35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift   Whitesbog
Ruby-throated Hummingbird   Island Beach SP
Clapper Rail   Great Bay Blvd
Common Gallinule   Spittal Pond NR
American Coot   Airport Pond
American Avocet   Brig
American Oystercatcher   Great Bay Blvd
Black-bellied Plover   Brig
American Golden-Plover   Brig
Killdeer   Whitesbog
Semipalmated Plover   Great Bay Blvd
Piping Plover   Island Beach SP
Short-billed Dowitcher   Brig
Lesser Yellowlegs   Brig
Willet   Great Bay Blvd
Greater Yellowlegs   Brig
Ruddy Turnstone   Great Bay Blvd
Sanderling   Island Beach SP
Least Sandpiper   Great Bay Blvd
Semipalmated Sandpiper   Great Bay Blvd
Laughing Gull   Wawa Rt 70 & CR 530
American Herring Gull   Great Bay Blvd
Great Black-backed Gull   Great Bay Blvd
Lesser Black-backed Gull   Port Royal GC #17 Pond
Black Skimmer   Great Bay Blvd
Least Tern   Great Bay Blvd
Gull-billed Tern   Brig
Caspian Tern   Brig
Forster's Tern   Holly Lake
Common Tern   Great Bay Blvd
Roseate Tern   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Royal Tern   Island Beach SP
White-tailed Tropicbird   Dockyard
Common Loon   Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Great Bay Blvd
White Ibis   Waretown
Glossy Ibis   Great Bay Blvd
Least Bittern   Brig
Yellow-crowned Night Heron   Front Street, Hamilton BM
Black-crowned Night Heron   Great Bay Blvd
Little Blue Heron   Island Beach SP
Tricolored Heron   Island Beach SP
Snowy Egret   Holly Lake
Green Heron   Great Bay Blvd
Great Egret   Colliers Mills WMA
Great Blue Heron   Colliers Mills WMA
American White Pelican   Brig
Brown Pelican   Island Beach SP
Turkey Vulture   Whitesbog
Osprey   Great Bay Blvd
Bald Eagle   Brig
Red-tailed Hawk   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker   Whitesbog
Northern Flicker   Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Wood-Pewee   Colliers Mills WMA
Acadian Flycatcher   Beach Ave
Willow Flycatcher   Great Bay Blvd
Eastern Phoebe   Double Trouble SP
Great Crested Flycatcher   Colliers Mills WMA
Great Kiskadee   Dockyard
Eastern Kingbird   Colliers Mills WMA
White-eyed Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA
Warbling Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-eyed Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA
Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd
American Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Common Raven   Brig
Carolina Chickadee   Colliers Mills WMA
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Bank Swallow   Reeves Bogs
Tree Swallow   Colliers Mills WMA
Purple Martin   Whitesbog
Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Double Trouble SP
Barn Swallow   Colliers Mills WMA
White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern House Wren   35 Sunset Rd
Marsh Wren   Brig
Carolina Wren   Colliers Mills WMA
European Starling   Colliers Mills WMA
Gray Catbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Brown Thrasher   Island Beach SP
Northern Mockingbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Bluebird   Colliers Mills WMA
Veery   Double Trouble SP
Wood Thrush   Whitesbog
American Robin   Colliers Mills WMA
Cedar Waxwing   Colliers Mills WMA
House Sparrow   Waretown
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   Colliers Mills WMA
Grasshopper Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Chipping Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Field Sparrow   Brig
Seaside Sparrow   Great Bay Blvd
Saltmarsh Sparrow   Brig
Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Towhee   Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow-breasted Chat   Cranberry Bogs
Orchard Oriole   Colliers Mills WMA
Baltimore Oriole   Cranberry Bogs
Red-winged Blackbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Brown-headed Cowbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Common Grackle   Holly Lake
Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Blvd
Ovenbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Black-and-white Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Common Yellowthroat   Colliers Mills WMA
Hooded Warbler   Double Trouble SP
American Redstart   Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Pine Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Prairie Warbler   Whitesbog
Scarlet Tanager   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd
Blue Grosbeak   Brig
Indigo Bunting   Brig

Barnegat Lighthouse SP 6/18--Roseate Tern

Roseate Tern

The weather didn't look promising this morning, but I'd already decided to go to Barnegat Lighthouse SP where some interesting terns have been reported the last few days. The park can be a little difficult to bird once it has been cordoned off for the nesting birds (skimmers, oystercatchers, Piping Plovers, Least Terns) because the pool beyond the strings is only visible through breaks in the dunes. Walking the narrow corridor between the jetty and dunes I did see the Piping Plovers scurrying around and the oystercatchers running along the beach, but the pool itself didn't seem to hold much beyond gulls. 

Brants

I did find a rarity though--2 summering Brants were loafing near the jetty. As someone who doesn't like to travel, my sympathy was with them. I can just imagine one saying to the other, "Do you really want to fly all the way up to the Arctic, stay a few weeks, and then come all the way back here? For what? The hell with propagating our genes, let's stay here and eat eelgrass." 

Meanwhile, the air was getting milkier as I got closer to the ocean. I'd already given up on finding the rare terns and was just hoping that I'd see a pelican before the air got too tense. Using my scope, I could barely make out a big flock of Black Scoters beyond the old 8th Street jetty--a few Black Scoters in summer is not unusual, but this big a flock broke, around 25, broke the eBird filter. Turning around, I saw some gulls sitting on the beach and just beyond them the first stationary terns of the day--lots had been flying around, including some aggressive Least Terns. Turning my scope to them I immediately saw the tern I'd come for--a Roseate Tern with 6 or 7 Common Terns and a couple of Least Terns. Roseate Tern is a hard bird for me to find--this is only my third sighting. I've probably overlooked them lots of times, since they're so similar to Common Terns--their roseate blush is subtle to say the least. In my photos I can see a hint of it, but through the scope it didn't show. What alerted me to the possibility was an unfamiliar tern call. I played the call and thought that it might match what I'd heard from a bird flying overhead, but I certainly wasn't about to list a bird on that basis. There have been as many as 7 Roseate Terns reported there the last couple of days, and in the now dense fog, I thought I might have seen a second, but I dast not approach any closer, less I flush them. As it was, after a few minutes and a few photos through the scrim, they flew off toward the ocean. Which I could no longer see. Nor could I see the jetty from where I stood, nor could I see more than about 50 feet south of me. I looked at my scope and just laughed. 

Black Skimmer

Fortunately, as I walked away from the water, visibility improved. I never did see a pelican but logged 39 species in the gloaming. 

Brant  2     
Mallard  2
Black Scoter  25     
Mourning Dove  3
American Oystercatcher  7
Piping Plover  5
Willet  3
Semipalmated Sandpiper  1     Stringed off area
Laughing Gull  30
American Herring Gull  25
Great Black-backed Gull  10
Black Skimmer  2
Least Tern  7
Common Tern  25
Roseate Tern  1     
Double-crested Cormorant  11
Glossy Ibis  1
Black-crowned Night Heron  1
Snowy Egret  1
Osprey  1
Willow Flycatcher  1     Heard dunes
Eastern Kingbird  1
White-eyed Vireo  1     Heard parking lot
Fish Crow  3
Carolina Chickadee  1     Heard parking lot
Barn Swallow  2
Carolina Wren  1
European Starling  1
Northern Mockingbird  1
American Robin  1
House Sparrow  15
House Finch  4
Song Sparrow  5
Eastern Towhee  1
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Boat-tailed Grackle  4
Common Yellowthroat  2
Yellow Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  3

Island Beach SP 4/10--Lesser Black-backed Gull, Little Blue Heron, Merlin, Brown Thrasher

Brown Thrasher

Merlin

My plan today was to walk as many of the bayside trails as I could at Island Beach, starting at Reed's Road and working my way south. I was fairly confident I'd find something new and the first bird I saw (not listed, that was a robin I heard when I got out of the car) was a Brown Thrasher singing atop a tree just off the main road. Great start. Reed's Road, of course, is the warbler hot spot, but I wasn't expecting any activity of that sort today--still a little early. Walking up the road I saw in a dead tree a bird I've been expecting to find all year, either at Whitesbog or the cranberry bogs on Dover Road but have missed--a Merlin. With the Peregrine Falcon earlier this month and the American Kestrels I've come across, that completed the falcon trifecta for the year unless a Gyrfalcon happens to show up. 

The next stop was a couple of miles down the road--the Tidal Pond Trail. I walked this trail more out of curiosity, since Steve told me that a new trail had been cut through the woods and came out on the boardwalk to the blind. That it goes into the woods now seems like it might be a productive warbler trail come a couple of weeks from now. Today it was just the usual winter birds hanging on. As to why the park workers had made a new trail, I suspected it was because the original trail was eroding away into Barnegat Bay and finding this sign at the end of the secondary trail to the bay confirmed it. 

Road construction has been going on at the park seemingly forever--some kind of new sewer system--and it has blocked off the parking lot at A15, so I wasn't able to walk down that trail or look in the little marsh there where sometimes you can find an interesting rail or shorebird. The construction stops just before the Nature Center which is across the street from the Johnny Allen Cove Trail and that where I went next. I had a slim hope of finding the Clay-colored Sparrow that was seen there yesterday, but as Steve said, with all that construction at the foot of the trail, it wasn't likely to stick around. I suppose the most notable birds in the marsh and the bay were a small flock of Green-winged Teals, a dozen Glossy Ibises that flew in and were immediately invisible in the high vegetation of the marsh, and two American Oystercatchers flying by. 

I was saving the best for the last--Spizzle Creek--where I hoped White Ibis might be. A birder I met on the Johnny Allen trail had just come from there and had 8 of them in the marsh.  Not that they're really that rare anymore, but the novelty hasn't completely worn off. Unfortunately, when I walking back on the cove trail I saw a lot of white birds suddenly take flight across the marsh that separates the two trail and I had a sinking feeling that some of those white birds were ibises. 

Little Blue Heron

Apparently, I was right, because the marshes were devoid of ibises. While I was walking around, I got a text from Steve who'd been informed that I was in the park. He was heading my way. I told him that, of course, the birds I was looking for--the ibises and Little Blue Heron--where nowhere in sight. He texted back that the Little Blues might be hunkered down and just as I was reading his message, one flew out of the reeds, squawked, and landed at the edge of the water. I found another when I backtracked toward the blind. Winter ducks are getting thin in the water, but when Steve & I met up, he did pick out four Greater Scaup hens nestled in with a larger flock of Buffleheads. 

Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Steve asked me if I still need Lesser Black-backed Gull for the year--last month while I was at Barnegat Light I'd sent him a picture of a candidate for the species which he put the gentle kibosh on. He suggested that we look on the beach on the other side of the A20 parking lot after we left Spizzle. We climbed over the dune and before I could begin to scan, he said, "There's two." Amazing. He looked north and thought there were more on sand spit so we walked up a ways and, without looking too hard came up with 7. There are probably more but: You Only Need One. Incidental to the search but good for the day list, were Sanderlings, Red-throated Loon, and a couple of plunge-diving Northern Gannet, always entertaining to watch. 

Four the 4 trails and the brief walk along the ocean I had 51 species:

Species First Sighting                                                                    
Brant    Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
Canada Goose    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Mallard    Reed’s Road
American Black Duck    Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
Green-winged Teal    Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
Greater Scaup    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Bufflehead    Reed’s Road
Red-breasted Merganser    Reed’s Road
Mourning Dove    Reed’s Road
American Oystercatcher    Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
Black-bellied Plover    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Greater Yellowlegs    Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
Sanderling    A20
Laughing Gull    Reed’s Road
American Herring Gull    Reed’s Road
Great Black-backed Gull    A20
Lesser Black-backed Gull    A20
Forster's Tern    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Red-throated Loon    A20
Common Loon    Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
Northern Gannet    A20
Double-crested Cormorant    Reed’s Road
Glossy Ibis    Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
Little Blue Heron    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Tricolored Heron    Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
Snowy Egret    Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
Great Egret    Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
Osprey    Tidal Pond Trail
Belted Kingfisher    Tidal Pond Trail
Northern Flicker    Reed’s Road
Merlin    Reed’s Road
Eastern Phoebe    Tidal Pond Trail
Fish Crow    Reed’s Road
Carolina Chickadee    Tidal Pond Trail
White-breasted Nuthatch    Reed’s Road
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Carolina Wren    Reed’s Road
Brown Thrasher    Reed’s Road
Hermit Thrush    Reed’s Road
American Robin    Reed’s Road
House Finch    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Dark-eyed Junco    Tidal Pond Trail
Song Sparrow    Reed’s Road
Swamp Sparrow    Reed’s Road
Eastern Towhee    Reed’s Road
Red-winged Blackbird    Reed’s Road
Common Grackle    Reed’s Road
Boat-tailed Grackle    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Palm Warbler    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Yellow-rumped Warbler    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Northern Cardinal    Reed’s Road

March Review--20 Year Birds

Immature Bald Eagle, Cranberry Bogs

March came in like a lion...and pretty much went out like one too. Cold and/or windy for most of the month, with only the last couple of days giving a hint of the warm weather to come...which everyone will start complaining about as soon as it arrives. 

Red-headed Woodpecker, Colliers Mills

I wrapped up the month at Double Trouble SP this morning where I heard the familiar buzz of a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, which after about 5 minutes I was able to get eyes on way high up in the just budding trees. That was my 20th year bird for the month, a not-bad number for a mostly winter month. As chronicled here previously, I went to Barnegat Lighthouse SP 3 times and visited my usual haunts like Whitesbog and Colliers Mills, Manahawkin and the cranberry bogs on Dover Road on several occasions. I had a few "rare" birds, mostly birds like Barn Swallow, Tricolored Heron, and Snowy Egret that were just early, though the Sandhill Cranes continued at Whitesbog well into the middle of the month and I think everyone who wanted a look at them got it. I was actually a bit relieved when they finally disappeared, because I was getting tired of trying to explain where Rome Pond or Ditch Meadow is to birders who only know the 3 main bogs. And don't get me started on trying to explain where the borderline between Ocean and Burlington counties is at Whitesbog. I know from looking at pictures that a lot of supposedly Ocean County listings of the crane were really in Burlington. (Am I bit possessive about Whitesbog...oh I don't think so.) 

I was thinking about titling this entry "March Madness," but there was no madness involved other than basic silliness of walking around every day looking at and listening to birds. And typing the phrase "March Madness" exhausts my knowledge of college basketball, which you could not find my interest in with an electron scanning microscope. 

120 species for the month:
Counties birded: Atlantic, Burlington, Ocean
Species   First Sighting
Brant   Bayview Ave Marina
Canada Goose   Lake Carasaljo
Mute Swan   Lake Carasaljo
Tundra Swan   Reeves Bogs
Wood Duck   Reeves Bogs
Blue-winged Teal   Brig
Northern Shoveler   Lake Carasaljo
Gadwall   Lake Shenandoah County Park
American Wigeon   Manahawkin WMA
Mallard   Lake Carasaljo
American Black Duck   Lake Carasaljo
Northern Pintail   Manahawkin WMA
Green-winged Teal   Cranberry Bogs
Redhead   Lake of the Lilies
Ring-necked Duck   Lake Carasaljo
Greater Scaup   Bayview Ave Marina
Lesser Scaup   Lake Carasaljo
Common Eider   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Harlequin Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Surf Scoter   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black Scoter   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Long-tailed Duck   Bayview Ave Marina
Bufflehead   Lake Carasaljo
Common Goldeneye   Brig
Hooded Merganser   Lake Carasaljo
Common Merganser   Lake Carasaljo
Red-breasted Merganser   Bayview Ave Marina
Ruddy Duck   Lake Carasaljo
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon   Manahawkin Lake
Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd
American Coot   Little Silver Lake
Sandhill Crane   Whitesbog
American Oystercatcher   Bayview Ave Marina
Killdeer   Reeves Bogs
Piping Plover   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Long-billed Dowitcher   Brig
American Woodcock   Manahawkin WMA
Wilson's Snipe   Cranberry Bogs
Lesser Yellowlegs   Brig
Greater Yellowlegs   Manahawkin WMA
Ruddy Turnstone   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Sanderling   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Dunlin   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Purple Sandpiper   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Laughing Gull   Baltimore Avenue
Ring-billed Gull   Lake Carasaljo
American Herring Gull   Manahawkin WMA
Great Black-backed Gull   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Pied-billed Grebe   Double Trouble SP
Red-throated Loon   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Loon   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Northern Gannet   Manasquan Inlet
Great Cormorant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
White Ibis   Brig
Black-crowned Night Heron   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Tricolored Heron   Manahawkin WMA
Snowy Egret   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Great Egret   Lake of the Lilies
Great Blue Heron   Whitesbog
Black Vulture   Colliers Mills WMA
Turkey Vulture   Lake Carasaljo
Osprey   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Cooper's Hawk   Whitesbog
Northern Harrier   Manahawkin WMA
Bald Eagle   Reeves Bogs
Red-shouldered Hawk   Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk   Whitesbog
Eastern Screech-Owl   Whitesbog
Belted Kingfisher   Reeves Bogs
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Lake Shenandoah County Park
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Lake Carasaljo
Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Flicker   Whitesbog
American Kestrel   Robert J. Miller Air Park
Eastern Phoebe   Cranberry Bogs
Blue Jay   Lake Carasaljo
American Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Common Raven   Whitesbog
Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Horned Lark   Robert J. Miller Air Park
Tree Swallow   Whitesbog
Purple Martin   Brig
Barn Swallow   Cranberry Bogs
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Reeves Bogs
White-breasted Nuthatch   Reeves Bogs
Red-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Double Trouble SP
Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd
European Starling   Lake Carasaljo
Gray Catbird   Cranberry Bogs
Northern Mockingbird   Lake Carasaljo
Eastern Bluebird   Reeves Bogs
Hermit Thrush   deCamp WildlifeTrail
American Robin   Whitesbog
House Sparrow   Lake Carasaljo
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd
Chipping Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs
Field Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs
Fox Sparrow   Reeves Bogs
Dark-eyed Junco   Lake Carasaljo
White-throated Sparrow   Lake Carasaljo
Savannah Sparrow   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Song Sparrow   Lake Carasaljo
Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee   Cattus Island County Park
Red-winged Blackbird   Lake Carasaljo
Brown-headed Cowbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Rusty Blackbird   Lake Carasaljo
Common Grackle   Lake Carasaljo
Boat-tailed Grackle   Bayview Ave Marina
Palm Warbler   Cranberry Bogs
Pine Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Lake Carasaljo
Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd

Sandhill Cranes, Rome Pond, Whitesbog (Burlington County)

Barnegat Lighthouse SP 3/25--Piping Plover

Piping Plover, with Brant

Why do I keep returning to Barnegat Light? Because, to paraphrase Willie Sutton, that's where the birds are. Potentially, at least. Of the birds on my shopping list this morning, I only found one, Piping Plovers in the mud around the pond, but that was the priority bird, since I don't much enjoy Barnegat Light in the summer when much of it is inaccessible. The other birds I was hoping for--Lesser Black-backed Gull and White-winged Scoter--were not in evidence and it looks like I'm going to have to wait for winter to roll around again (and maybe cadge a ride down the beach at IBSP) in order to put them on the county list. Last week, up at Point Pleasant Beach, I was finally able to see a small flock of Northern Gannets at Manasquan Inlet and 5 Laughing Gulls at Baltimore Avenue. I remember when Pete Bacinski ran an informal contest to see who could see the first Laughing Gull of the year, since he considered it a harbinger of summer. Nowadays, with climate change, you might be able to win the contest on New Year's Day. As it was, the first sighting in NJ this year was March 1. 

American Wigeon

Other notable birds there today were the continuing out-of-place American Wigeons (what are they finding to eat in sandy-bottomed pond?), noisy American Oystercatchers chasing one another around in disputes having to do with either territory or mating--or both, and a very sharp looking Savannah Sparrow of the Ipswich persuasion. 

Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich)

In a reversal from last week when there were 100+ Purple Sandpipers and only 1 Dunlin that I could find among them, today, there was a lone Purple Sandpiper picking at the rocks near the concrete walk and about 35 Dunlins roosting at the end of the jetty. Interesting, in a non-interesting way. 

The day list is similar to last week's:

34 Species:
Brant  150
American Wigeon  2     
Mallard  4
American Black Duck  7
Harlequin Duck  1
Surf Scoter  2
Black Scoter  40
Long-tailed Duck  15
Bufflehead  1
Red-breasted Merganser  10
Mourning Dove  1
American Oystercatcher  7
Piping Plover  3
Dunlin  35
Purple Sandpiper  1
Laughing Gull  1
American Herring Gull  100
Great Black-backed Gull  30
Red-throated Loon  4
Great Cormorant  10
Blue Jay  1     Heard
American Crow  1
Fish Crow  2
Carolina Chickadee  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  1     Parking lot
Northern Mockingbird  3
House Sparrow  2
House Finch  5
Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich)  1
Song Sparrow  3
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Common Grackle  15
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  4

Barnegat Lighthouse SP 3/20--Dunlin, Snowy Egret, Osprey

Snowy Egret

Driving up interminable Central Ave on LBI to Barnegat Lighthouse this morning through what the weather report called "haze," and I call "rain," I thought, "This is not the day to be here." But by the time I pulled into the parking lot the haze stopped and behind the clouds the sun was a silver dollar. Still, I was not optimistic about scoping the ocean but there were other target birds that I thought I might find on the beach. I only found one of them, but I did come up with two surprise species, surprises only because I wasn't thinking about them on this first day of spring. 

The first surprise was a supposed rarity in the big pool--a Snowy Egret among the waterfowl. This is rare only because of the date and probably only by a couple of days. Still, a new bird for the year and one not at the top of my mind. The year bird I saw was another I wasn't considering--an Osprey that flew over me while I was at the ocean's edge, trying to scope ducks in the rolling waves.  At first, I was annoyed that I couldn't get a picture of this year bird and then I remembered, it's an Osprey, there are billions of pictures of Ospreys, the world doesn't need another photo of one. 

Dunlin

I was searching the beach for a Piping Plover, which I never found. I was hoping to get one early, before the beach is stringed-off for the breeding season. All the while I was scanning the two or three big flocks of Purple Sandpipers for something not a Purple Sandpiper. I listed 100 Purples only because that's as much as the eBird filter allows and I wasn't really counting, but I'm certain their numbers were double that. Finally, on my way back, I scanned a flock again and saw a bird with its head tucked in--but different color and clean breast told me it was a Dunlin, FOY. How I managed to go almost 3 months without a Dunlin I don't know--you'd think I'd run into one by accident, even not going to the shore very much. It spent all the time I was standing in front of it with its beak under its wings except for a few seconds when a Purple Sandpiper bothered it and I saw its curved beak, just to cinch the i.d.

I was hoping for Lesser Black-backed Gull today too, and thought I had a good candidate in an immature bird, but after I sent pix to better birders than me, it turned out to only be a Great Black-backed Gull. I like them better when they're adults with easily identifiable yellow legs and charcoal mantles. 

Because the waves were crashing up over the jetty, I couldn't look into the inlet to find the Harlequin Ducks that usually stay close to the rocks. I'll live with the disappointment. For the almost 3 hours I walked the beach I tallied 31 species.

Brant  120
Canada Goose  4
American Wigeon  2     Pool
Mallard  7
American Black Duck  11
Greater Scaup  2
Surf Scoter  4
Black Scoter  40
Long-tailed Duck  35
Red-breasted Merganser  15
Mourning Dove  3
American Oystercatcher  6
Dunlin  1
Purple Sandpiper  100     100+
American Herring Gull  50
Great Black-backed Gull  6
Common Loon  2
Great Cormorant  10
Double-crested Cormorant  2
Snowy Egret  1     Small white egret yellow feet black beak
Osprey  1
Blue Jay  1     Heard
American Crow  2
Carolina Wren  1
House Sparrow  2
House Finch  5
Song Sparrow  3
Red-winged Blackbird  5
Common Grackle  28
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2
Northern Cardinal  2

Barnegat Lighthouse SP 3/10--Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone

My reasoning for avoiding the shore during the cold windy months beginning the year was that "I can see those birds in March, when it's warmer." Well, it's March and today was warmish, so I went to Barnegat Lighthouse SP for a little winter cleanup of birds I didn't have for the year. I really only had two particularly in mind, and I found both within a few minutes of each other. 

Standing on the jetty I had a Great Cormorant fly by me.  I saw Great Cormorants on January 1 at Sandy Hook, but they were so distant, roosting on a channel marker, that they were "if you say so" birds. Today, I had much better looks at them (and they're my first in the county this year). Great Cormorants can be difficult to distinguish from their year-round relative, Double-crested Cormorants most of the time, but in March there is an easy field mark to look out for, a white brood patch on the bird's "hip." Today, scoping the birds lined across the inlet on the Island Beach jetty, these white patches were prominent. While I was standing there, a birder I see at Whitesbog sometimes came up with his son. I said that I'd just seen a Great Cormorant fly by, and his son pumped his fist because that was confirmation that he'd just got a life bird. That's always fun to witness. 

The bird that had eluded me on my rare trips to the shore, Ruddy Turnstone, was next. I had to keep checking a flock of about 100 Purple Sandpipers that were not shy about my presence, in order to find the one turnstone amongst them. Then it was a question of having it stay still long enough to get a usable picture of it. 

Harlequin Ducks

Of course, the Harlequin Ducks were still there, another species that seem to have gotten used to having people peering at it. And most of the other winter ducks were there, though no White-winged Scoter (another for the county list) and certainly no King Eider. I also wanted gannets for the county. I remember 5 years ago, just before everything shut down in mid-March because of Covid, being there with Mike and couple of other birders trying to guesstimate how many thousands of Northern Gannets were flying by that day. So, to paraphrase Bob Dylan, "I coulda done better but I don't mind." 

Surf Scoter

Day list:

33 species
Brant  120
Canada Goose  4
American Wigeon  2
Mallard  20
American Black Duck  5
Greater Scaup  60
Common Eider  15
Harlequin Duck  20
Surf Scoter  3
Black Scoter  30
Long-tailed Duck  85
Bufflehead  35
Red-breasted Merganser  35
Mourning Dove  1
American Oystercatcher  5
Ruddy Turnstone  1
Sanderling  8
Purple Sandpiper  100
American Herring Gull  125
Great Black-backed Gull  2
Red-throated Loon  1
Common Loon  1
Great Cormorant  18
Double-crested Cormorant  1
American Crow  1
House Sparrow  2
House Finch  1
Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich)  2
Song Sparrow  3
Red-winged Blackbird  5
Common Grackle  20
Yellow-rumped Warbler  3
Northern Cardinal  2

Obligatory American Oystercatcher photo for Shari

January Summary

Red-headed Woodpecker, Colliers Mills

It has to be pretty cold in the morning for me not to go out birding. This month there were five days in a row when hypothermia was a potential problem, so I did a lot of feederwatching those days.  And the days when the weather was bearable, I felt I had to walk around, so I didn't spend any time watching the ocean for alcids which appear to have been abundant up by Manasquan Inlet. 

Some of my other notable sightings not previously narrated here were tracking down the Red-headed Woodpecker(s) at Colliers Mills, one time in a grove where I hadn't seen them before; finding a few Savannah Sparrows of the Ipswich persuasion at Barnegat Light yesterday; having 16 turkeys visit us this morning; and finally, perhaps most surprising, was glancing out the window to see a V of Snow Geese fly overhead. Snow Geese have become harder to find in county recently. Time was you could go out to New Egypt and always come across a big flock of them but not no more. So to have them as a backyard bird was a coup for the month. 

A visit to our backyard.

For the month I only managed 105 species. That's what happens when you stay away from the Ocean in Ocean County. But I don't have frost bite either.

Species    First Sighting
Snow Goose    35 Sunset Rd
Brant    Sandy Hook
Canada Goose    35 Sunset Rd
Mute Swan    Manahawkin Lake
Tundra Swan    Whitesbog
Northern Shoveler    Marshall's Pond
Gadwall    Ocean Acres Pond
American Wigeon    Marshall's Pond
Mallard    Whitesbog
American Black Duck    Sandy Hook
Green-winged Teal    Ocean Acres Pond
Canvasback    Riverfront Landing
Redhead    Lake Carasaljo
Ring-necked Duck    Butterfly Bogs WMA
Greater Scaup    Sandy Hook
Common Eider    Sandy Hook
Harlequin Duck    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Surf Scoter    Sandy Hook
White-winged Scoter    Sandy Hook
Black Scoter    Sandy Hook
Long-tailed Duck    Sandy Hook
Bufflehead    Sandy Hook
Common Goldeneye    Harvey Cedars
Hooded Merganser    Bunker Hill Bogs
Common Merganser    Pemberton Lake WMA
Red-breasted Merganser    Sandy Hook
Ruddy Duck    Stafford Township
Wild Turkey    35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon    Manahawkin Lake
Mourning Dove    35 Sunset Rd
Killdeer    Manahawkin Lake
Greater Yellowlegs    Bridge to Nowhere
Sanderling    Sandy Hook
Purple Sandpiper    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Ring-billed Gull    Bunker Hill Bogs
American Herring Gull    Sandy Hook
Great Black-backed Gull    Sandy Hook
Horned Grebe    Sandy Hook
Red-throated Loon    Sandy Hook
Common Loon    Sandy Hook
Northern Gannet    Sandy Hook
Great Cormorant    Sandy Hook
Double-crested Cormorant    Sandy Hook
American Bittern    Manahawkin WMA
Great Egret    Island Beach SP
Great Blue Heron    Sandy Hook
Black Vulture    New Egypt
Turkey Vulture    Sandy Hook
Sharp-shinned Hawk    Whitesbog
Cooper's Hawk    35 Sunset Rd
Northern Harrier    Sandy Hook
Bald Eagle    Sandy Hook
Red-shouldered Hawk    Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk    Forest Resource Education Center
Eastern Screech-Owl    Stafford Avenue
Great Horned Owl    Beach Ave
Long-eared Owl    Redacted
Belted Kingfisher    Manahawkin WMA
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker    Bridge to Nowhere
Red-headed Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker    Whitesbog
Downy Woodpecker    Sandy Hook
Hairy Woodpecker    Whitesbog
Northern Flicker    BC Fairgrounds
Eastern Phoebe    Whitesbog
Blue Jay    Forest Resource Education Center
American Crow    35 Sunset Rd
Common Raven    Sandy Hook
Carolina Chickadee    35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse    35 Sunset Rd
Golden-crowned Kinglet    Whitesbog
White-breasted Nuthatch    35 Sunset Rd
Red-breasted Nuthatch    35 Sunset Rd
Brown Creeper    Colliers Mills WMA
Winter Wren    Whitesbog
Carolina Wren    35 Sunset Rd
European Starling    BC Fairgrounds
Gray Catbird    Manahawkin WMA
Northern Mockingbird    35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Bluebird    Whitesbog
Hermit Thrush    Whitesbog
American Robin    35 Sunset Rd
Cedar Waxwing    Island Beach SP
House Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
House Finch    Sandy Hook
American Goldfinch    Sandy Hook
Snow Bunting    Sandy Hook
Chipping Sparrow    Forest Resource Education Center
Field Sparrow    New Egypt
American Tree Sparrow    Whitesbog
Fox Sparrow    Beach Ave
Dark-eyed Junco    35 Sunset Rd
White-crowned Sparrow    New Egypt
White-throated Sparrow    Forest Resource Education Center
Savannah Sparrow    Ephraim P. Emson Preserve
Song Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow    Cranberry Bogs
Red-winged Blackbird    Bridge to Nowhere
Brown-headed Cowbird    New Egypt
Common Grackle    BC Fairgrounds
Boat-tailed Grackle    Bridge to Nowhere
Pine Warbler    35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler    Sandy Hook
Western Tanager    Sandy Hook
Northern Cardinal    Whitesbog

Ring-necked Duck, Colliers Mills

Barnegat Light SP | Harvey Cedars Sunset Park 1/30--Harlequin Duck, Common Goldeneye, Purple Sandpiper

Common Goldeneye, Harvey Cedars

Today it was a "Let's get 'em on the list day" both for the year and the county. You can find them elsewhere, but supposedly the easiest place to get Harlequin Ducks and Purple Sandpipers is Barnegat Light SP.  Today it was not easy. My first climb up onto the jetty produced lots of other ducks but no Harlequins, nor were Purple Sandpipers in evidence. There were big flocks of ducks on the ocean, including my county Common Eiders, but it took a walk up to the end of the remnants of the old 8th St jetty to finally find a half dozen or so of the Harlequins, mixed in with Buffleheads and Long-tailed Ducks. In my experience, if you can't find them off the jetty, then the walk up the beach is a reliable Plan B, but unfortunately, not a photo op. 

Purple Sandpiper, Barnegat Light SP

I returned to the jetty and despite not liking to do it I clambered up it again. I was happy to get great looks at a small flock of skunkheads (Surf Scoters) and then, turning around, sitting on a rock in the water I found my first Purple Sandpiper, posing. It flew up very close to me (they and the Harlequins are extraordinarily tame), in fact too close for the camera to focus. Eventually, I found a few more out on the rocks on the ocean side, and even two more Harlequins (drake & hen) sitting on a distant stone. 

Walking back through the pond area, I added Snow Bunting to the county list with an active flock of about 15. In the pond itself, aside from the usual Mallards, black ducks, Brant, and geese, were a drake and hen
American Wigeon, fairly unusual for this site. 

Snow Buntings, Barnegat Light SP

For the park I had 28 species, a spectacular number compared to what I've been able to find walking around the Pine Barrens.

Brant  150
Canada Goose  120
American Wigeon  2
Mallard  50
American Black Duck  30
Greater Scaup  60
Common Eider  20
Harlequin Duck  8
Surf Scoter  12
Black Scoter  15
Long-tailed Duck  100
Bufflehead  50
Red-breasted Merganser  70
Sanderling  20
Purple Sandpiper  7
Ring-billed Gull  1
American Herring Gull  300
Great Black-backed Gull  15
Common Loon  1
Double-crested Cormorant  2
Great Blue Heron  1
Blue Jay  1     Heard
American Crow  5
Common Raven  2     Large wedge-tailed croaking corvids
Red-breasted Nuthatch  1     Heard yank yank in cedars
Snow Bunting  15
Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich)  3
Yellow-rumped Warbler  15

Then I drove down to Harvey Cedars for another specialty of the site. Close to shore the water frozen, but farther out there were ducks, mostly Buffleheads and scaup too difficult to separate in the glare, but after the 40th Bufflehead I finally found what I was looking for--Common Goldeneye, actually two good-lucking drakes. For some inexplicable reason, Sunset Park in Harvey Cedars will almost always yield up a goldeneye or two, while you could look up and down the rest of Barnegat Bay and count yourself lucky to find one. 

Earlier in the month, when the deep freeze was on, someone asked me if I was interested in going to Barnegat Light and I said I could wait until March to get the ducks and sandpipers. But apparently the itch for them had to be scratched long before that.