Barnegat Lighthouse SP 3/25--Piping Plover

Piping Plover, with Brant

Why do I keep returning to Barnegat Light? Because, to paraphrase Willie Sutton, that's where the birds are. Potentially, at least. Of the birds on my shopping list this morning, I only found one, Piping Plovers in the mud around the pond, but that was the priority bird, since I don't much enjoy Barnegat Light in the summer when much of it is inaccessible. The other birds I was hoping for--Lesser Black-backed Gull and White-winged Scoter--were not in evidence and it looks like I'm going to have to wait for winter to roll around again (and maybe cadge a ride down the beach at IBSP) in order to put them on the county list. Last week, up at Point Pleasant Beach, I was finally able to see a small flock of Northern Gannets at Manasquan Inlet and 5 Laughing Gulls at Baltimore Avenue. I remember when Pete Bacinski ran an informal contest to see who could see the first Laughing Gull of the year, since he considered it a harbinger of summer. Nowadays, with climate change, you might be able to win the contest on New Year's Day. As it was, the first sighting in NJ this year was March 1. 

American Wigeon

Other notable birds there today were the continuing out-of-place American Wigeons (what are they finding to eat in sandy-bottomed pond?), noisy American Oystercatchers chasing one another around in disputes having to do with either territory or mating--or both, and a very sharp looking Savannah Sparrow of the Ipswich persuasion. 

Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich)

In a reversal from last week when there were 100+ Purple Sandpipers and only 1 Dunlin that I could find among them, today, there was a lone Purple Sandpiper picking at the rocks near the concrete walk and about 35 Dunlins roosting at the end of the jetty. Interesting, in a non-interesting way. 

The day list is similar to last week's:

34 Species:
Brant  150
American Wigeon  2     
Mallard  4
American Black Duck  7
Harlequin Duck  1
Surf Scoter  2
Black Scoter  40
Long-tailed Duck  15
Bufflehead  1
Red-breasted Merganser  10
Mourning Dove  1
American Oystercatcher  7
Piping Plover  3
Dunlin  35
Purple Sandpiper  1
Laughing Gull  1
American Herring Gull  100
Great Black-backed Gull  30
Red-throated Loon  4
Great Cormorant  10
Blue Jay  1     Heard
American Crow  1
Fish Crow  2
Carolina Chickadee  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  1     Parking lot
Northern Mockingbird  3
House Sparrow  2
House Finch  5
Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich)  1
Song Sparrow  3
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Common Grackle  15
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  4