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

Holly Lake | Great Bay Blvd 2/13--Redhead, American Oystercatcher, Horned Grebe, Fox Sparrow

Horned Grebe, Great Bay Blvd

It shouldn't have taken until February 13th to find a Horned Grebe, but that's what happens when the bays freeze over and only polar explorers are willing to scan the ocean. I finally came across one this morning down on Great Bay Blvd, not in the cove at the head of the road where I often see them--it was of course solid ice, but farther down the road at the boat launch before the second wooden bridge. I walked onto the little beach, chasing away Canada Geese and Brants, and scanned the creek--mostly Buffleheads and black ducks, but there, riding high in the water, was my first Horned Grebe of the year. "Finally," I said to myself and was quite pleased because it was second year bird of the day. 

Redheads with Mallards and Canada Geese

The first one was a good surprise at Holly Lake, where I always stop to take a look. I expected the water to be frozen like everywhere else, but the back of the lake had open water and lots of waterfowl. I set up the scope and immediately saw American Wigeons, Ring-necked Ducks and the usual Mallards and black ducks. But then I saw a duck with a very red head--which is why that species is called Redhead. I'd pretty much given up on Redhead for the winter when I didn't find one at Lake of the Lilies and I had no appetite for scanning the waters off of Brick (if the water was even open) where large flocks sometimes congregate. The Redhead was so far in the back that I didn't expect that my camera lens was good enough to get anything, but luckily the light was strong, and you can easily see the duck. There were at least two drakes and a couple of hens. And then I noticed really big ducks with white bodies and green heads--Common Mergansers, very unusual for this spot, as are the Redheads, but then, with most of the water in the county solid, these ducks are plunking down wherever they can. 

American Oystercatcher, Great Bay 

Back at Great Bay Blvd I made my way to the inlet and scoping east found Shari's favorite bird, American Oystercatcher. While the bay here was open, there weren't many birds on the water--just a couple of loons and more Buffleheads. I took a walk up the road, hoping for some land birds, but the edges were fairly quiet except for the omnipresent robins until I got almost to the bridge where I saw a non-robin-like bird scratching in a patch of snow--my year Fox Sparrow and a very handsome example. 

Fox Sparrow

While I didn't record a lot of species, I was fairly satisfied with day's "work." Since I was in the neighborhood, I decided to drive up to West Creek and try, for the third time, to find the Rough-legged Hawk that has been hunting the marshes there. It's a 2 1/2 mile drive from Route 9 to the bay, and the bird could be anywhere, but other people seem to have no problem finding it, why can't I? About a mile into the drive, I saw a hawk sitting on a wire. I didn't think it was the rough-leg--they're kind of big for sitting on wires--but I scoped it and took pictures and was fairly confident, despite the glare and mediocre pictures that it was a Red-shouldered Hawk. Not a bad bird, just not the bird I wanted. Nor was the Northern Harrier that flew across the road. 

Red-Shouldered Hawk, West Creek

Just for laughs, when I got home, I put the picture into one of the AI apps and asked for an identification. It came back as Red-tailed Hawk. "Are you sure?" I asked, it doesn't have a belly band, it has red striping on the breast and doesn't really look like a red-tail. "Oh no," the AI responded, it's a red-tail for this reason and that reason and red-shoulders don't sit on wires, and I can see why you'd think it was a red-shoulder, but really, it's a red-tail. 

Okay, that makes a certain amount of sense (if you were to read the long explanation you might agree with me) so I changed it on my list, posted it to eBird and dragged in the photos I had taken. Immediately, eBird's Merlin app kicks in and tells me that the pictures I've put under Red-tail Hawk are actually Red-shouldered Hawk. Which why every AI app has the disclaimer that it "may make mistakes." 

Two lists:

Holly Lake
14 species
Canada Goose  25
Mute Swan  5
American Wigeon  8
Mallard  20
American Black Duck  10
Redhead  4
Ring-necked Duck  15
Common Merganser  3
Ring-billed Gull  40
American Herring Gull  1
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  5
American Robin  1
Red-winged Blackbird  1

Great Bay Blvd

22 species
Brant  35
Canada Goose  45
American Black Duck  50
Greater Scaup  8
Bufflehead  55
Hooded Merganser  10
Red-breasted Merganser  21
American Oystercatcher  4
Ring-billed Gull  1
American Herring Gull  30
Great Black-backed Gull  1
Horned Grebe  1
Common Loon  2
Great Blue Heron  2
Turkey Vulture  1
Common Raven  1     Large croaking corvid
American Robin  125
Fox Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  4
Red-winged Blackbird  25
Boat-tailed Grackle  50
Yellow-rumped Warbler  4

Lake of the Lilies | Manasquan Inlet 2/5--Snow Goose, Canvasback, American Coot

Canvasback with gulls

Hey kids, collect them all! That's what it feels like sometimes when you're trying to fill in the gaps in a family, in this case, ducks. Having failed three times at finding Canvasbacks in the Toms River, where they are usually reliable in winter, I drove up to Point Pleasant Beach to Lake of the Lilies, where a few had been reported lately. Unlike most of the ponds around here, there was actually a patch of open water in the middle of the "lake," and I easily found first one, then eventually, three Canvasbacks. Also, diving around this draw of open water were quite a few American Coots, also new for the year, and, unusually, a Long-tailed Duck, more of a sea duck than a pond duck, and the first I've ever seen at this spot. Ruddy Ducks, Lesser Scaup, and Red-breasted Mergansers filled out the waterfowl in the water, while on the fecal besmirched ice, geese and gulls rested. 

Long-tailed Duck

A quick stop at frozen Little Silver Lake yield almost nothing--a few Mallards from underneath the sluice grating where the only open water was and a Great Blue Heron standing in the reeds. I drove up to Manasquan Inlet with some trepidation--I didn't know how icy the beach was going to be and I didn't relish climbing up slippery rocks to get to the jetty.  When I saw some photographers hesitating to make the trek to the jetty, I walked, instead, along the boardwalk in front of the condos to the end and saw that I could get a view of the inlet just as good, if not better than from the rocks, so I doubled back to the car and got my scope. All the ducks in the water were expected, though I was happy to find a Razorbill floating just off the mouth of the inlet. I got back in the car after about a half hour of scoping (which is about my limit) and drove to the parking lot at the "back" of the inlet, hoping to find an unusual gull. I didn't, but to my surprise I found a species completely unexpected (by me) when I was walking toward Loughran Point--a big flock of Snow Geese took off from the Baltimore Avenue vicinity. I counted 30 in the air before the flock disappeared behind some buildings. You can sort of see Baltimore Avenue's patch of water from the very end of the parking lot, but the geese didn't land there. I had seen a report a couple of weeks ago that someone had Snow Geese there, but it seemed too quirky to go in search of them. I have never seen Snow Geese at Manasquan Inlet; a patch bird if I was serious about the patch.  Over by Baltimore Avenue I could see lots of ducks, including a White-winged Scoter which this year has been an easy duck for me to find, unlike most years. 

I made a final stop at Gull Island Park--I still need Horned Grebe for the year (!), but there were none to be found there--only more of the same of what I'd already seen, plus a black duck. 

For the day 28 species:

Species            Location
Snow Goose   Manasquan Inlet
Brant   Manasquan Inlet
Canada Goose   Lake of the Lilies
Mallard   Little Silver Lake
Canvasback   Lake of the Lilies
Greater Scaup   Manasquan Inlet
Lesser Scaup   Lake of the Lilies
Surf Scoter   Manasquan Inlet
White-winged Scoter   Manasquan Inlet
Black Scoter   Manasquan Inlet
Long-tailed Duck   Lake of the Lilies
Bufflehead   Manasquan Inlet
Red-breasted Merganser   Lake of the Lilies
Ruddy Duck   Lake of the Lilies
Mourning Dove   Lake of the Lilies
American Coot   Lake of the Lilies
Razorbill   Manasquan Inlet
Ring-billed Gull   Lake of the Lilies
American Herring Gull   Lake of the Lilies
Great Black-backed Gull   Lake of the Lilies
Red-throated Loon   Manasquan Inlet
Common Loon   Manasquan Inlet
Great Blue Heron   Little Silver Lake
Blue Jay   Lake of the Lilies
House Sparrow   Lake of the Lilies
House Finch   Lake of the Lilies
Red-winged Blackbird   Lake of the Lilies
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Lake of the Lilies

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. 

November Wrap-up--A Lot of Ducks

American Black Ducks, Double Trouble SP

A fairly productive month, especially if you like ducks (and geese and swans) and I do. November is the month the Tundra Swans return to Whitesbog and Reeves Bogs, and the month that the sea ducks start to show up at Barnegat Light. A Thanksgiving Day trip to Brig got Shari & I a pretty hen Common Goldeneye as well as scads of Gadwalls and Northern Pintails. Aside from the Eurasian Wigeon at Lake of the Lilies (or "Lillies" as they insist on spelling it on their big wooden sign), none of the ducks were particularly rare. I kept hoping that I'd spot a Tufted Duck among the flocks of Ring-necked Ducks at Whitesbog or Lake Carasaljo, but of course, I didn't.

Tundra Swans, Union Pond, Whitesbog

It was also a good month for Wilson's Snipe, that somewhat elusive non-shorebird shorebird. A couple of days after I found a pair at Lake of the Lilies, I was walking past the back impoundments at Bunker Hill Bogs in Jackson when I flushed another pair. Their habit of diving into the reeds precluded any photos. 

But the best sighting of the month in terms of sheer fun came early in the month at Reeves Bogs. I was walking with my informant along Bear Hole (named so because in the good ole days they hunted bears there) with his dog Gunny, who, being a dog, was sniffing all the phragmites and brush grass and stuck his nose deeper into the reeds, flushing an American Bittern which flew up and over the reservoir, giving us great looks as it headed to a spot inaccessible to snuffling canines. 

For the month 113 species in Atlantic, Burlington and Ocean counties. 

Species    First Sighting
Brant    Cedar Bonnet Island
Canada Goose    Cranberry Bogs
Mute Swan    Lake Carasaljo
Tundra Swan    Reeves Bogs
Wood Duck    Cranberry Bogs
Northern Shoveler    Brig
Gadwall    Lake Carasaljo
Eurasian Wigeon    Lake of the Lilies
American Wigeon    Lake Carasaljo
Mallard    Cranberry Bogs
American Black Duck    Double Trouble SP
Northern Pintail    Whitesbog
Green-winged Teal    Cranberry Bogs
Ring-necked Duck    Whitesbog
Common Eider    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Harlequin Duck    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
White-winged Scoter    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black Scoter    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Bufflehead    Lake Carasaljo
Common Goldeneye    Brig
Hooded Merganser    Lake Carasaljo
Red-breasted Merganser    Ocean County Parks Offices
Ruddy Duck    Lake Carasaljo
Wild Turkey    Crestwood Village
Rock Pigeon    Colliers Mills WMA
Mourning Dove    Cranberry Bogs
American Coot    Lake of the Lilies
American Oystercatcher    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black-bellied Plover    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Killdeer    Whitesbog
Marbled Godwit    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Wilson's Snipe    Lake of the Lilies
Lesser Yellowlegs    Colliers Mills WMA
Greater Yellowlegs    Colliers Mills WMA
Ruddy Turnstone    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Dunlin    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Purple Sandpiper    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Pectoral Sandpiper    Whitesbog
Bonaparte's Gull    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Laughing Gull    Lake Carasaljo
Ring-billed Gull    Lake Carasaljo
American Herring Gull    Lake of the Lilies
Great Black-backed Gull    Lake of the Lilies
Pied-billed Grebe    Lake Carasaljo
Horned Grebe    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Red-throated Loon    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Loon    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Northern Gannet    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Double-crested Cormorant    Lake Carasaljo
American Bittern    Reeves Bogs
Great Egret    Brig
Great Blue Heron    Whitesbog
Black Vulture    35 Sunset Rd
Turkey Vulture    Crestwood Village
Osprey    Cattus Island County Park
Sharp-shinned Hawk    Cranberry Bogs
Cooper's Hawk    Reeves Bogs
Northern Harrier    Whitesbog
Bald Eagle    Double Trouble SP
Red-tailed Hawk    Colliers Mills WMA
Belted Kingfisher    Cranberry Bogs
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-headed Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker    Cranberry Bogs
Downy Woodpecker    Cranberry Bogs
Hairy Woodpecker    Whitesbog
Pileated Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Flicker    Cranberry Bogs
Merlin    Whitesbog
Eastern Phoebe    Reeves Bogs
Blue-headed Vireo    Cedar Bonnet Island
Blue Jay    Cranberry Bogs
American Crow    Cranberry Bogs
Fish Crow    Double Trouble SP
Common Raven    Double Trouble SP
Carolina Chickadee    Cranberry Bogs
Tufted Titmouse    Cranberry Bogs
Tree Swallow    Reeves Bogs
Ruby-crowned Kinglet    Bunker Hill Bogs
Golden-crowned Kinglet    Cranberry Bogs
White-breasted Nuthatch    35 Sunset Rd
Red-breasted Nuthatch    Cranberry Bogs
Brown Creeper    Lake Carasaljo
Winter Wren    Double Trouble SP
Carolina Wren    35 Sunset Rd
European Starling    Whitesbog
Gray Catbird    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Mockingbird    Whitesbog
Eastern Bluebird    Cranberry Bogs
Hermit Thrush    Cranberry Bogs
American Robin    Cranberry Bogs
Cedar Waxwing    35 Sunset Rd
House Sparrow    Lake Carasaljo
House Finch    Cranberry Bogs
Purple Finch    Whitesbog
American Goldfinch    Cranberry Bogs
Snow Bunting    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Chipping Sparrow    Reeves Bogs
Field Sparrow    Whitesbog
Fox Sparrow    Colliers Mills WMA
Dark-eyed Junco    Cranberry Bogs
White-throated Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Vesper Sparrow    Double Trouble SP
Savannah Sparrow    Reeves Bogs
Song Sparrow    Cranberry Bogs
Swamp Sparrow    Cranberry Bogs
Eastern Meadowlark    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Baltimore Oriole    Double Trouble SP
Red-winged Blackbird    Cranberry Bogs
Rusty Blackbird    Whitesbog
Pine Warbler    Whitesbog
Yellow-rumped Warbler    Cranberry Bogs
Northern Cardinal    35 Sunset Rd

Lake of the Lilies 11/19--Eurasian Wigeon

Eurasian Wigeon with American Coots, American Wigeons and Mute Swan

It was raining this morning so I couldn't go for my birding walk; instead, I went to Costco in Brick and since I was in the neighborhood, I decided to go to Lake of the Lillies in Point Pleasant Beach, despite the cold rain. There has been a Eurasian Wigeon there for more than a week and this seemed like a good time to try to find it. When I first heard about it, last week, I had just gotten back from a place not too far away and I wasn't about to make a special trip for this oxymoronic common rarity. I assumed I had one ticked off for the year. However, checking my year list, I didn't. Still, I assumed it would stick around. It has been my experience that once a duck, swan, or goose finds its happy place, there is no reason for it to leave. The challenge would be in finding the oddball in the flocks of swans, wigeons, Gadwalls, Ruddy Ducks, coots, gulls and so forth in the 12 acres of water the lake encompasses.  I parked at the "L" in the NW corner of the lake where there was a big flock of Ruddy Ducks, walked to the edge of the water and immediately flushed two Wilson's Snipes from the reeds.  I already felt like I was in the "win" column since snipes were a patch bird for me. Looking out through the murk and the needles of rain, I could see that I was going to need my scope. With it, I scanned through the flock of ruddies, found a few Gadwalls, Mallards, and then more and more American Wigeons appeared, along with coots and big, lumbering swans, which I suspected might be blocking my view of the target bird. I finally found our Eurasian visitor--brick red head, gray body--all the way on the south side of the lake. I briefly thought about driving over to that side but saw that the angle would be no good as it would be blocked by vegetation. I took out my camera and, zoomed it up to maximum, and took pictures of the general vicinity in which I'd found the bird. The photo above is the best of a poor batch. Fortunately, all this only took me 15 minutes, as the rain at the shore was becoming more or less horizontal. Happy is the man who finds his target bird along with a couple of snipes. 

The quarter-hour list:

13 species
Mute Swan  50
Gadwall  5
Eurasian Wigeon  1     
American Wigeon  50
Mallard  10
Hooded Merganser  1
Ruddy Duck  75
American Coot  60
Wilson's Snipe  2     
Ring-billed Gull  5
American Herring Gull  25
Great Black-backed Gull  20
Great Blue Heron  1

Lake of the Lilies 2/5--American Coot

American Coot

A little jaunt up to Pt. Pleasant Beach yesterday. For a moment, it was a head-scratcher how American Coot came up as a year-bird on my eBird list so late in the year until I realized that I hadn't been to either Pt Pleasant or the Manasquan Reservoir (the other site I'm sure to see flocks of them) this year. There were plenty of them there, more than the 75 the eBird filter would swallow, but I had no interest in making a 1 x 1 count of diving birds. With diving ducks, grebes, loons, or coots, I always figure that at any given time, about 1/3 of them are under water. 

Redheads (drakes & hens) with coots

Last month, when I was at Lake Carasaljo, I saw one Redhead and I was very happy to find it. Redheads can be a hard get in-county. Ironically, the first ducks I saw at LotL were Redheads, lots of them. Again, diving ducks, but I figured at least 50. But the quantity didn't surpass the quality of the initial find. I was more interested, though, in the 10 Canvasbacks, drakes and hens, that were in the middle of the lake. That's another duck you have to seek out, and LotL isn't usually one of the seeking sites. 

Canvasbacks

Surprisingly, there were no wigeon there, which means I may have lost my opportunity for Eurasian Wigeon which had been a long-staying visitor there since early in the winter. After viewing the lake from 3 sides, I steeled myself for some time on the jetty at Manaquan Inlet. I managed an hour of seawatching, enough time to prove to myself, yet again, that I am either a bad at standing still in one place or that I am unlucky at finding birds on the water--probably a combination of both since what I saw (aside from Red-throated Loon which went as a county bird) was dull compared to the alcids (Razorbills & Dovekies) that another (better/luckier) birder found flying by the jetty earlier that morning. 

My list from Lake of the Lilies, the more interesting of the two:

21 species
Canada Goose  50
Mute Swan  40
Gadwall  15
Mallard  60
American Black Duck  5
Canvasback  10
Redhead  50
Lesser Scaup  49
Hooded Merganser  30
Ruddy Duck  25
Mourning Dove  10
American Coot  75
American Herring Gull  15
Great Black-backed Gull  5
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Great Egret  1
European Starling  10
Northern Mockingbird  3
House Sparrow  20
Song Sparrow  2
Red-winged Blackbird  1

Lake Carasaljo 1/18--Redhead

Ever in search of open water, I went to Lakewood's Lake Carasaljo (or, as I think of it, Lake Unpronounceable) this morning and found that about 500 geese had managed to keep approximately 1/10 of the lake (which is over a mile long) free of ice. In among the geese were a couple of swans, some Mallards, Ring-necked Ducks, and like yesterday at Marshall's Pond, a solo Bufflehead--and this time I looked really carefully. But it wasn't until I walked along the shore a little distance and came to the neat, recently installed pontoon bridge that crosses the lake that I found the duck I'd hoped to see. Mixed in with a slew of white domestic ducks, geese, and one Muscovy Duck (more on it below), was a Redhead, swimming right next to the bridge. 

Redheads are always a welcome sight, right up there with Canvasbacks in my duck pantheon, and I was especially happy because this sighting meant I didn't have to go to an out-of-the-way street in Brick and scan the flocks of scaup in Barnegat Bay for a distant Redhead or two. Last year I got lucky when I found a couple of these ducks floating along off Bay Parkway in Waretown, but they were, as usual, too difficult to photograph. 

I walked up to Route 9 without seeing anything beyond big flocks of Ring-billed Gulls sitting on the ice and few geese munching on a challah someone had thrown on the shore. I returned to the bridge where a young woman was intently watching the ducks. She immediately pointed out the Muscovy Duck to me and asked me what wrong with it. 

"Nothing," I said, "They're just extraordinarily ugly ducks."

"No, no," she said, "There's something wrong with its bill." 

Here's where the really looking comes in. I was pretty sure this was the same Muscovy Duck I'd seen last month which had waddled up to me and tried to untie my boot laces and since Muscovy Ducks are not "countable" I didn't give it much of a look. But indeed, she was right, the top section of its bill was gone and its tongue clear to see resting on the bottom bill. 

"These birds are sometimes not kind to each other," I told her as we watched three gulls squabble over a slice of bread. It looked to me like the Muscovy was out of its element in the wilds of Lakewood.

More interesting to me was that the Redhead had disappeared. It being a diving duck, I gave it some time to come up to the surface, but it was gone. So, as often happens, my life line just happened to intersect with its life line at the right time--for me. 

I crossed over the bridge which leads to a more forested area of the park and then swung around over the rivulet of the Metedeconk River that feeds the lake without seeing much more of interest except for a Brown Creeper at the base of a tree. 

When I got back to my car a woman in the parking lot asked me if I'd seen anything "good."  I told her I'd seen a Redhead.

"Have you been to Lake of the Lilies?" she asked.

"Not recently."

"There are Redheads there."

"Yes, but now I don't have to go there, do I?"

Then she asked me about eagles. It was time to leave. 

Brig | Lake of the Lilies 6/27--Wilson's Phalarope, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Wilson's Phalarope, Brig

 A couple of times yesterday, Shari forwarded me alerts about a Ruff down at Brig. The second time she did, when I was already home, I texted back, "Should I run down there?" Her reply was, "Will you kick yourself if you wait and it's not there tomorrow?" And my answer was, "No, I won't." A couple of years ago I probably would have, but now, now I have perspective. 

Which is not to say that I wouldn't like to see a Ruff this year, just that I was willing to take a chance on it hanging on overnight--which it didn't. In fact, had I gone down there yesterday, I might not have seen since it seems to have disappeared mid-afternoon. But a Wilson's Phalarope was also reported yesterday and appeared to be the consolation prize for those who missed the Ruff. At 7:40 this morning, I found it at the dogleg, mixed in with yellowlegs, peeps, and one Dunlin. 

From the dogleg I drove down to Jen's Trail where I parked the car and took a walk along the upland part of the drive down to the parking lot and back. I was just about to try to find a chat in the usual spot when Shari texted me that there were Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks at Lake of the Lilies in Point Pleasant Beach, a mere 56 miles away. I love Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks. They're so goofy looking with the white circle like a lifesaver around their eyes. But now I was kicking myself, because my original plan for the day was to go to Lake of Lilies, which is mostly a winter birding spot, to see if anything unusual might show up in the summer. And obviously the answer was yes. 

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, Lake of the Lilies

I fast-walked back to the car and drove up to the lake. I had no idea what part they were on, but it isn't a big lake (it isn't even a lake but a glorified retention pond) and I could walk around it pretty quickly. I first looked at the corner of Newark & Chicago where a few years a Common Gallinule was found, but when they weren't there, I called Shari for more info--they were over on Elizabeth. While walking there, I noticed a very late Ruddy Duck hanging out close to shore--not a good sign for diving duck to be where it can't dive. I walked up Elizabeth, gazed about at the address Shari had relayed to me, and found them hunkered down in the grass. I didn't expect them to put on a show, but I wished they at least would have stood up. And they were easier to find this time than last year when one showed up at an obscure marina in Toms River on the 4th of July. 

The Brig list from my abbreviated visit:

57 species
Canada Goose  75
Mute Swan  42
Mallard  5
Mourning Dove  20
Clapper Rail  3
Short-billed Dowitcher  50
Wilson's Phalarope  1     
Lesser Yellowlegs  1
Willet  10
Greater Yellowlegs  20
Dunlin  1     Dogleg.
Semipalmated Sandpiper  20
Laughing Gull  100
Herring Gull  5
Great Black-backed Gull  1
Black Skimmer  25
Caspian Tern  1
Forster's Tern  3
Double-crested Cormorant  4
Black-crowned Night Heron  1
Snowy Egret  8
Great Egret  25
Great Blue Heron  6
Glossy Ibis  11
Turkey Vulture  4
Osprey  6
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  2
Eastern Kingbird  1
White-eyed Vireo  5
Red-eyed Vireo  1     Recorded Jen’s Trail
Blue Jay  2
American Crow  3
Fish Crow  1
Carolina Chickadee  2
Tufted Titmouse  3
Tree Swallow  1
Purple Martin  20
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  1
Barn Swallow  4
House Wren  1
Marsh Wren  6
Carolina Wren  5
European Starling  20
Gray Catbird  15
American Robin  6
American Goldfinch  1
Field Sparrow  2
Seaside Sparrow  3
Eastern Towhee  2
Red-winged Blackbird  20
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
Ovenbird  1     Jen’s Trail heard
Common Yellowthroat  3
Pine Warbler  1
Indigo Bunting  1

March Recap--Brink of Disaster Edition

Eastern Bluebird, backyard

 Considering how close I came to catastrophe this month, I'm rather pleased with its results. One minute I was looking at Killdeer in a drawn down bog, the next minute my car was practically in the bog, reaffirming my core belief that you are always that one minute from disaster. Around that unfortunate incident I got in some good birding in Delaware and New Jersey, finding some of my favorites (American Avocet, Sandhill Crane, Brown-headed Nuthatch, all in Delaware) and adding 21 birds to the year list. All the additions have been previously documented save for the Red-breasted Nuthatch on the list. That was a happy find at Reeves Bogs, where I was forced, due to flooding, to walk a long distance on Cooper Road in the woods, where I not only heard the RB Nut but saw it climbing down a pine along with a couple of its white-breasted cousins. In Burlco, at that time, it was flagged as rare. 

Our feeders have been entertaining this month, hosting so many Pine Siskins that sometimes they can't all fit on the feeder and end up grazing in the grass, and quite a few Eastern Bluebirds. Shari, seeing the bluebirds bought mealworms for them, which they seem to snub. The starlings like them, though. 

For the month, 125 species. 

Species             First Sighting
Snow Goose   Whitehall Neck Rd.
Brant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Canada Goose   Colliers Mills WMA
Mute Swan   Sunset Park
Tundra Swan   Whitesbog
Wood Duck   Whitesbog
Blue-winged Teal   Manahawkin WMA
Northern Shoveler   Bombay Hook
Gadwall   Bombay Hook
American Wigeon   Waretown
Mallard   Colliers Mills WMA
American Black Duck   Bayview Ave Park
Northern Pintail   Whitesbog
Green-winged Teal   Bombay Hook
Ring-necked Duck   Colliers Mills WMA
Greater Scaup   Sunset Park
Lesser Scaup   Sunset Park
King Eider   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Eider   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Harlequin Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Surf Scoter   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black Scoter   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Long-tailed Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Bufflehead   Sunset Park
Hooded Merganser   Colliers Mills WMA
Common Merganser   Bombay Hook
Red-breasted Merganser   Sunset Park
Ruddy Duck   Sunset Park
Wild Turkey   Bombay Hook
Pied-billed Grebe   Bombay Hook
Horned Grebe   Waretown
Rock Pigeon   Bayview Ave Marina
Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd
American Coot   Lake of the Lilies
Sandhill Crane   Bombay Hook
American Avocet   Bombay Hook
American Oystercatcher   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black-bellied Plover   DuPont Nature Center
Killdeer   Colliers Mills WMA
Piping Plover   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Long-billed Dowitcher   Brig
American Woodcock   Crestwood Community Gardens
Wilson's Snipe   Brig
Greater Yellowlegs   Bombay Hook
Ruddy Turnstone   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Dunlin   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Purple Sandpiper   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Bonaparte's Gull   DuPont Nature Center
Ring-billed Gull   DuPont Nature Center
Herring Gull   Sunset Park
Great Black-backed Gull   Sunset Park
Forster's Tern   Prime Hook
Red-throated Loon   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Loon   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Northern Gannet   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Great Cormorant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black-crowned Night Heron   Point Pleasant Canal
Little Blue Heron   Manahawkin WMA
Tricolored Heron   Joe Torg Nature Preserve
Snowy Egret   Brig
Great Egret   Bombay Hook
Great Blue Heron   Colliers Mills WMA
Black Vulture   Dover
Turkey Vulture   Colliers Mills WMA
Osprey   Bayview Ave Park
Northern Harrier   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Cooper's Hawk   Whitesbog
Bald Eagle   Bombay Hook
Red-shouldered Hawk   Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk   Colliers Mills WMA
Short-eared Owl   Bombay Hook
Belted Kingfisher   Whitesbog
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Whitesbog
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker   Whitesbog
Northern Flicker   Whitesbog
American Kestrel   Milford
Peregrine Falcon   Cedar Bonnet Island
Eastern Phoebe   Whitesbog
Blue Jay   Colliers Mills WMA
American Crow   Colliers Mills WMA
Fish Crow   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Raven   Colliers Mills WMA
Carolina Chickadee   Colliers Mills WMA
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Horned Lark   Whitehall Neck Rd.
Tree Swallow   Bombay Hook
Purple Martin   Brig
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Whitesbog
White-breasted Nuthatch   Colliers Mills WMA
Brown-headed Nuthatch   Prime Hook
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Reeves Bogs
Brown Creeper   Colliers Mills WMA
Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd
European Starling   Colliers Mills WMA
Gray Catbird   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Brown Thrasher   Brig
Northern Mockingbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Bluebird   Colliers Mills WMA
Hermit Thrush   Colliers Mills WMA
American Robin   35 Sunset Rd
Cedar Waxwing   35 Sunset Rd
House Sparrow   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
Pine Siskin   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd
Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Fox Sparrow   Prime Hook
Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd
White-throated Sparrow   Crestwood Community Gardens
Savannah Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs
Song Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee   Bombay Hook
Red-winged Blackbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Brown-headed Cowbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Common Grackle   Colliers Mills WMA
Boat-tailed Grackle   Bayview Ave Park
Pine Warbler   Whitesbog
Yellow-rumped Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Northern Cardinal   Colliers Mills WMA

Killdeer, Lake of the Lilies