Barnegat Light SP 1/9

Red-breasted Merganser, hen

I didn't know what conditions to expect at Barnegat Light today, whether the concrete walkway would be clear or if there would be a foot of snow on the beach. I did suspect, correctly, that the jetty would be coated in ice. At Shari's suggestion, I wore my ice cleats, which was a good idea because no sooner did I open the car door in the parking lot than my foot slid on the asphalt.

The inlet itself was pretty much open except for the shallow areas near the shore. Red-breasted Mergansers were the most prevalent bird in the water, but mixed in with them were a few other ducks, the most surprising of which was a drake Redhead associating with a few Greater Scaup. I've never seen a Redhead in the inlet, but as my friend Linda said yesterday, so much of the water around here is frozen that birds are being forced into areas they don't usually frequent.

Unlike last time I was at the park, just before Christmas, there were no construction vehicles digging up the sand, so I could walk on the beach along, not on, the jetty. And the walking was comparatively easy--the ground was gelid so it was more like walking on soft dirt than trudging ankle deep in loose sand.

Ruddy Turnstones

There was nothing down the mile walk except gulls, but at the end of the jetty I clambered up to a big flat rock where I got, looking west, my Ocean County Harlequin Ducks for the year and looking east, my FOY Purple Sandpipers. If I don't get those two birds there at this time of year, then the birding world is seriously out of kilter.

On the jetty and the beach were three other shorebirds--Dunlins, Sanderlings, and FOY Ruddy Turnstones. By then, some of the ice had melted into treacherous puddles or convenient birdbaths, depending on what species you happen to be.

Looking north, toward the Island Beach jetty, there was a large flock of Common Eiders, but they were much too distant to try to pry out a King Eider. Down at the end of the jetty and north to the old 8th Street jetty and beyond, were large flocks of Long-tailed Ducks and scaup. Surprisingly, I only found two Black Scoters. More surprisingly, near the jetty, I found 3 Common Goldeneyes, yet another new species for this park. This is the second time this year I've encountered goldeneyes in a new place--last week I found one off the Winter Anchorage at Island Beach SP. The part of the Barnegat Bay, where I normally see them, was a sheet of ice, so, as Linda said, they have to go somewhere.

Going back up the beach I walked the edge of the dunes; alas, no Snow Buntings. Will they be my nemesis bird for Ocean County again this year?

I had 26 species for my beach walk and it felt good to get moving after a week of only being able to make quick forays out of the house, if I could get out at all. At the Bayview Marina I added Fish Crow to the year list. On Rt 72, just off the bridge, a Merlin flew in front of the car.

26 species
Brant 10
Mallard 1 near jetty by lighthouse
Redhead 1
Greater Scaup 200
Common Eider 50
Harlequin Duck 8
Black Scoter 2
Long-tailed Duck 200
Bufflehead 50
Common Goldeneye 3
Red-breasted Merganser 200
Common Loon 15
Great Cormorant 6
Double-crested Cormorant 2
Ruddy Turnstone 25
Sanderling 30
Dunlin 20
Purple Sandpiper 10
Ring-billed Gull 10
Herring Gull 200
Great Black-backed Gull 25
American Crow 2
Carolina Wren 1 Heard
Yellow-rumped Warbler 10
Savannah Sparrow 1 On the jetty.
House Finch 8

Shark River Inlet 1/8--Tufted Duck

Tufted Duck (hen) in front of Greater Scaup (drake)
Photos: © Peggy Cadigan

Serendipity. Shari & I, for reasons too boring to explain, had to be up at her office in Ocean this morning. While she was attending to business, I got an alert on my phone--the hen Tufted Duck, reported yesterday, was still there, at the Shark River Inlet, a mere 13 minutes away. Traffic lights, all ill-timed, probably slowed us down to 16 minutes; arriving, and parking next to a snow bank, we saw the expected bird mob looking intently out to the ocean. Half the birders there we knew, and it didn't take them very long to get on us this really rare Aythya species. A drake would have been nicer, especially since I got skunked last year on one, but the hen is distinct enough not to cause any second thoughts--the little tuft (much more prominent in the drake) was easily viewed, the very dark back and the chocolate flanks, all added up to good field marks even from a fair distance. However, getting a photo of this constant diver with my slow-focusing camera and very cold hands was another story.

Fortunately for us, our friend, and very fine photographer, Peggy was among the crowd and she was able to take some really good pictures that permit me to illustrate this entry.

The water was full of ducks, fairly close in, mostly scaup, and mostly Greater Scaup. I know there were Lesser Scaup mixed in, but it still isn't warm enough for me to sift through scaups, judging head shape. Shari found a couple of Black Scoters, farther out, beyond the breakers, and Scott got us on the hen Harlequin Duck (also reported yesterday) that was near one of the jetties. Harlequin Duck is a rarity in Monmouth County (yet, practically a gimme at Barnegat Light SP) so that, along with the Tufted Duck gave me 2 new life birds for Monmouth. There were other ducks and waterfowl there and had weather, time, and freezing wife allowed, I probably would have a longer list, but the theme so far this year seems to be rarities (or at least hard to find birds) over quantity.

14 species
Brant 15
Canada Goose 1
Tufted Duck 1
Greater Scaup 200
Harlequin Duck 1
Black Scoter 2
Long-tailed Duck 5
Bufflehead 10
Common Goldeneye 2
Common Loon 5
Black-bellied Plover 2
Sanderling 3
Ring-billed Gull 10

Herring Gull 5 

Mathis Park 1/7--3 More Ducks

Canvasbacks, Toms River

Zero degrees upon awakening this morning; I wasn't about to make the same mistake as yesterday and go off looking for birds. I was tempted--there were some interesting sightings from yesterday up in Point Pleasant Beach by more intrepid souls than me. But then I thought about the 45 minute drive only to arrive at snow drifts blocking parking and access, not to mention standing in the cold and took a nap instead.

By early afternoon it had "warmed up" to 18 degrees, 50% warmer than it ever got yesterday, and there was a report from Mathis Veteran's Park in South Toms River of Common Mergansers. Not a rarity, but a difficult bird for the county--the other places I had considered going for them were sure to be iced over. This stretch of the Toms River is not a place you usually think of finding Common Mergansers, so, it only being 10 miles away, I got in the car and drove over. In the back of my mind I was also hoping for Redheads among the Canvasbacks. Canvasbacks there are reliable; Redheads less so.

This is only the 2nd time I've visited this park--it is across the water from Riverfront Landing where I usually stop to look for winter ducks. It is actually a better vantage point of the water; it is just a little out of my way. When I arrived, half the water was frozen with lots of gulls standing & sitting on the ice floes.

Greater Black-backed and Ring-billed Gulls

Just as I was getting out of the car I got an alert that there were indeed Redheads in the water. The alert came from the car parked in front of me, a birder I know and she quickly got me on both the Redheads and the Common Mergansers. The Redheads were drakes. The mergansers were hens and at first I took them for Red-breasted, but they had all the right field marks for the bigger ducks. A little later we spotted a drake Common Merganser; always nice to get the non-confusing drake.

There were the usual other ducks there, but I wasn't inclined to stand in the cold too much longer--it was comparatively warm, but it wasn't warm. My friend got back in her car (she, more rugged than me, had other birding stops planned), and just as I was about to pack up the scope I saw a hen Hooded Merganser. I got her out of the car, showed her the bird, and then put away the optics, got in my car, and turned the setting of the heater to "blasting." Good: with the hoodie ticked, I didn't have to make a stop on the way home at Wranglebrook where you can sometimes find those ducks; it looked mostly frozen anyway when I passed by.

My year count is up to 53. Today's list is 13. So far the year has been quality over quantity.
13 species (+1 other taxa)
Canada Goose 25
Mallard 5
American Black Duck 1
Mallard x American Black Duck (hybrid) 1
Canvasback 20 Around the marina across the water
Redhead 6 two "flocks" of 3
Ring-necked Duck 5
Bufflehead 10
Hooded Merganser 1
Common Merganser 3
Ruddy Duck 100
Ring-billed Gull 50
Herring Gull 10
Great Black-backed Gull 15

Backyard 1/6--Cooper's Hawk

A "bomb cyclone" (there's a new one) which brought a foot of snow to us on Thursday, coupled with bone-chilling temperatures since Day One of the New Year, has really put a crimp in my year list.

I've tried. After two house-bound days, I went to Forked River on an errand and tried to look at the bay from Sands Point Reserve, but I could only stand the 12 degree temperature and -4 wind chill for 7 minutes. I managed to add Red-breasted Merganser to the year list.

Driving up Rt 9, a small flock of American Robins flew across the highway. It took six days to see a robin? I made a few other stops where I thought I might see some birds from the relative warmth of the car, but most of the water is frozen and the snow drifts don't allow you to pull over to the side--nothing like being stopped in the middle of a slippery road, hoping a car doesn't come up behind you to keep you from a long search for birds.

I gave up, came home, thawed out, and looked out the windows off and on. Not many birds at the feeders and then I saw why--an immature Cooper's Hawk was making the rounds from limb to limb. I took about 25 pictures, most of which turned out to be very nicely focused photos of tree branches. The picture above is about as good as I could get. The hawk was bird number 50 for the year.

Tomorrow's weather sounds no better than today's. The thaw, meaning temperatures in the bearable 30's, comes Monday.

Corine's Millpond 1/3--Greater White-fronted Goose

Winter is rare goose season. Get 'em while you can is the philosophy espoused by my buddy Bob Auster. There's a Pink-footed Goose up near him in Somerset County, but life is not allowing me to get up that way right now, so when I got an alert this morning about a Greater White-fronted Goose in Allentown, which is only about 30 minutes from here, I was hoping that it would stay long enough for me to get up there after I was done with some chores. Interestingly, this bird was found by none other than my friend Scott, who pointed me toward the last GWFG a couple of weeks ago in December. Ah, those halcyon days of December when it was warm enough to rain!  The thermometer hasn't been above the freezing mark since.

Corine's Millpond is right on Main Street in Allentown. In the winter it usually full of waterfowl and is always a good place to check if you're in the area. My only Cackling Goose last year was at the pond. A good portion of the pond was iced over, not that it mattered to the thousands of Canada & Snow Geese that were honking up a storm. Altogether, there were probably close to 3000 geese on the pond--finding the one I wanted was going to be a challenge. Happily, another birder I know was there.  I started on the left and scanned each group of geese (making note of the few Ring-necked Ducks mixed in). I'd only gotten about a quarter of the way through the flocks when she came down to the deck I was standing on and pointed out the area where the GWFG was standing. Standing is good--it give you another field mark to search for. It took a moment to find it; the orange legs were the first giveaway and then it turned it's head and I saw the pinkish bill and the eponymous "white-front." Always good to see the white on the face--otherwise you wonder if all you're really looking at is a domestic Graylag Goose.

We looked, in a desultory manner, for a Cackling Goose or a Ross's Goose, but they don't stand out the way a Greater White-fronted does. Someone more methodical than me might actually have found one.

So, another rarity out of the way, although I'll still chase should one show up in my home county.

Backyard 1/3--Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Another frigid morning. I looked out the window and saw a gray shape huddled against the pine tree. It turned out to be a fluffed up Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. It will need a little warmer weather to get any sap from that tree flowing. Sapsuckers turn up in our backyard only a couple of times of year, so seeing it first thing in the morning got the day off to a good start. It qualifies as my "one cool bird a day." The bonus is that today is a Feederwatch day, so it gets to go on that list too.

And Here We Go Again

Snowy Owl, Island Beach SP

Usually,we kick off the New Year with a birding trip, trying to jump start the year list, but New Year's Day was just too bitterly cold to do anything other than occasionally look out our friend's window on Long Island and find the most common of birds.

Today wasn't much better, but when the temperature read 20 degrees at mid-morning, I had to give it a try. After ticking off our common yard birds, I drove to Island Beach SP, stopping first at Riverfront Park in Toms River where I got Canvasbacks onto the list.

The air temperature may have read mid-20's in the afternoon, but on the beach, with the wind, it was a lot colder. I made a couple of trips through the dune paths to the ocean, but there was hardly a bird to be found. I stopped at the Winter Anchorage on the bay side and was pleased to find a hen Common Goldeneye, not a duck I expect at that location, and another one that I usually make a special trip to find. I also spotted a good flock of Dunlins and a single Black-bellied Plover, a giant among shorebirds at this time of year.

I drove to end southern end of the park, planning to do a a quick seawatch there. On the beach access sand road I saw a couple of photographers pointing cameras at a dune--so here was my Snowy Owl out of the way for the year. I never feel comfortable viewing one of these owls so close even though I know that research shows that they're not ill, weak, or particularly vulnerable. Still, I shot some pictures from a respectable distance and then scooted out of there. And now I don't need to search for one for the rest of the year.

I did do a quick look at the ocean--a nice flock of Long-tailed Ducks were in the breakers and a large group of Sanderlings were feeding on the beach. My right hand was starting to become painful from the exposure of carrying the scope and since, as usual, I was having no luck finding Snow Buntings, I decided I was done for the day. The day list was 35. That's enough.

Checklists included in this summary:
(1): Backyard
(2): Riverfront Landing
(3): Island Beach SP
(4): SE Central Ave, Berkeley

(5): Tunney Bridge

(6): Toms River

15 Brant  (3)
10 Canada Goose  (2)

10 Mute Swan—(5)
70 Mallard  (2)
150 American Black Duck  (3)
20 Canvasback  (2)
30 Ring-necked Duck  (2)
50 Long-tailed Duck  (3)
40 Bufflehead  (3)
1 Common Goldeneye  (3)
35 Ruddy Duck  (2)
1 Common Loon  (3)
1 Double-crested Cormorant  (4)
1 Black-bellied Plover  (3)
100 Sanderling  (3)
50 Dunlin  (3)

1 Turkey Vulture (6)
5 Ring-billed Gull  (3)
100 Herring Gull  (3)
1 Great Black-backed Gull  (3)
1 Mourning Dove  (1)
1 Snowy Owl  (3)
1 Downy Woodpecker  (1)
3 Carolina Chickadee  (1),(3)
1 Tufted Titmouse  (1)
2 White-breasted Nuthatch  (1)

1 Carolina Wren (1)

10 Yellow-rumped Warbler  (3)
11 Dark-eyed Junco  (1)
1 White-throated Sparrow  (1)
1 Song Sparrow  (2)
1 Swamp Sparrow  (3)
1 Northern Cardinal  (1)
12 House Finch  (1),(3)
4 American Goldfinch  (1)

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Winter Anchorage