End of Year Birding--Barnegat Branch Trail, Forsythe--Barnegat, Barnegat Beach

Last year at this time we were up to our necks in Brooklyn snow. Today, the temperature was in the 50's with almost no wind. I found myself at one point with my jacket off and my sleeves rolled up.

Shari wanted to ride her bike on the Barnegat Branch Trail, a trail that Ocean County is developing on an old railroad right-of-way. The portion she was riding (and I was birding) is about 3 miles long. So while she zipped up and down the trail, I moseyed along, looking into the bare trees. I found enough to keep me interested and I think during spring migration this trail might have a lot of possibilities. There is some water bordering the trail, a nice mix of oak, pine, and holly trees, and part of it runs through a section of Forsythe NWR.
BARNEGAT BRANCH TRAIL
12 species
Mallard  11
Turkey Vulture  6
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Blue Jay  2
American Crow  7
Carolina Chickadee  5
Tufted Titmouse  1
Carolina Wren  1
Hermit Thrush  2
American Robin  20
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1
Dark-eyed Junco  1
The trail is very close to Forsythe-Barnegat, so since we were in the neighborhood, we drove down Route 9 about a mile to Bayshore Drive mid-afternoon. Again, the observation deck was absolutely barren of birds, but the cut in the phragmites across from Barnegat Beach had a good assortment of waterfowl, though not as impressive as the last 2 visits.
FORSYTHE--BARNEGAT
11 species
Canada Goose  10
Mute Swan  9
Gadwall  15
Mallard  10
Northern Shoveler  1
Northern Pintail  3
Hooded Merganser  3
Great Blue Heron  4
Turkey Vulture  2
American Coot  50
Herring Gull  1
The highlight of the day for me was the 34 Fish Crows I saw flying over Barnegat Beach. They were the 96th species of this month. Nothing new in the bay itself. 
BARNEGAT BEACH
6 species
Long-tailed Duck  15
Bufflehead  8
Common Loon  1
Ring-billed Gull  3
Great Black-backed Gull  1
Fish Crow  34
So that's pretty much it for the year. I'll wrap up December in another post and 2011 itself in yet another. The last bird seen this year: Turkey Vulture, a kettle flying over Route 9. I don't believe in omens, though.