First bird, best bird. I met Mike yesterday morning at 5 A.M down on Beach Avenue in Manahawkin, where we have started our section of the Barnegat Christmas Bird Count ever since the days when Pete Bacinksi was still with us. Owling is the goal and we're happy if we hear a few Great Horned Owls or Eastern Screech-Owls. But nothing was calling down at the end of the road, so we drove about a quarter mile up the broken asphalt. As soon as we both got out of our cars we said, simultaneously, "Did you hear that?!" What we had heard, as if it was right next to us, was a harsh hoot, which we were pretty certain was a Long-eared Owl. Playing the call on my phone confirmed it. We heard it again, but this time much farther away in the woods to the north. Still, Long-eared Owl, a "sensitive" species, is a great bird for the year. It is the second time I've heard one there. The first time was with the aforementioned Pete on the CBC of 2016.
Mike heard a screech-owl on Beach, but I missed it, so it wasn't until we moved over to Stafford Avenue which runs between the state's Manahawkin WMA and Forsythe's Bridge to Nowhere section (which is crazy-making when you're trying to keep accurate lists), that I heard one, along with a couple of Great Horneds.
As it was just about dawn, we moved down Stafford to its end where the actual Bridge to Nowhere sits. Once, on a previous CBC, Mike and I saw hundreds, if not a thousand, Boat-tailed Grackles levitate from the marsh at sun-up. We didn't get that show yesterday, but we did have a big flock fly across. Because all the water on either side of Stafford was stiff, ducks were at a premium, but we did have a few mergansers, both hooded and red-breasted. Mike spotted a Peregrine Falcon, and that, along with a Red-tailed Hawk I saw in Mud City, stands as the only two possible year-birds we both didn't see during the day.
Our section includes a part of Barnegat Bay, but viewing it is a problem since our original lookout spot is now posted as private, with warnings about security cameras and dire consequences for trespassers. But, from a couple of spots we were able to see Ruddy Ducks, Buffleheads, a Greater Scaup, and the usual Mallards. However, we didn't find any cormorants sitting on a concrete structure in the bay, where they usually are.
Because we were trying to hit as many spots as possible, and because the weather was impossibly cold and windy, we tended to do a lot of birding by car. The only real walking we did was in the Manahawkin WMA. There we found a Gray Catbird, one of those half-hearty species that sometimes winter in the area. Given the weather conditions, I'd say this bird was 3/4 hearty. Trying hard, we scanned a big flock of House Finches hoping for a Purple Finch, but they were all the same. Not even one we could ponder.
Manahawkin Lake was surprisingly open and, as has been its history lately, unsurprisingly devoid of interesting birds. Gulls and geese were all we saw on the water, but, luckily, they have warm facilities, and as we about to make use of them I heard a Killdeer, and Mike found it, along with two others on the beach. Amusingly, we had just discussed how we used to see Killdeer there in the parking lot. We also padded our list with Rock Pigeons.
Before lunch we stopped at a spot, Levi's Road, in Stafford, that is usually good for passerines, but it too was full of private property notices, so we didn't find much there aside from our first juncos of the day.
After lunch we drove down Beach Avenue in the daylight and added Fox Sparrow and Eastern Bluebirds to the list. We then drove up 72 to the edge of our territory, a little pond behind a medical facility where there are always ducks. We were hoping the water wasn't frozen, and aside from the edges, it was open and there we added Green-winged Teal and Gadwall. I had an interesting looking duck that I thought might be a Eurasian Wigeon, but the light was horrible and then the flock it was in flew away to the far corner of the pond and I had to let it go. Mike was pretty sure that I was just seeing a teal in bad light.
We returned for one more run down Stafford Avenue, checking both sides, but by then were getting diminishing returns. I was hoping for a Short-eared Owl early in the morning there, which we didn't see, and I wasn't inclined to hang out until dusk for a second chance. When I got home, I saw that on Beach Avenue at dawn, another birder, not part of the count, had heard a Sedge Wren in the spot we have had them in the past. That annoyed me, but, as the Firesign Theatre sang, "How can you be two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?"
For the day we listed 54 species for the Barnegat Count; I had 51. Surprisingly, I heard from the compiler, our Long-eared Owl was not the only one for the day. Someone else had one at a, naturally, undisclosed location.
Canada Goose Mud City
Mute Swan Manahawkin Lake
Gadwall Ocean Acres Pond
Mallard 1355 E Bay Ave, Manahawkin
American Black Duck Mud City
Green-winged Teal Ocean Acres Pond
Greater Scaup 1355 E Bay Ave, Manahawkin
Bufflehead 1355 E Bay Ave, Manahawkin
Hooded Merganser Bridge to Nowhere
Red-breasted Merganser 1355 E Bay Ave, Manahawkin
Ruddy Duck East Bay Av, Stafford Township
Rock Pigeon Manahawkin Lake
Mourning Dove Bridge to Nowhere
Killdeer Manahawkin Lake
Greater Yellowlegs Bridge to Nowhere
Ring-billed Gull Manahawkin Lake
American Herring Gull Bridge to Nowhere
Great Blue Heron Bridge to Nowhere
Turkey Vulture Manahawkin Lake
Northern Harrier Bridge to Nowhere
Bald Eagle Manahawkin WMA
Red-tailed Hawk Mud City
Eastern Screech-Owl Stafford Avenue
Great Horned Owl Beach Ave
Long-eared Owl Beach Ave
Belted Kingfisher Manahawkin WMA
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Bridge to Nowhere
Red-bellied Woodpecker Manahawkin WMA
Downy Woodpecker Bridge to Nowhere
Blue Jay Bridge to Nowhere
American Crow Manahawkin Lake
Carolina Chickadee Bridge to Nowhere
Tufted Titmouse Bridge to Nowhere
White-breasted Nuthatch Bridge to Nowhere
Carolina Wren Manahawkin WMA
European Starling Manahawkin WMA
Gray Catbird Manahawkin WMA
Northern Mockingbird 1355 E Bay Ave, Manahawkin
Eastern Bluebird Beach Ave
Hermit Thrush Manahawkin WMA
American Robin Bridge to Nowhere
House Finch Manahawkin WMA
American Goldfinch Manahawkin WMA
Fox Sparrow Beach Ave
Dark-eyed Junco Levi's Rd--Stafford
White-throated Sparrow Manahawkin WMA
Song Sparrow Mud City
Red-winged Blackbird Bridge to Nowhere
Boat-tailed Grackle Bridge to Nowhere
Yellow-rumped Warbler Manahawkin WMA
Northern Cardinal Manahawkin WMA
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