Great Bay Blvd 9/15--King Eider

King Eider

Back in June there was a lot of winter waterfowl still lingering in the county and now that summer is almost over at least one sought after rarity has made an early appearance in an unlikely spot. I drove down to Great Bay Boulevard this morning, even though the hen King Eider that had been reported there on Saturday had not been seen yesterday. Not surprising, given the number of fishermen usually down on the beach and around the floating dock where it had been seen. 

White Ibises

This time of year can sometimes be good for rare sparrows and that was more what I had in mind. Of course, at the boat launch where I have spotted a good number of rare sparrows over the year there was only sand. I did have a good number of waders, including a huge flock of White Ibises, almost all of which were immature birds. I still cannot get over the change in this species' population--going from one at Ocean City to hundreds all over southern NJ and obviously becoming a breeding bird, all within less than 10 years. Still, my estimate of 80 birds did break the eBird filter.

When I finally made it down to the inlet I walked toward the Rutgers facility. I was flushing up sparrows out of the grass and I was hoping they were Nelson's Sparrow, but I decided to look first toward the Rutgers area with the scope. On the floating dock the eider was not there but scanning for a minute until I came to a nearby peninsula, I found the bird with its diagnostic smile. The smile of a King Eider hen (oxymoron alert) must be contagious, because I found myself grinning too as I took photos. This was much more satisfying than standing on the beach at Barnegat Light on a frigid morning, scanning big flocks of Common Eiders for the outlier bobbing in the surf a quarter mile out. 

I then devoted an inordinate amount of time--for me--in search for a Nelson's Sparrow. I had many candidates jump out of the marsh grass and flutter back down or else fly up and into a stand of reeds, but none of them were definitely identifiable in the harsh sunlight. They could just as easily have been Saltmarsh Sparrows (which were once lumped with Nelson's as Sharp-tailed Sparrow) or even Seaside Sparrows. I'm certain at least one of those little helicopters was a Nelson's but I couldn't tell which one. The one sparrow that stood still long enough for me figure out what it was turned out to be a Song Sparrow. Annoying, because the beach and marsh around the inlet are the best, maybe only, place to find Nelson's in the county, and if I don't get it there, I don't get it. 

Still, a King Eider on a warm day made for a worthwhile trip. 

33 species
King Eider  1     
Clapper Rail  3
American Oystercatcher  1
Black-bellied Plover  2
Semipalmated Plover  3
Short-billed Dowitcher  1
Spotted Sandpiper  1     Beach
Lesser Yellowlegs  1
Greater Yellowlegs  3
Least Sandpiper  2
Laughing Gull  100
American Herring Gull  50
Great Black-backed Gull  5
Forster's Tern  15
Common Loon  1
Double-crested Cormorant  20
White Ibis  80     
Yellow-crowned Night Heron  2
Black-crowned Night Heron  10
Snowy Egret  12
Great Egret  65
Great Blue Heron  15
Brown Pelican  4
Turkey Vulture  1
Osprey  2
Northern Harrier  1
Tree Swallow  1
European Starling  50
Gray Catbird  3
Song Sparrow  1
Red-winged Blackbird  1
Common Yellowthroat  2
Yellow Warbler  1