Stafford Forge WMA / Great Bay Blvd WMA 2/7

Stafford Forge WMA

I don't imagine the NJ Dept of Transportation gets many orders for this kind of sign. Stafford Forge is another huge WMA in the pine barrens (within it are the dwarf pine plains), and despite the seemingly remote location on the map, the road passes beneath the Parkway then makes a sudden curve, so the warning is needed for unsuspecting drivers. 

I went there this morning in the hopes of seeing the Tundra Swans that have been reported on the impoundment, but they weren't there, which was a disappointment. Had I felt like walking deep into the area, I suppose I might have turned up something unusual, but I'm always a little wary of WMAs this time of year, even if I wear my orange vest. 

Here's what I did find in about a half an hour scanning the water and looking in the nearby trees:

12 species
Canada Goose  3
Gadwall  4
American Black Duck  4
Mallard  25
Hooded Merganser  5
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1    Heard
Tufted Titmouse  1
Carolina Wren  1    Heard
Song Sparrow  3
White-throated Sparrow  1
Northern Cardinal  3

In order to get my walking in for the day, I drove about 20 minutes over to Great Bay Blvd, which I hadn't visited this year. I was hoping for a little more waterfowl variety than I got--it's a great place for black ducks and Brant right now--and there were, surprisingly to me, no sandpipers or plovers on the beach. The best bird was the last bird I saw on my way back--a Bald Eagle, just barely an adult, with some white mottling still on its back, snacking on something out in the marsh.  

I decided to use Red-breasted Merganser as my Bird A Day entry, thus using up all the mergansers for the year. I'm employing the winter ducks now. If I make it through to next winter in the contest, I'll worry about what to use then--with luck, I'll still have quite a few reliables to fill out the year. 

The list for marshes and inlet of Great Bay Blvd WMA:

14 species
Brant  125
American Black Duck  200
Bufflehead  3
Hooded Merganser  4
Red-breasted Merganser  8
Great Blue Heron  2
Northern Harrier  2
Bald Eagle  1    
Ring-billed Gull  100
Herring Gull  15
Great Black-backed Gull  4
European Starling  25
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2
Boat-tailed Grackle  75

Crestwood Village 2/2--Hermit Thrush

Temperature in the mid 20's and the winds calm--lately, that seems like pretty good weather. I was determined to get out and move around after another sedentary day yesterday, so I took one of my neighborhood walks. This walk includes suburban streets, a couple of wood lots, an artificial pond, a power-line cut, and a drainage basin behind CVS. I still think it's pretty amazing what I can find in such seemingly unpromising habitat.

The Bird A Day was a Hermit Thrush I found in the woods at the back of the pond on Schoolhouse Road. These birds aren't particularly rare, just relatively hard to find--hence "hermit." The pond was half frozen, which concentrated the Mallards and gulls for easy viewing. Nothing rare or remarkable there.

In the woods near the entrance to Village 5 (I always think it sounds like we live in interment camps here) I could hear the flock of turkeys moving around and found three of them, one male, tail spread, strutting whether to impress the hens or the other toms I couldn't tell.

For my two hours outside I tallied 21 species and 10 frozen fingers despite wearing 2 pairs of gloves.
Canada Goose  1    Heard
Mallard  63
Wild Turkey  3    In woods off Schoolhouse & Penwood
Turkey Vulture  1
Ring-billed Gull  13
Mourning Dove  3
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1    Heard
Downy Woodpecker  2    Tree, corner of Pembroke
Blue Jay  5
American Crow  1
Carolina Chickadee  15
Tufted Titmouse  5
Red-breasted Nuthatch  2
White-breasted Nuthatch  2
Carolina Wren  1    Heard
Hermit Thrush  1
Song Sparrow  2
Dark-eyed Junco  5
Northern Cardinal  2
House Finch  2
American Goldfinch  2

January Review & List

It was a spectacular way to kick off the new year. I can't think of a better birding month we've had on the East Coast. Three rare geese, the elusive cranes, one life bird finally tracked down, and, of course, what will probably be the highlight of our birding pursuits--finding 3 Northern Lapwings in a muddy cow pasture 15.1 miles from here. The lapwings have attracted wide-spread attention, with birders arriving from all over the country to view them. For a couple of days, when the weather was extremely cold, they disappeared to the disappointment of some long-distance travelers, only to reappear a few days ago. As of yesterday, they were still in the same field where Shari first found them moving around. We were able to see them on 3 different occasions. I went back there this week to look for the Sandhill Cranes again, because I felt like I'd given them short shrift the day they flew in when all the lapwing excitement started. I easily found them in the field east of the cow pasture. That was the day I had the sad duty of telling a couple from Michigan who had driven 10 hours, that the lapwings were gone--temporarily as it turned out.

The first rare goose we found was Cackling Goose, which turned up in Duke Island Park when we were looking for Greater White-front Goose (which is the only goose rarity that's eluded us so far), which was a kind of a rehearsal for finding the lapwings. Look for one bird (cranes), find another.

Pink-footed Goose we chased down on the 2nd day it was in Toms River. It moved around quite a bit while it was here--from a retention pond in a shopping mall, to a golf course, to a soccer field and then back to the pond and golf course. That was a fun one to chase, so close to home.

Seeing 2 Barnacle Geese in Assunpink was almost too easy. It was a case of don't look for bird, look for birders. Barnacle Goose is close to becoming commonplace in New Jersey--there are at least 3 of them, possibly 4 in the state. And they're not being challenged as they once were--a few years ago, reports of Barnacle Goose were met with skepticism as to the origin. Now, it seem pretty well established that these are Wrong-way Corrigans from Greenland and not escapees.  There's also debate as to how many Pink-footed Geese are around--probably more than one is the consensus.

Then there was our first lifer of the year: NORTHERN SHRIKE. It was satisfying to finally find this bird for a couple of reasons. For one thing, we once thought we had Northern Shrike at Jones Beach on Long Island a few years ago, only to have it turn into Loggerhead Shrike after much Internet debate. Secondly, it was our 4th try for the bird and it was starting to get frustrating, but we were determined to find it, so rose early and made our way up to Assunpink just after sunrise and luckily got on the bird for about a minute with the help of some other birders.

Throw in the Tricolored Heron I saw on Long Beach Island, a rarity for this time of year, along with some lovely ducks, and it was a great month to be birding.

The full list: 97 species (wish I could have rounded it out to 100).
Counties Birded:
New Jersey: Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset
New York: Nassau, New York

Species                                Location

Pink-footed Goose         St Joe's Soccer Field

Snow Goose         Jones Beach SP

Brant         Jones Beach SP

Barnacle Goose         Assunpink WMA

Cackling Goose         Duke Island Park

Canada Goose         Jones Beach SP

Mute Swan         Assunpink WMA

Tundra Swan         White's Bogs

Wood Duck         Central Park

Gadwall         Manasquan Reservoir IBA

American Wigeon         Shark River

American Black Duck         Assunpink WMA

Mallard         Crestwood Village

Canvasback         Riverfront Landing

Ring-necked Duck         Riverfront Landing

Greater Scaup         Riverfront Landing

Lesser Scaup         Riverfront Landing

Common Eider         Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Harlequin Duck         Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Black Scoter         Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Long-tailed Duck         Jones Beach SP

Bufflehead         Horicon Lake

Common Goldeneye         Cattus Island County Park

Hooded Merganser         Horicon Lake

Common Merganser         Assunpink WMA

Red-breasted Merganser         Jones Beach SP

Ruddy Duck         Assunpink WMA

Wild Turkey         Crestwood Village

Red-throated Loon         Jones Beach SP

Common Loon         Jones Beach SP

Pied-billed Grebe         Riverfront Landing

Horned Grebe         Jones Beach SP

Double-crested Cormorant         Jones Beach SP

Great Blue Heron         Duke Island Park

Tricolored Heron         Bayview Ave Park

Black Vulture         New Egypt--Brynmore / Big Woods Rd.

Turkey Vulture         Crestwood Village

Osprey         Manasquan Reservoir IBA

Northern Harrier         Mercer Sod Farm IBA

Cooper's Hawk         35 Sunset Rd

Bald Eagle         Rt 539 New Egypt

Red-shouldered Hawk         Assunpink WMA

Red-tailed Hawk         Randolph Rd

American Coot         Manasquan Reservoir IBA

Sandhill Crane         New Egypt--Brynmore / Big Woods Rd.

êNorthern Lapwing        New Egypt--Brynmore / Big Woods Rd.

Killdeer         Duke Island Park

American Oystercatcher         Jones Beach SP

Sanderling         Seven Presidents Park

Ring-billed Gull         Jones Beach SP

Herring Gull         Jones Beach SP

Great Black-backed Gull         Jones Beach SP

Razorbill         Shark River Inlet

Rock Pigeon         Jones Beach SP

Mourning Dove         Utterby Rd, Malverne

Belted Kingfisher         Horicon Lake

Red-bellied Woodpecker         Utterby Rd, Malverne

Downy Woodpecker         35 Sunset Rd

Hairy Woodpecker         Scherman-Hoffman

Northern Flicker         Assunpink WMA

Pileated Woodpecker         Scherman-Hoffman

American Kestrel         New Egypt--Brynmore / Big Woods Rd.

Merlin         Crestwood Village

Eastern Phoebe         Double Trouble State Park

NORTHERN SHRIKE         Assunpink WMA

Blue Jay         Utterby Rd, Malverne

American Crow         Jones Beach SP

Carolina Chickadee         35 Sunset Rd

Black-capped Chickadee         Scherman-Hoffman

Tufted Titmouse         35 Sunset Rd

Red-breasted Nuthatch         Whiting WMA

White-breasted Nuthatch         35 Sunset Rd

Brown Creeper         Assunpink WMA

Winter Wren         Assunpink WMA

Carolina Wren         Crestwood Village

Golden-crowned Kinglet         Crestwood Village

Ruby-crowned Kinglet         Assunpink WMA

Eastern Bluebird         Crestwood Village

American Robin         Utterby Rd, Malverne

Northern Mockingbird         Jones Beach SP

European Starling         Utterby Rd, Malverne

Palm Warbler         Bayview Ave Park

Yellow-rumped Warbler         Assunpink WMA

American Tree Sparrow         Jones Beach SP

Field Sparrow         Assunpink WMA

Song Sparrow         Jones Beach SP

White-throated Sparrow         Utterby Rd, Malverne

White-crowned Sparrow         Assunpink WMA

Dark-eyed Junco         Jones Beach SP

Northern Cardinal         Utterby Rd, Malverne

Red-winged Blackbird         Jones Beach SP

Common Grackle         Manasquan Reservoir IBA

Boat-tailed Grackle         Bayview Marina

House Finch         Whiting WMA

Pine Siskin         Whiting WMA

American Goldfinch         35 Sunset Rd

House Sparrow         Utterby Rd, Malverne

Crestwood Village 1/30--Merlin

Suddenly a Spring-like day appeared and I took advantage of it by taking a long walk around the neighborhood. Song Sparrows and House Finches were singing. The pond on Stonybrook was frozen over, so the kingfisher I was hoping for was not present. Every bird I turned up on my walk was "reliable" until I got to the end of Congasia, where there is an entrance for the Crossley Preserve. While looking up into a pine tree, trying to locate a cardinal incessantly calling (I like to see my birds, if I can), I saw skimming over the tree tops a small gray-brown falcon with pointed wings--my first Merlin of the year. Never did see the cardinal, though.

Seven Presidents Park 1/27--Sanderling

On our way up the Parkway to the Metropark train station, we detoured on Rt 36 and spent about 45 minutes birding Seven Presidents Park in Long Branch.  (Seven presidents reputedly summered in Long Branch; let's see...Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Harrison, McKinley, and Wilson.) Birds were sparse in the trees, in the field, on the beach, and in the ocean. Except for gulls; plenty of gulls. I considered using Brant for Bird A Day, then Yellow-rumped Warbler, but settled on one of my favorites, the little wind-up toy-like Sanderlings, a few of which were scurrying along the edge of the water and were FOY.  We were only able to garner 11 species; neither of us felt like standing too long in the cold waiting for ducks to fly by.
Brant  125
Canada Goose  25
Greater/Lesser Scaup  2
Bufflehead  12
Ruddy Duck  10
Sanderling  4
Ring-billed Gull  200
Herring Gull  50
American Crow  1    Heard
Northern Mockingbird  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  3
Song Sparrow  1

We drove up Rt 36 through some of the Sandy-damaged towns along that long spit of land that terminates in Sandy Hook of sainted memory. Speaking of saints:  

 We came across this boat atop a sand pile in Monmouth Beach. I make no speculations as to whether the grouping is deliberate or random.

From a different angle the scene becomes more dramatic.

Seeing these abandoned stuffed toys reminded me of a scene from a few weeks ago when I was on Long Beach Island:

Has anyone considered that there was so much debris spread around because we have so much junk to start out with?

Assunpink WMA 1/26--Barnacle Goose

Every day for the past 5 days I've tried to motivate myself to bundle up and get out of the house to look for birds, but aside from a quick ride to see the Wild Turkeys a few blocks from here, I haven't been able to do it. I just hate the cold. This morning I had to go out to fix a couple of feeders--the constant cold and ice from last night's storm had snapped their strings (amazing since one of them was held up by parachute cord) and in the 5 or 10 minutes I was out there rehanging and filling them up I thought my fingers were going to snap off.

Shari was feeling all cooped up too, so when she asked where we might go today where we could bird relatively comfortably (meaning, near the warmth of the car), the temptation to go to Assunpink to see the 2 Barnacle Geese reported there overcame my loathing of the cold. 4 layers of shirts, long underwear, 2 pairs of gloves, a dickey, my heavy coat and I was ready to go. I couldn't lift my arms swathed in so many layers, but I was ready to go.

Assunpink Lake was 90% frozen. We saw a few birders to the right side of the parking lot and out on the ice and in a small patch of open water a large flock of geese. Setting up my scope one birder said to me, "Right edge of the flock." I found them right away. 2 Barnacle Geese is a record for me and the thought is that these are a pair. Barnacle Geese, like most geese, mate for life, so it's interesting that this might not be just one lost goose but one lost goose with a faithful companion.

Not much else was on the lake. A Bald Eagle flew overhead. We decided to drive over to Allentown and look around there and afterward have some lunch. The ponds at Mercer Corporate Park were also, unsurprisingly, frozen, though we did find a couple of Gadwalls and the always amusing American Coots.

Finally, we decided to swing by Brynmore Road to see if the lapwings had stayed around after last night's snow fall. Apparently they had, but had flown off this morning according to one sad birder I spoke to who had "just missed them by five minutes," that doleful refrain. We hung around, not gigantically disappointed, for 20 minutes or so. Brief excitement when 3 Killdeer flew in, but no lapwings. I hope one of the people who saw them this morning was a guy I'd been corresponding with the last few days who was driving 450 miles from North Carolina to see them.

The good news, for me, was that, with no wind and the temperatures reaching into the balmy mid-20's, I was very comfortable standing outside. Maybe I'll do it again tomorrow.

Crestwood Village 1/24--Wild Turkeys

Click picture for larger image

Even though Shari thinks my Bird A Day game is one more stupid obsession, she is such a good wife that when, returning from Stop & Shop, she saw a flock of Wild Turkeys skittering across Penwood, she called me from the car, told to me to put on my shoes, she'd be at the house in 2 minutes, then drove me back over there so I could use the turkeys for today's entry. I only need one for the day, but here are 14.

I like birding but I don't like frost-bite. The last 3 days have been bitterly cold for New Jersey--temperatures have not risen above 20 degrees--so my birding has been confined to looking out the window at the feeders, which means I've had to use up yard birds like Dark-eyed Junco and White-throated Sparrow the last couple of days as my BAD entries. They at least are winter birds which I don't mind using (although it would be good to keep them for the end of the year, if I were to last that long in the game), but today I thought I was going to have list one of the "reliables," and if I start employing them too early I probably won't last through the spring.  So chalk up a "save" for Shari.