Brigantine 8/5--No FOY

Any day you can see, in NJ, a Black-bellied Whistling Duck and an American White Pelican in the same place, in practically the same scope view, along with 14 species of shorebirds ought to be considered a great day of birding. And it was. But.

But: There were Pectoral Sandpipers at Brigantine and we didn't see them, or if we did see them, we didn't know we were looking at them and I suspect that's the case, plus there were a couple of Black Terns flying around the Southwest Pool that we missed. Both would have been first of year. I don't mind  missing the terns, too much, because they're hard to spot on the wing, but identifying shorebirds can be so frustrating, especially when you know the species is around but you can't find it due a combination of lack of skills, lack of patience, and irritation due to the wind which was one of the reasons, other than a personality flaw, that I had no patience. However, the pat ourselves on the back category, we were able to sort out some Western Sandpipers from the horde of semis, we were able to find a couple of Stilt Sandpipers, and there were a few Long-billed Dowitchers that we saw as pretty obvious.

The Black-bellied Duck gave us great views this week--it was in plain view on a large mud flat in the Northwest Pool, and the pelican was easy to see naked eye. The bird is so big that, next to the gulls and terns around it, it looks more like a cargo plane that landed in the impoundment than a bird.

Despite making the scope wobble, the wind has distinct advantages mid-summer at Brig.
1) Despite the 90 degree temperature and lack of shade, it kept us fairly cool.
2) Very few greenhead flies to torment us.

So, I'll count it a successful day with a Heinz 57 varieties of birds:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck  1    NW Pool
Snow Goose  1    continuing bird, SW Pool
Canada Goose  115
Mute Swan  6
American Black Duck  17
Mallard  12
Double-crested Cormorant  30
American White Pelican  1    NW pool
Great Blue Heron  3
Great Egret  70
Snowy Egret  70
Glossy Ibis  50
Osprey  16
Northern Harrier  1
Peregrine Falcon  1
Black-bellied Plover  21
Semipalmated Plover  35
Greater Yellowlegs  1
Willet  3
Lesser Yellowlegs  2
Whimbrel  1
Semipalmated Sandpiper  600
Western Sandpiper  5
Least Sandpiper  1
White-rumped Sandpiper  2
Dunlin  1
Stilt Sandpiper  2
Short-billed Dowitcher  200
Long-billed Dowitcher  3
Laughing Gull  205
Ring-billed Gull  1
Herring Gull  200
Great Black-backed Gull  50
Least Tern  4
Gull-billed Tern  6
Caspian Tern  5
Common Tern  1
Forster's Tern  200
Royal Tern  1
Black Skimmer  26
Mourning Dove  2
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1    On No Fishing sign, exit pond
Eastern Kingbird  2
Blue Jay  1    Heard
American Crow  2
Fish Crow  3
Purple Martin  1    Gull Pond
Tree Swallow  60
Barn Swallow  5
House Wren  2    Picnic tables
Gray Catbird  1    Heard near HQ
European Starling  70
Common Yellowthroat  1    Heard, Gull Pond
Chipping Sparrow  1    Heard, picnic tables
Seaside Sparrow  1
Red-winged Blackbird  10
American Goldfinch  2    Heard