March Review--Lion/Lamb Edition

Bald Eagle atop cell tower "disguised" as pine tree,
Bay Head

I have a birding friend who is quite a bit older than me. Exactly how old I don't know because my mother taught me it was impolite to talk about age or weight, but for the sake of this story, let's say he is around 10 years my senior, maybe a little more. When I first met him--well, it was hard not to meet him because he was everywhere, especially where a rare bird was reported. He is in pictures we have from the day in New Egypt when we found the lapwings--this was before I knew him.  He consistently led the state in species seen every year. The joke with we birders who were then clinging to the notion that we were still middle-aged was, "I want to be like D when I grow up." 

I remember once down at the Bridge to Nowhere, about a year after the lapwing sighting so it was January, we ran into each other and were chatting--down the road I saw a small falcon--"There's a Merlin," I said.

"I need Merlin for the year," D said, jumped in his car and raced down the road. 

I caught up to him a few minutes later and said to him, "D, you're gonna see a Merlin this year."

"You know, at my age, maybe not," he replied. 

Having had a significant birthday this month (remember it is impolite to discuss age), I was thinking that I was at least D's age now as he was then. So I asked myself, "Now that I'm grown up, am I like D?" 

Well, in terms of doggedness, in that I bird every day that I won't get soaked, yes, but only in that regard. It's an amusing habit.  I can't get so excited about a common bird that I'm going to race down a bumpy road to see it. My chasing circle gets smaller each year. I want the birds to be where I feel like being. Meanwhile, D is still leading the league in sightings. My wonder knows no bounds. 

For the month, which started off windy and snow-covered and ended in the 70's, I tallied 103 species, 14 of them year birds. That's a pretty low number for March, for me, according to my records, but I didn't get north of Manasquan Inlet nor south of Tuckerton this month--I stuck to Ocean and Burlington. I still haven't come across a catbird, a waxwing, a gnatcatcher, a thrasher--and you know, at my age...

Species   First Sighting
Brant   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Canada Goose   Holly Lake
Mute Swan   Holly Lake
Tundra Swan   Cranberry Bogs
Wood Duck   Whitesbog
American Wigeon   Holly Lake
Mallard   Holly Lake
American Black Duck   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Northern Pintail   Whitesbog
Green-winged Teal   Holly Lake
Redhead   Holly Lake
Ring-necked Duck   Holly Lake
Greater Scaup   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Lesser Scaup   Double Trouble SP
Common Eider   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Harlequin Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black Scoter   Island Beach SP
Long-tailed Duck   Island Beach SP
Bufflehead   Holly Lake
Common Goldeneye   Cranberry Bogs
Hooded Merganser   Holly Lake
Common Merganser   Lake Carasaljo
Red-breasted Merganser   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Ruddy Duck   Lake of the Lilies
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon   West Creek Dock Rd.
Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd
American Coot   Bunker Hill Bogs
American Oystercatcher   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Killdeer   Cranberry Bogs
Piping Plover   Island Beach SP
American Woodcock   Manahawkin WMA
Wilson's Snipe   Cranberry Bogs
Greater Yellowlegs   Manahawkin WMA
Laughing Gull   Horicon Lake
Ring-billed Gull   Lake Carasaljo
American Herring Gull   Holly Lake
Great Black-backed Gull   Holly Lake
Pied-billed Grebe   Double Trouble SP
Horned Grebe   Whitesbog
Common Loon   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Northern Gannet   Island Beach SP
Great Cormorant   Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Lake Carasaljo
Black-crowned Night Heron   Bayview Ave Park
Little Blue Heron   Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Tricolored Heron   Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Snowy Egret   Waretown
Great Egret   Double Trouble SP
Great Blue Heron   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Black Vulture   Bamber Lake
Turkey Vulture   West Creek Dock Rd.
Osprey   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Cooper's Hawk   35 Sunset Rd
Northern Harrier   West Creek Dock Rd.
Bald Eagle   Whitesbog
Red-shouldered Hawk   Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk   Colliers Mills WMA
Belted Kingfisher   Whitesbog
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Downy Woodpecker   Manahawkin WMA
Hairy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Northern Flicker   Whitesbog
American Kestrel   Cranberry Bogs
Eastern Phoebe   Cranberry Bogs
Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd
American Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow   West Creek Dock Rd.
Common Raven   35 Sunset Rd
Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Tree Swallow   Cranberry Bogs
Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Cranberry Bogs
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Bunker Hill Bogs
White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Cranberry Bogs
Brown Creeper   Cranberry Bogs
Carolina Wren   Bamber Lake
European Starling   35 Sunset Rd
Northern Mockingbird   Crestwood Village
Eastern Bluebird   35 Sunset Rd
Hermit Thrush   Bunker Hill Bogs
American Robin   35 Sunset Rd
House Sparrow   West Creek Dock Rd.
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd
Chipping Sparrow   Whiting WMA
Field Sparrow   Whitesbog
Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd
White-throated Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Savannah Sparrow   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-winged Blackbird   Holly Lake
Brown-headed Cowbird   Double Trouble SP
Common Grackle   Holly Lake
Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Pine Warbler   Whitesbog
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd

Common Goldeneye hen with drake Ring-necked Duck, Cranberry Bogs