March--A Wide-ranging Month

Wood Ducks, Ditch Meadow, Whitesbog

I ended the month at Raritan Bay Waterfront Park in Middlesex County, another place I haven't visited since pre-pandemic, in this case just about two years, because that's when Scott runs a few trips there and I try to get up there in hopes that his expertise will pull out a white-winged gull from the flocks of usual gulls. It took a bit of doing but he got the group on an Iceland Gull flying out over the bay. Not the field guide looks you'd like but obvious enough.  Also new for me was Laughing Gull, though I wasn't too concerned about getting that species for the year. 

Being in Middlesex today made it the seventh New Jersey county I've birded this month, which is another thing I can say I haven't done since the pandemic started. Why that's one third of the counties in the state. But in Delaware we birded two thirds of the counties in the state. Impressive if you don't know there are only three in the state. 

Sandhill Cranes, New Egypt

On Sunday, Scott found a quartet of Sandhill Cranes in the storied corn field on Brynmore Road in New Egypt. They are off and on again habitués of that field over the years. Unfortunately, this is where my eschewing of social media and the GroupMe alerts bit me on the ass, because I didn't find out about it until late in the afternoon on Sunday. Monday & Tuesday we were in Delaware. Today, just as I was about to leave South Amboy and was checking eBird to see if anyone had seen the cranes today, Mike texted me that he had them again in the field. There's no good way to get there from South Amboy but I took the least bad way and made it there in a little over an hour. As always seems to be case with this species in NJ, they were hard to see in the corn stubble unless they stood straight up. Luckily, when I got there a couple were. Not a year bird; hell, not even a month bird since I saw pair fly over at the end of Scott's trip to Salem County early in the month which bled over into Gloucester County when we stopped at Pedricktown Marsh. 

I did one trip to Brig this month where I got the surprise of the King Rail and a long recording of it. The Delaware trip is documented above. Mostly, of course, I was in Ocean and Burlington Counties. I had a few great moments at Whitesbog this month like when I found the woodcocks in the triangle field pre-dawn, or came up the Wood Ducks above in Ditch Meadow. And here's a peculiarity: I now hold the Ocean County record for most Ring-necked Ducks seen in one place--665 at Colliers Mills, the vast majority of them staging the south end of Turnmill Pond. That was a memorable sight. And finding the Red-headed Woodpecker (twice) at Colliers Mills always seems like an accomplishment to me. 

It was a good month with 134 species listed of which 24 were year birds. April begins the craziness of warblers and shorebirds. I already have anticipation anxiety. 

Counties birded:
Delware: Kent, Sussex

New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Gloucester, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Salem

Species               First Sighting

Snow Goose   Pemberton Lake WMA

Brant   MacLearie Park

Canada Goose   Deal Lake

Mute Swan   Silver Lake

Tundra Swan   Whitesbog

Wood Duck   Whitesbog

Blue-winged Teal   Bombay Hook

Northern Shoveler   Silver Lake

Gadwall   Holly Lake

Eurasian Wigeon   MacLearie Park

American Wigeon   MacLearie Park

Mallard   Deal Lake

American Black Duck   Whitesbog

Northern Pintail   Salem River WMA

Green-winged Teal   Whitesbog

Redhead   Whitesbog

Ring-necked Duck   Whitesbog

Greater Scaup   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Lesser Scaup   Silver Lake

King Eider   Manasquan Inlet

Common Eider   Manasquan Inlet

Harlequin Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Black Scoter   Spring Lake

Long-tailed Duck   Manasquan Inlet

Bufflehead   MacLearie Park

Common Goldeneye   LBI Bayside

Hooded Merganser   Manahawkin WMA

Common Merganser   Pemberton Lake WMA

Red-breasted Merganser   Deal Lake

Ruddy Duck   Silver Lake

Wild Turkey   Wranglebrook Rd

Pied-billed Grebe   Bamber Lake

Horned Grebe   MacLearie Park

Rock Pigeon   Pilesgrove

Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd

King Rail   Brig

Clapper Rail   Prime Hook

American Coot   Lake of the Lilies

Sandhill Crane   Pedricktown Marsh

American Avocet   Bombay Hook

American Oystercatcher   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Black-bellied Plover   Bombay Hook

Killdeer   Compromise Rd.

Ruddy Turnstone   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Dunlin   Manasquan Inlet

Purple Sandpiper   Manasquan Inlet

American Woodcock   Crestwood Community Gardens

Wilson's Snipe   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Greater Yellowlegs   Eno's Pond

Lesser Yellowlegs   Eno's Pond

Bonaparte's Gull   Shark River

Laughing Gull   Raritan Bay Waterfront Park

Ring-billed Gull   Manahawkin WMA

Herring Gull   Deal Lake

Iceland Gull   Raritan Bay Waterfront Park

Lesser Black-backed Gull   Wreck Pond

Great Black-backed Gull   Deal Lake

Forster's Tern   Bombay Hook

Red-throated Loon   Manasquan Inlet

Common Loon   Manasquan Inlet

Northern Gannet   Island Beach SP

Great Cormorant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Double-crested Cormorant   Deal Lake

American Bittern   Island Beach SP

Great Blue Heron   Pemberton Lake WMA

Great Egret   Manahawkin WMA

Snowy Egret   Bombay Hook

Little Blue Heron   DuPont Nature Center

Black Vulture   Plumsted Recreation Park

Turkey Vulture   1398 State Highway 35

Osprey   Pedricktown Marsh

Northern Harrier   Manahawkin WMA

Cooper's Hawk   CVS parking lot Schoolhouse Rd.

Bald Eagle   Pemberton Lake WMA

Red-tailed Hawk   Whitesbog

Rough-legged Hawk   Featherbed Lane WMA

Short-eared Owl   Brig

Belted Kingfisher   Manahawkin WMA

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Whitesbog

Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd

Hairy Woodpecker   Whitesbog

Northern Flicker   Manahawkin WMA

American Kestrel   Colliers Mills WMA

Merlin   Mannington Marsh

Peregrine Falcon   Cedar Bonnet Island

Eastern Phoebe   Colliers Mills WMA

Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd

American Crow   35 Sunset Rd

Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd

Common Raven   Lake of the Lilies

Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd

Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd

Horned Lark   Sunset Park

Purple Martin   Bombay Hook

Tree Swallow   Reeves Bogs

Golden-crowned Kinglet   Whitesbog

Red-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd

White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd

Brown Creeper   35 Sunset Rd

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Forest Resource Education Center

Marsh Wren   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Carolina Wren   1398 State Highway 35

European Starling   35 Sunset Rd

Brown Thrasher   Manahawkin WMA

Northern Mockingbird   New Egypt

Eastern Bluebird   Colliers Mills WMA

Wood Thrush   Manahawkin WMA

American Robin   Silver Lake

House Sparrow   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

House Finch   35 Sunset Rd

Purple Finch   Island Beach SP

Pine Siskin   35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd

Chipping Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA

Field Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA

American Tree Sparrow   Island Beach SP

Fox Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd

White-throated Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Savannah Sparrow   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Swamp Sparrow   Meadowview Lane

Eastern Towhee   Bombay Hook

Red-winged Blackbird   Whitesbog

Brown-headed Cowbird   Whitesbog

Rusty Blackbird   Reeves Bogs

Common Grackle   Plumsted Recreation Park

Boat-tailed Grackle   Manahawkin WMA

Pine Warbler   Cloverdale Farm

Yellow-rumped Warbler   Island Beach SP

Yellow-throated Warbler   Prime Hook

Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd

Pedricktown Marsh 3/6--Sandhill Crane, Osprey

Last stop was the best stop and it wasn't even a place I expected to be. 

Just before the world closed down last year, I was planning on going on Scott's annual Salem County trip, but with Shari working and my car in a precarious state of incipient collapse, I skipped it and regretted it. Of course, I would have regretted it more if I had had to call AAA from Featherbed Lane outside the lovely-named town of Pilesgrove.  Salem County is a haul from here and I don't know it well, so it isn't a place I just run down to for its potential goodies. This year, we went, wearing our pandemic masks, hoping for some of the Salem Counties specialties. 

Of which we got zero. No Cattle Egret, no Yellow-headed Blackbird, no Ross's Goose, no...we did get a Rough-legged Hawk at Featherbed, a year bird for Shari, but everything else was just good solid birding. You like big flocks of Snow Geese? They're all over but they moved around so much (hunters) that we (read: Scott) couldn't scan them for Ross's. Eagles were at nearly every stop. We saw our first one while standing in the parking lot of the Woodstown Wawa while waiting for everyone to gather. Ducks, plenty of ducks, diving and dabbling. 

After Featherbed Lane, I figured the trip was done, but Scott suggested one more stop, north, to Pedricktown Marsh which is on the border of Gloucester and Salem Counties. He said it was the last chance to get one of the area rarities. The marsh was at low tide and looked pretty empty except for some ducks and geese, but as we started to walk out onto the causeway, Scott pointed up and flying right above us was our FOY Osprey. March 6 is pretty early for an Osprey. Not the earliest I've seen one, since I remember a demented bird that overwintered in Cape May a few years ago that I saw on January 1st, but normally it would be at least a couple of weeks before I'd be on the lookout for one. I certainly didn't expect to record my first one in Gloucester County which I haven't visited for 6 years. 

Then, as we were about to leave, Barb, who was assisting Scott on the trip, said, "One more scan" of the marsh and after a moment called out, "What's that flying? The cranes!" 

And there they were, two Sandhill Cranes, a species I have been chasing around, with no luck all year in 3 counties around here. And, unlike most of the time when a rarity is spotted, they were flying toward us, not away. They flew right over the road, going north, affording excellent views. What an excellent way to cap off a long day of birding in what seems like another state (Northern North Delaware?) to me. 

My list for the day: 

Species                First Sighting

Snow Goose   Compromise Rd.

Canada Goose   Wawa Woodstown

Mute Swan   Salem River WMA

Tundra Swan   Salem River WMA

Wood Duck   Salem River WMA

Northern Shoveler   Salem River WMA

Gadwall   Salem River WMA

American Wigeon   Salem River WMA

Mallard   Seabrook Rd

American Black Duck   Salem River WMA

Northern Pintail   Salem River WMA

Green-winged Teal   Mannington Marsh

Ring-necked Duck   Salem River WMA

Bufflehead   Salem River WMA

Hooded Merganser   Salem River WMA

Rock Pigeon   Sharptown-Auburn Rd

Mourning Dove   Salem River WMA

Sandhill Crane   Pedricktown Marsh

Killdeer   Compromise Rd.

Herring Gull   Salem River WMA

Great Blue Heron   Mannington Marsh

Black Vulture   Salem River WMA

Turkey Vulture   Compromise Rd.

Osprey   Pedricktown Marsh

Northern Harrier   Compromise Rd.

Bald Eagle   Wawa Woodstown

Red-tailed Hawk   Wawa Woodstown

Rough-legged Hawk   Featherbed Lane WMA

Belted Kingfisher   Pedricktown Marsh

Merlin   Mannington Marsh

Blue Jay   Salem River WMA

American Crow   Featherbed Lane WMA

Fish Crow   Wawa Woodstown

Carolina Wren   Salem River WMA

European Starling   Compromise Rd.

American Robin   Compromise Rd.

Song Sparrow   Seabrook Rd

Red-winged Blackbird   Wawa Woodstown

Common Grackle   Wawa Woodstown