Bayview Ave Park 3/29--Black-crowned Night-Heron

Black-Crowned Night-Herons

Sometimes they're there, and sometimes they're not. There is a semi-secret roost to the north of Bayview Ave Park on LBI which I like to check periodically. Before someone opened up a pathway into the cedars, it was more of a hunt to find a Black-crowned Night-Heron in the trees. Some years there were none--speculation was that a Great Horned Own had taken up residence, causing the roost to be abandoned. But today, when I turned into the partially overgrown path, after two steps--BOOM, a slew of kwoks flew out of the roost from all directions. I would have been happy to find one and felt a little guilty for having disturbed so many, but then I was really expecting the trees to be occupied--it has been a while since I've seen the roost have such a large population--in fact, I'm not certain that I've ever seen so many night-herons there--I listed 15, which of course, broke the eBird filter, but I'm sure there were more than that--they just kept flying out of the trees like clowns tumbling out of a VW at the circus. 

American Oystercatcher, Barnegat Lighthouse SP (for Shari)

Earlier in the day I took a quick walk around Cedar Bonnet Island and then walked the beach at Barnegat Lighthouse SP where I was happy to see 7 Piping Plovers on the beach--this bodes well for nesting--and unhappy to find 7 dead Brant near the plover pool, presumably more victims of avian influenza. 

For my morning on LBI, 37 species:

Species    First Sighting
Brant    Cedar Bonnet Island
Canada Goose    Cedar Bonnet Island
Mallard    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
American Black Duck    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Eider    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Harlequin Duck    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black Scoter    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Long-tailed Duck    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Bufflehead    Cedar Bonnet Island
Red-breasted Merganser    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Mourning Dove    Cedar Bonnet Island
American Oystercatcher    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Piping Plover    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
American Herring Gull    Cedar Bonnet Island
Great Black-backed Gull    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Loon    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Great Cormorant    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Double-crested Cormorant    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black-crowned Night-Heron   Bayview Ave Park
Great Egret    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Flicker    Cedar Bonnet Island
Blue Jay    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
American Crow    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Raven    Bayview Ave Park
Carolina Chickadee    Cedar Bonnet Island
European Starling    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Mockingbird    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
American Robin    Cedar Bonnet Island
House Sparrow    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
House Finch    Cedar Bonnet Island
White-throated Sparrow    Cedar Bonnet Island
Savannah Sparrow    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Song Sparrow    Cedar Bonnet Island
Red-winged Blackbird    Cedar Bonnet Island
Brown-headed Cowbird    Cedar Bonnet Island
Common Grackle    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Cardinal    Cedar Bonnet Island