Stafford Forge WMA 12/26--Trumpeter Swan

A few days ago, Trumpeter Swan popped up on my Rare Bird Alerts for Ocean County. With no photos attached and an unhelpful "This is a Trumpeter Swan" in the details box, my reaction was "Yeah, right."  The site, Stafford Forge WMA, often has Tundra Swans in the lake and since there has never been a Trumpeter Swan in Ocean (in fact, the only accepted records in NJ for Trumpeters that I know of were the birds at Assunpink that showed up for about 10 consecutive years, though not this year), I assumed it was a misidentification. It happens all the time. Last year someone swore he had 20 Trumpeters in Burlington County. They were Tundras. There have been reports of a Trumpeter at Whitesbog. I've gone to look--Tundra. 

But yesterday some pictures showed up on the alerts from birders I respect and the bird, an immature one, looked pretty good for Trumpeter. This morning, I drove down there and almost immediately found the bird in question, near 4 Mute Swans. Everything about the swan looked good for Trumpeter--a triangular, canvasback-like bill, a V at the base of the bill where it meets the head, pink at the base, black at the tip, a thick neck --save for the fact that it looked small. Trumpeter Swans are about the same size at Mute Swans. Tundra Swans are smaller. Compared to the Mute Swans this swan was, if anything, intermediate between them and a Tundra Swan. I was hoping that this wasn't an Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds situation, where everybody sees what they want to see. If I’d encountered this bird with no expectations, I probably would have assumed Tundra because it appeared on the smaller side. After checking references at home, I learned that Trumpeter cygnets don’t attain adult proportions until their second summer. Understanding that explained the apparent discrepancy, and I felt comfortable identifying it as a Trumpeter—a year bird and, even better, a life county bird.

Marshall's Pond 12/11--Cackling Goose

I found it funny, in a non-funny way, this morning, that I saw more species (17) looking out the side window at our bird bath, suet feeders, and half-empty hopper feeder than I did in more than two hours and 4 miles of walking in the wind and cold at Double Trouble SP (15).  Winter birding (and it isn't even officially winter) can be slow in the Pine Barrens. So, when I got a text from Steve that there was a Cackling Goose at Marshall's Pond in Toms River, I was inclined to chase it, especially when I realized it was another waterfowl (like the Eurasian Wigeon at Lake of the Lilies last month), that I hadn't gotten onto the year list.

Marshall's Pond is about 15 miles away so about a half hour later I was at the site, and only then did it dawn on me that I would have to look through roughly 250 to 400 Canada Geese to find the one goose that was 2/3 the size of the rest of them with a stubby bill. Not as bad as looking through a thousand Snow Geese for the one Ross's Goose, but still, not much fun with the winds gusting to 36 mph and the real feel temperature around 17. Steve's photo had shown a neat little package of 3 Canada Geese with the Cackler tucked in. The reality of course was the flock of geese was spread out for a thousand feet and somewhere in there was the Cackler. I started at the outflow pipe and worked my way west to the sand bar without finding the goose, then proceeded to walk back east. When I got back to the outflow pipe, I stood on unstable rocks and scanned again. Suddenly it appeared. Then disappeared. Then appeared. As waterfowl are wont to do, it was playing the avian version of 3-card monte. Finally, I was able to keep it in sight long enough to get some pictures with it next to Canada Geese for comparison. 

American Wigeon with Canada Goose

I walked east to the end of the pond where there were a few duck species--Bufflehead, American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, and Ring-necked Duck, then returned to the outflow pipe area. The trick to me, with a rare waterfowl, is if you can relocate it after you've gone for a few minutes. If you can, then you've really seen it. And I could. It took a little bit, but once again I found the Cackler, this time with its head tucked in floating amidst the larger geese. 

As I was telling Shari the story this evening at dinner, I remembered another little amusing fact--the first time we met Steve was at Marshall's Pond, on a cold January day many years ago (it might have been the first) when we were looking for another rare goose, either a Ross's or a Cackling, I can't recall which. Yesterday, I had been on Hooper Avenue for a doctor's appointment and considered going over to Marshall's Pond afterward to see what was there, but I thought it was too cold and windy to be appealing. And realistically, had I gone, I wouldn't have spent 40+ minutes looking through a flock of geese for the one outlier. When they were handing out patience, I was too impatient to stand in that line. 

PPA 12/7--Clay-colored Sparrow

 After an unproductive but enjoyable abbreviated walk around Reeves Bogs with my informant and his dog (abbreviated because the trail along the maple swamp is not only flooded but now iced over, making the leaps over the gaps more treacherous than a couple of old guys are willing to risk--the dog is more sure-footed and doesn't care if he does get wet), I drove over to the Pinelands Preservation Alliance Headquarters (PPA) on the site of the old Bishop farm, hoping that the previously reported Clay-colored Sparrow was still hanging around. 

I had read that the sparrow was being seen between the buildings and that seemed like a limited area to search, but when I got there it was a case of Birding Law #4: Don't look for the bird, look for the birders. I saw two guys at the north end of the parking lot staring intently at a weedy area and a pile of dirt, so I walked over and asked if they had the sparrow. They weren't sure, there was a sparrow kicking around in the grass that they couldn't quite get a handle on, but the bird had been seen in the last 15 minutes. With the usual vague directions ("there's a point of dirt just to the left of the 13th blade of grass") I got on the bird they were interested in. "I see a White-crowned Sparrow," I said, and they immediately agreed that was not the bird we wanted. Then, one of my friends came up, we said "Hello" and he pointed to the left of where we'd been looking, to some grass in front of the concrete parking stops. It's a relatively small sparrow and was easily lost in the weeds but it fed out in the open with some Song Sparrows long enough for me to get a few doc shots. Not only a year bird, but, it turned out, a Burlington County lifer. 

Having got my bird within 5 minutes, I walked around the property with my friend, going into the fields where, in the summer, they grow the vegetables and fruits that Shari buys with our membership in the Rancocas Farm CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Lots of sparrows, finches, waxwings, and so forth, but nothing really exciting. Still, more than twice as many species than I saw at Reeves and in half the time.

22 species
Mourning Dove  2
Turkey Vulture  1
Northern Harrier  1
Northern Flicker  1
Blue Jay  1
Carolina Chickadee  1
Tufted Titmouse  1
Carolina Wren  1
European Starling  5
Northern Mockingbird  4
Eastern Bluebird  2
American Robin  5
Cedar Waxwing  6     Around buildings
House Sparrow  5
House Finch  25
American Goldfinch  2
Clay-colored Sparrow  1     
White-crowned Sparrow  1     Near parking lot
White-throated Sparrow  2
Savannah Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  10
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2