February Wrap-up--Blizzard Edition

Tundra Swans walking on the ice of Union Pond, Whitesbog

The icy aftermath of the storm at the end of the January and the Blizzard of 2026 at the end of this month served to put a kibosh on a lot of my birding--I spent an inordinate amount of time staring out our windows at our feeders.  At least I was rewarded with our first backyard Orange-crowned Warbler.  

I did manage to get around in the two weeks between the ice melting and the blizzard. Some year birds weren't recounted here because they eluded photography.  Two of the birds this month were "hard," (for me at least) --a Purple Finch that I heard at the Manahawkin WMA and a Glaucous Gull at Island Beach, whose presence I was alert to by Steve the previous day. I made the long trek out to the north jetty not really expecting to find the bird when a large white-winged light-gray mantled gull flew in from Barnegat Light, came in low over my head, then made a U-turn back to the south. In almost every other county of New Jersey, Glaucous Gull is considered rare but not in Ocean, inexplicably.  Believe it--they're rare. I also, on my trek along the south end of IBSP came across my first Lesser Black-backed Gull. I was about to photograph it when it was flushed by the only other person I saw walking on the beach that day--typical. 

The final year bird of the month was a rarity, but only because of time of year--a Blue-winged Teal at Lake of the Lilies that I spotted the day before the blizzard hit. I was about to give up on finding it when a birding group came along and one of the leaders got it in his scope--on the far shore weaving in and out of the phragmites. Not the greatest looks, but the facial crescent was clearly seen. That was a beautifully warm winter day--it was hard to imagine that a gigantic snowstorm was on its way. But just because you can't imagine doesn't mean it won't happen. 30 inches of snow and we weren't plowed out until late Tuesday night. Fortunately, for the birds, I had filled up our feeders the day before--fortunately for me too because otherwise I'd have been looking at a blank expanse of snow for most of the week. 

Backyard birding: Mourning Dove

Eastern Bluebird

103 species for the month, which was actually quite a bit better than last year when I couldn't even break the century mark.

Species           First Sighting
Snow Goose   Manasquan Inlet
Brant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Canada Goose   35 Sunset Rd
Mute Swan   Manahawkin Lake
Tundra Swan   Bamber Lake
Wood Duck   Pemberton Lake WMA
Blue-winged Teal   Lake of the Lilies
American Wigeon   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Mallard   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
American Black Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Northern Pintail   Pemberton Lake WMA
Canvasback   Lake of the Lilies
Redhead   Holly Lake
Ring-necked Duck   Holly Lake
Greater Scaup   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Lesser Scaup   Lake of the Lilies
Common Eider   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Harlequin Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Surf Scoter   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
White-winged Scoter   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black Scoter   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Long-tailed Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Bufflehead   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Goldeneye   Sloop & Potter Creek Marshes
Hooded Merganser   Bay Pkwy
Common Merganser   Holly Lake
Red-breasted Merganser   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Ruddy Duck   Lake of the Lilies
Rock Pigeon   New Egypt
Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd
American Coot   Lake of the Lilies
American Oystercatcher   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Black-bellied Plover   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Greater Yellowlegs   Manahawkin WMA
Ruddy Turnstone   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Sanderling   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Dunlin   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Purple Sandpiper   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Razorbill   Manasquan Inlet
Ring-billed Gull   Jakes Branch County Park
American Herring Gull   Jakes Branch County Park
Great Black-backed Gull   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Glaucous Gull   Island Beach SP
Lesser Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP
Horned Grebe   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Red-necked Grebe   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Red-throated Loon   Manasquan Inlet
Common Loon   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Great Cormorant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Great Blue Heron   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black Vulture   Whiting
Turkey Vulture   235 Brynmore Rd, New Egypt
Sharp-shinned Hawk   New Egypt
Northern Harrier   West Creek Dock Rd.
Bald Eagle   New Egypt
Red-shouldered Hawk   West Creek Dock Rd.
Red-tailed Hawk   BC Fairgrounds
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   35 Sunset Rd
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Northern Flicker   Whitesbog
American Kestrel   BC Fairgrounds
Merlin   Double Trouble SP
Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd
American Crow   New Egypt
Fish Crow   Sands Point Park
Common Raven   New Egypt
Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Horned Lark   New Egypt
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Lake Carasaljo
White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
Brown Creeper   Colliers Mills WMA
Carolina Wren   New Egypt
European Starling   35 Sunset Rd
Northern Mockingbird   New Egypt
Eastern Bluebird   35 Sunset Rd
Hermit Thrush   Whitesbog
American Robin   35 Sunset Rd
House Sparrow   New Egypt
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
Purple Finch   Manahawkin WMA
American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd
Snow Bunting   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Chipping Sparrow   Whitesbog
Field Sparrow   Whitesbog
American Tree Sparrow   Shelter Cove Park
Fox Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd
White-crowned Sparrow   Pinelands Alliance Headquarters
White-throated Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Savannah Sparrow   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Song Sparrow   New Egypt
Red-winged Blackbird   Lake of the Lilies
Brown-headed Cowbird   New Egypt
Common Grackle   Whitesbog
Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Orange-crowned Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd