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

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

Barnegat Lighthouse SP 3/25--Piping Plover

Piping Plover, with Brant

Why do I keep returning to Barnegat Light? Because, to paraphrase Willie Sutton, that's where the birds are. Potentially, at least. Of the birds on my shopping list this morning, I only found one, Piping Plovers in the mud around the pond, but that was the priority bird, since I don't much enjoy Barnegat Light in the summer when much of it is inaccessible. The other birds I was hoping for--Lesser Black-backed Gull and White-winged Scoter--were not in evidence and it looks like I'm going to have to wait for winter to roll around again (and maybe cadge a ride down the beach at IBSP) in order to put them on the county list. Last week, up at Point Pleasant Beach, I was finally able to see a small flock of Northern Gannets at Manasquan Inlet and 5 Laughing Gulls at Baltimore Avenue. I remember when Pete Bacinski ran an informal contest to see who could see the first Laughing Gull of the year, since he considered it a harbinger of summer. Nowadays, with climate change, you might be able to win the contest on New Year's Day. As it was, the first sighting in NJ this year was March 1. 

American Wigeon

Other notable birds there today were the continuing out-of-place American Wigeons (what are they finding to eat in sandy-bottomed pond?), noisy American Oystercatchers chasing one another around in disputes having to do with either territory or mating--or both, and a very sharp looking Savannah Sparrow of the Ipswich persuasion. 

Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich)

In a reversal from last week when there were 100+ Purple Sandpipers and only 1 Dunlin that I could find among them, today, there was a lone Purple Sandpiper picking at the rocks near the concrete walk and about 35 Dunlins roosting at the end of the jetty. Interesting, in a non-interesting way. 

The day list is similar to last week's:

34 Species:
Brant  150
American Wigeon  2     
Mallard  4
American Black Duck  7
Harlequin Duck  1
Surf Scoter  2
Black Scoter  40
Long-tailed Duck  15
Bufflehead  1
Red-breasted Merganser  10
Mourning Dove  1
American Oystercatcher  7
Piping Plover  3
Dunlin  35
Purple Sandpiper  1
Laughing Gull  1
American Herring Gull  100
Great Black-backed Gull  30
Red-throated Loon  4
Great Cormorant  10
Blue Jay  1     Heard
American Crow  1
Fish Crow  2
Carolina Chickadee  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  1     Parking lot
Northern Mockingbird  3
House Sparrow  2
House Finch  5
Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich)  1
Song Sparrow  3
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Common Grackle  15
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  4

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

January Summary

Red-headed Woodpecker, Colliers Mills

It has to be pretty cold in the morning for me not to go out birding. This month there were five days in a row when hypothermia was a potential problem, so I did a lot of feederwatching those days.  And the days when the weather was bearable, I felt I had to walk around, so I didn't spend any time watching the ocean for alcids which appear to have been abundant up by Manasquan Inlet. 

Some of my other notable sightings not previously narrated here were tracking down the Red-headed Woodpecker(s) at Colliers Mills, one time in a grove where I hadn't seen them before; finding a few Savannah Sparrows of the Ipswich persuasion at Barnegat Light yesterday; having 16 turkeys visit us this morning; and finally, perhaps most surprising, was glancing out the window to see a V of Snow Geese fly overhead. Snow Geese have become harder to find in county recently. Time was you could go out to New Egypt and always come across a big flock of them but not no more. So to have them as a backyard bird was a coup for the month. 

A visit to our backyard.

For the month I only managed 105 species. That's what happens when you stay away from the Ocean in Ocean County. But I don't have frost bite either.

Species    First Sighting
Snow Goose    35 Sunset Rd
Brant    Sandy Hook
Canada Goose    35 Sunset Rd
Mute Swan    Manahawkin Lake
Tundra Swan    Whitesbog
Northern Shoveler    Marshall's Pond
Gadwall    Ocean Acres Pond
American Wigeon    Marshall's Pond
Mallard    Whitesbog
American Black Duck    Sandy Hook
Green-winged Teal    Ocean Acres Pond
Canvasback    Riverfront Landing
Redhead    Lake Carasaljo
Ring-necked Duck    Butterfly Bogs WMA
Greater Scaup    Sandy Hook
Common Eider    Sandy Hook
Harlequin Duck    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Surf Scoter    Sandy Hook
White-winged Scoter    Sandy Hook
Black Scoter    Sandy Hook
Long-tailed Duck    Sandy Hook
Bufflehead    Sandy Hook
Common Goldeneye    Harvey Cedars
Hooded Merganser    Bunker Hill Bogs
Common Merganser    Pemberton Lake WMA
Red-breasted Merganser    Sandy Hook
Ruddy Duck    Stafford Township
Wild Turkey    35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon    Manahawkin Lake
Mourning Dove    35 Sunset Rd
Killdeer    Manahawkin Lake
Greater Yellowlegs    Bridge to Nowhere
Sanderling    Sandy Hook
Purple Sandpiper    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Ring-billed Gull    Bunker Hill Bogs
American Herring Gull    Sandy Hook
Great Black-backed Gull    Sandy Hook
Horned Grebe    Sandy Hook
Red-throated Loon    Sandy Hook
Common Loon    Sandy Hook
Northern Gannet    Sandy Hook
Great Cormorant    Sandy Hook
Double-crested Cormorant    Sandy Hook
American Bittern    Manahawkin WMA
Great Egret    Island Beach SP
Great Blue Heron    Sandy Hook
Black Vulture    New Egypt
Turkey Vulture    Sandy Hook
Sharp-shinned Hawk    Whitesbog
Cooper's Hawk    35 Sunset Rd
Northern Harrier    Sandy Hook
Bald Eagle    Sandy Hook
Red-shouldered Hawk    Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk    Forest Resource Education Center
Eastern Screech-Owl    Stafford Avenue
Great Horned Owl    Beach Ave
Long-eared Owl    Redacted
Belted Kingfisher    Manahawkin WMA
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker    Bridge to Nowhere
Red-headed Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker    Whitesbog
Downy Woodpecker    Sandy Hook
Hairy Woodpecker    Whitesbog
Northern Flicker    BC Fairgrounds
Eastern Phoebe    Whitesbog
Blue Jay    Forest Resource Education Center
American Crow    35 Sunset Rd
Common Raven    Sandy Hook
Carolina Chickadee    35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse    35 Sunset Rd
Golden-crowned Kinglet    Whitesbog
White-breasted Nuthatch    35 Sunset Rd
Red-breasted Nuthatch    35 Sunset Rd
Brown Creeper    Colliers Mills WMA
Winter Wren    Whitesbog
Carolina Wren    35 Sunset Rd
European Starling    BC Fairgrounds
Gray Catbird    Manahawkin WMA
Northern Mockingbird    35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Bluebird    Whitesbog
Hermit Thrush    Whitesbog
American Robin    35 Sunset Rd
Cedar Waxwing    Island Beach SP
House Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
House Finch    Sandy Hook
American Goldfinch    Sandy Hook
Snow Bunting    Sandy Hook
Chipping Sparrow    Forest Resource Education Center
Field Sparrow    New Egypt
American Tree Sparrow    Whitesbog
Fox Sparrow    Beach Ave
Dark-eyed Junco    35 Sunset Rd
White-crowned Sparrow    New Egypt
White-throated Sparrow    Forest Resource Education Center
Savannah Sparrow    Ephraim P. Emson Preserve
Song Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow    Cranberry Bogs
Red-winged Blackbird    Bridge to Nowhere
Brown-headed Cowbird    New Egypt
Common Grackle    BC Fairgrounds
Boat-tailed Grackle    Bridge to Nowhere
Pine Warbler    35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler    Sandy Hook
Western Tanager    Sandy Hook
Northern Cardinal    Whitesbog

Ring-necked Duck, Colliers Mills

Lake of the Lilies 2/9--Lesser Black-backed Gull

 I made a few stops around Point Pleasant this morning. Things didn't get off to a good start at Baltimore Avenue which has been turned into a construction site, so I wasn't able to set up my scope, what with dump trucks backing up and excavators scurrying around on their treads. And the tide was in, so there was no sand bar on which one may find an "interesting" gull. Three minutes of that was enough. 

Purple Sandpipers, Manasquan Inlet

I drove over to the Manasquan Inlet and set myself up on the jetty. Unlike the jetty at Barnegat Light, one can walk this jetty without risking life and optics. One can stand on it and scope the ocean without worrying about slipping between the rocks with one wrong step. One does not have an excuse to like "this is too dangerous" or "this is too wet" to get off the jetty. And if you like to look at Common Loons, that was the place to be today. I was kind of hoping for gannets, which I need for the county, but none were in evidence. I did see one Razorbill, always fun to find, but no Dovekies, murres, or guillemots, which are a lot more fun. Most of my entertainment was provided by a big flock of Purple Sandpipers that were feeding on the cement jacks that buttress the jetty. I heard them peeping when I got toward the end of the jetty, and they kept flying up and over the inlet. Every so often, I'd rest my eyes by looking down into the crevasses and see them standing there. Unlike the Barnegat jetty, there doesn't seem to be much growing on the cement there, so what they're finding to eat is a mystery. 

To the south there was what my friend Linda would call a large "herd" of gulls, Herring and Great Black-backed. In any large congregation of gulls there is a very good probability of finding an "interesting" gull if one is 

A) patient &

B) knows what one is looking for.

Since A) does not apply to me and I am spotty on B), I did not walk down the beach to scope the herd. 

Killdeer, Lake of the Lilies

Instead, I went to Lake of the Lilies. It was better than the last time I was there, when the water was 90% frozen, but the duckage was much less than what I'd expect. Predominately scaup (2 greater, the other lesser) and Ruddy Ducks, with the usual American Coots. (Any guesses as to why this is the best place south of the Manasquan Reservoir to find coots?) There was also a big flock of gulls in the middle of the water. I walked around 3/4 of the lake (.4 miles), trying to find anything unusual (Tufted Duck would be nice), while thinking to myself, again, that out of all those gulls, one must be an oddball. When I turned around and got back to my car on Elizabeth Ave, a birder I know had set up his scope just behind where I was parked. We compared notes ("Too bad about Baltimore Avenue") and talked about gull experts we know. We also wondered where the Killdeer were that usually feed on the grassy strip between the water and the fence. Wondering brought two of them in--who knows where they were hiding--and then J found a Lesser Black-backed Gull immature, no less, just to add to the degree of difficulty. I had some difficulty finding it (Greater Black-backs kept getting in the way), but then the bird took off and flew to our right, giving very good looks. When it returned, a few minutes later, good comparisons could be made between it and the other bigger gulls. J was saying before he found the Lesser, that he wanted to get good at gulls. I just want to get good gulls. And I'll mooch them if I have to. 

Shark River Inlet 1/24--Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Loathe as I am to stand on a jetty scoping the ocean, under gray skies in a heavy mist, that's what I did this morning--in two places. Given the forecast, I figured there wasn't much chance of getting any walking in today, so before the bad weather really kicked in, I decided I may as well try for the continuing Black Guillemot that has made itself at home at the Shark River inlet.  

I had read that this rare (in NJ) alcid was "off the north jetty," so naturally I set up on the south jetty, where I always go, figuring I'd be able to spy it from there. I'd also seen one comment that it was "ridiculously easy to see." Heh heh. 

Within 5 minutes I was disgusted with seawatching. And the guillemot wasn't showing. But I was then joined by a birder from the exotic realms of Hunterdon County. He had reasoned that I knew what I was doing. I soon disabused him of that notion, telling him that while the bird was supposedly north of us, I was hoping to find it from our present position. And he did. For a moment. It was just off the tip of the north jetty and then disappeared around the corner. I, of course, missed it. 

But, knowing the bird was present, still, made me feel slightly better. Now all we had to do, was walk back, go over the bridge, and get a view of the north jetty--which I didn't realize until we were on the bridge, is an inverted L, so that the guillemot could be hiding behind the long northward stretch of rocks. 

However, from the height of the bridge we were lucky to be able to see over the rocks and this time I found the bird. Great. But you always want a better look, maybe even a photograph. We walked off the bridge and onto the beach. Amazingly, the guillemot was bopping along in the swells off the end of the jetty, but much too far for my camera. I tried a couple of digiscope shots, clicking at whatever bobbing object happened to pass onto the phone screen. One was a Red-breasted Merganser. The other was, mirabile dictu, the Black Guillemot. The others were water.

Purple Sandpiper

For my Hunterdon friend the guillemot was a life bird, so there was some vicarious excitement there for me, as the bird was "only" a year bird and a Monmouth County bird on my list. He asked about other alcids and I told him I was going to go down to the Manasquan Inlet in the hopes of a Dovekie. It's only 7 or 8 miles south of where we were, but it's a long 7 miles. We met up there and I pointed out a flock of Snow Buntings to him. There were 3 stalwarts at the end of the jetty with scopes and we walked up to them. No Dovekies, so far (it wasn't going to be a 3 alcid day for me) but they had had 233 Razorbills flying north. I don't know what's more absurd--the number or the counting of them. I remember (using my old-timer voice here) when one Razorbill was a big deal and birders would come a-running to wherever it was being seen--like the guillemot today. I'd already had one Razorbill at the Shark River inlet, and I found a few floating on the water for my Ocean County list. Three White-winged Scoters zipped south--a duck that I often have trouble finding in Ocean County. One year, toward the end of December, when I still hadn't seen one, Steve, in exasperation, got me in his vehicle and drove up the beach at IBSP where a flock of them were just off-shore. Happily, that won't be an issue this year. Purple Sandpipers were skulking among the gigantic concrete jacks that buttress the jetty there. As I was leaving after an hour (about twice as much as I thought my maximum would be) I found one just sitting there. 

A trip to Lake of the Lilies didn't yield much--the lake is about 90% frozen, so only gulls and coots were in abundance--one Lesser Scaup (hen) for the county year list. By that time the mist had turned to rain and I head back south with one year bird and 5 county birds for my efforts. 

Barnegat Lighthouse SP 12/16--Black-headed Gull

The only thing I like about winter is the second chance I get at birds I missed earlier in the year. I didn't get up to Manasquan Inlet early in the year to check off Black-headed Gull, which seems to appear annually up there. I don't remember why I didn't go, but it probably had something to do with not enjoying standing around on a jetty in a cold wind. So this week, when I saw that one had been reported at Barnegat Lighthouse, I decided that I may as well get over there before the year runs out on me. Besides, it would be a new patch bird for the park. 

I have some friends who like nothing more than to stand in one spot and scan big flocks of gulls, looking for the oddity. But I don't. At least I knew where the gull had been spotted--in the relatively new Plover Pond back where there used to be only dunes. When I climbed over the embankment I was glad to see that there were only about a dozen or so Bonaparte Gulls in the pond. Since a Black-headed Gull looks very much like a Bonaparte's I knew it would probably be short work in either finding the bird or shrugging my shoulders. The little flock of Bonaparte's did not yield the desired bird. But there seem to be a few more of these little gulls scattered around the pond. I scoped each one and, as the proverb goes, what you are looking for will be in the last place you look, when I found a gull with a bicolored bill, I stopped searching. It was on the other side of the pond. I walked over and managed a few pictures. Then the Bonies from the other side of the pond flew over. When I looked up from reviewing my photos on the back of the camera, the Black-headed was gone. 20+ Bonaparte's and no Black-headed. It had flown to the west end of the pond--apparently it doesn't enjoy the company of its American cousins. 

And I found it by myself, which is always a satisfaction. I walked around the pond & out to the ocean, where I stepped up on the jetty, just to get an obligatory look at the Harlequin Ducks and Purple Sandpipers that are the Barnegat Lighthouse spécialités. I walked along the beach and scoped the ocean a few times, coming up with a decent number of duck species--not huge numbers, but enough to keep me interested. Just as I walked back to the pond area, I flushed a big flock of Snow Buntings. Climbing up onto the embankment that runs along the pond I looked again for the Black-headed and found it, this time across water, on the sand--again, all by itself. Very unsociable. 

I listed 26 species for my 3 hours there. Looking at the lists of other birders today, I'm way short of them both in number of species and, in many cases, the numbers of birds. But I don't walk to the end of the jetty anymore. Not worth risking my skull or my optics for a couple of more ducks. 

Brant  100
Canada Goose  50
Mallard  31
American Black Duck  3
Lesser Scaup  5     Plover pond
Harlequin Duck  7
Surf Scoter  2
Black Scoter  4
Long-tailed Duck  3
Bufflehead  40
Red-breasted Merganser  9
Black-bellied Plover  1
Dunlin  25
Purple Sandpiper  4
Bonaparte's Gull  25
Black-headed Gull  1     
Ring-billed Gull  2
Herring Gull  300
Great Black-backed Gull  7
Common Loon  6
Great Cormorant  1
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Great Blue Heron  1     Plover Pond
Snow Bunting  25
Song Sparrow  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1

April Review--37 Year Birds

Red-tailed Hawk, Cranberry Bogs-Dover Road

Just as it is a commonplace for people to say, "We don't have spring anymore, we go directly from winter to summer," a similar sentiment regarding migration is constantly expressed by birders--that is: Migration stinks this year." 

I think I have heard this every year that I've been a birder, and maybe migration was different back in the day. There are a few possible explanations for the idea that migration is disappointing this year (and every year). One is delusion--just as there really is a spring but people forget the nice days as soon as it gets really warm, migration may be more or less as it always has been, but birders forget the good days when they're slogging around not finding much. 

Or, possibly, to quote Randy Newman, "What has happened down here is the winds have changed." Maybe an overall weather pattern has shifted migration to the west--apparently Texas and the Gulf Coast are doing spectacularly this year. 

But the explanation I favor is the one that is probably too painful to accept, even though the scientific evidence coincides with every birder's experience: There just aren't as many birds as there use to be. Climate change leads to loss of habitat, development leads to loss of habitat, farming leads to loss of habitat, and so forth. To paraphrase Senator Everett Dirksen, "A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talking about a lot of birds." 

Wild Turkey, backyard

With all that said, I had a pretty good month, despite the lack of warblers. I added 37 species to my year list and quite a few of them were rarities, including two county lifers--Common Murre at Manasquan Inlet and Roseate Tern, today, just outside Island Beach SP. Yesterday, there was the White-faced Ibis at Meadowedge Park, and earlier in the month I found the Vesper Sparrow that stayed a few days by the beeping monitors on Great Bay Blvd. Last Friday, I ventured up to Sandy Hook to go on one of Scott's trips and was pleased to finally get Black-capped Chickadee for the year. May not seem like an exciting bird, but when you live in south Jersey, surrounded by Carolina Chickadees, the Black-capped version becomes a target. I remember once being in Central Park at the feeders, talking to a local birder and I told him that every one of the birds we were looking at I had in my backyard...except that one--the Black-capped Chickadee. Shari & I spent two day in Nassau County with our friends and I didn't find any chickadees there, so it was becoming something of a mini-nemesis. 

And, as always, Eastern Whip-poor-will has been calling every night that I listen for it since early in the month--even tonight, it is singing in the rain. 

For the month,134 species. The list includes our last day in Delaware, the weekend in New York, and 4 New Jersey counties.

Counties birded:

Delaware: Kent, New Castle

New Jersey: Burlington, Cape May, Monmouth, Ocean   

New York: Nassau

Species   First Sighting
Brant   Manasquan Inlet
Canada Goose   Dover Mall Pond
Mute Swan   deCamp WildlifeTrail
Wood Duck   Jumping Brook Preserve
Blue-winged Teal   Manahawkin WMA
Northern Shoveler   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Mallard   Jumping Brook Preserve
American Black Duck   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Green-winged Teal   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Ring-necked Duck   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Black Scoter   Manasquan Inlet
Bufflehead   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Hooded Merganser   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Red-breasted Merganser   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Ruddy Duck   Hempstead Lake SP
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Mourning Dove   Dover
Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd
Clapper Rail   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Virginia Rail   Whitesbog
American Coot   Colliers Mills WMA
American Oystercatcher   Manasquan Inlet
Black-bellied Plover   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Piping Plover   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Killdeer   Jumping Brook Preserve
Sanderling   Sandy Hook
Dunlin   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Purple Sandpiper   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Short-billed Dowitcher   Manahawkin WMA
Wilson's Snipe   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Spotted Sandpiper   IBSP Marina
Greater Yellowlegs   deCamp WildlifeTrail
Willet   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Lesser Yellowlegs   Manahawkin WMA
Common Murre   Manasquan Inlet
Bonaparte's Gull   IBSP Marina
Laughing Gull   Manasquan Inlet
Herring Gull   Manasquan Inlet
Great Black-backed Gull   Manasquan Inlet
Caspian Tern   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Roseate Tern   IBSP Marina
Forster's Tern   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Common Loon   Manasquan Inlet
Northern Gannet   Manasquan Inlet
Double-crested Cormorant   Manasquan Inlet
American Bittern   Manahawkin WMA
Great Blue Heron   Jumping Brook Preserve
Great Egret   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Snowy Egret   Cattus Island County Park
Little Blue Heron   Shelter Cove Park
Tricolored Heron   Shelter Cove Park
Green Heron   Pond on Schoolhouse Road
Black-crowned Night-Heron   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Ocean City Welcome Center
White Ibis   Ocean City Welcome Center
Glossy Ibis   Cattus Island County Park
White-faced Ibis   Meadowedge Park
Black Vulture   Wawa-Medford
Turkey Vulture   Wawa-Medford
Osprey   Manasquan Inlet
Northern Harrier   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Cooper's Hawk   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Bald Eagle   Jumping Brook Preserve
Red-shouldered Hawk   Jumping Brook Preserve
Red-tailed Hawk   Middletown DE
Belted Kingfisher   Double Trouble SP
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Jumping Brook Preserve
Downy Woodpecker   Jumping Brook Preserve
Hairy Woodpecker   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Northern Flicker   Jumping Brook Preserve
Merlin   deCamp WildlifeTrail
Peregrine Falcon   Island Beach SP
Eastern Phoebe   Jumping Brook Preserve
White-eyed Vireo   Manahawkin WMA
Blue Jay   Jumping Brook Preserve
American Crow   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Fish Crow   Dover
Common Raven   Jumping Brook Preserve
Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd
Black-capped Chickadee   Sandy Hook
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Purple Martin   Jakes Branch County Park
Tree Swallow   Jumping Brook Preserve
Barn Swallow   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Jumping Brook Preserve
White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
House Wren   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Marsh Wren   Cattus Island County Park
Carolina Wren   Dover
European Starling   Dover
Gray Catbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Brown Thrasher   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Mockingbird   Wawa Dover
Eastern Bluebird   Jumping Brook Preserve
Hermit Thrush   deCamp WildlifeTrail
Wood Thrush   Double Trouble SP
American Robin   35 Sunset Rd
House Sparrow   Wawa Dover
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
Red Crossbill   Double Trouble SP
American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd
Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow   Jumping Brook Preserve
Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd
White-throated Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Vesper Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Seaside Sparrow   Cedar Bonnet Island
Savannah Sparrow   Jumping Brook Preserve
Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Eastern Towhee   Cattus Island County Park
Red-winged Blackbird   Jumping Brook Preserve
Brown-headed Cowbird   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Rusty Blackbird   Jumping Brook Preserve
Common Grackle   Wawa Dover
Boat-tailed Grackle   deCamp WildlifeTrail
Ovenbird   Whitesbog
Black-and-white Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Common Yellowthroat   Colliers Mills WMA
Hooded Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow Warbler   Meadowedge Park
Palm Warbler   Jumping Brook Preserve
Pine Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Jumping Brook Preserve
Prairie Warbler   Whitesbog
Northern Cardinal   Dover
Indigo Bunting   IBSP Marina

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center

Manasquan Inlet 4/5--Common Murre

It was misty, foggy, breezy, and cold at the Manasquan Inlet early this morning as I walked up and down the length of the parking lot 5 times, racking up well over a mile in steps. It was my second day in a row there. Yesterday, I had spent a half hour on the jetty, seeking the Common Murre that has been floating in and out of the inlet for the last 3 days. Rarely seen from shore, as my friend Steve says, "it's a good bird for someone who doesn't go on boats." But yesterday I didn't find the bird. The last report had it drifting out of the inlet, so I assumed it was gone. I wasn't too upset, since my stop there coincided with a trip to the dentist in nearby Sea Girt, so I hadn't made a special trip. But then the reports started coming in late in the afternoon and early evening that bird was being seen in the back of the inlet. It had flown in late in the day. 

But five times back and forth in the parking lot had produced only about 6 loons and 3 oystercatchers. As happens so often that it is a law of birding, I had given up on my fifth pass of the fisherman statue when I was taking my last look across the water--"that's a Common Loon, that's a Common Loon...that's not a Common Loon!" Where the murre came from I don't know, but there it was right in the middle of the channel, drifting west toward Baltimore Avenue. I texted Steve, who was on his way, took my fog-enshrouded photos and left. I was very proud of myself, not for any skill I used, since none was involved, but for my sheer persistence in hanging around long enough for the bird to pop up. A very good county bird for someone who doesn't go on boats. 

February--Short Month Wrap-up

Wilson's Snipe, Cranberry Bogs

Bald Eagles, New Egypt

At least dreary February is a short month. It's been a disappointment that a couple of my favorite places to walk, Whitesbog and Colliers Mills, have been devoid of birds, so I took to going to places I don't visit as much, trying, as I wrote the other day, to find at least as many species as I can see in our backyard. The Cranberry Bogs on Dover Road were good this month, especially with the Wilson's Snipe(s) in residence, and Jumping Brook Preserve, with the addition of a simple bridge over a breach in the dams became a much longer, and therefore potentially interesting, walk than previously. I went to the ocean a few times, Island Beach, Barnegat Lighthouse, Manasquan Inlet, but this ennui engulfs me almost as soon as I start to seawatch and the old Mississippi Fred McDowell song starts playing in my head..."You got to move, you got to move..."

For the month I listed 110 species, 4 less than last February, and added 11 species to the year list, two of which were rare--the Harris's Sparrow up in East Windsor and the Western Tanager around the block from here. 

Counties birded: Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean

Species   First Sighting
Brant   Mantoloking Bridge County Park
Canada Goose   Colliers Mills WMA
Mute Swan   Assunpink WMA
Trumpeter Swan   Assunpink WMA
Tundra Swan   Whitesbog
Wood Duck   Cranberry Bogs
Gadwall   Forsythe--Barnegat
Mallard   Ocean County Park
American Black Duck   Whitesbog
Northern Pintail   Manahawkin WMA
Green-winged Teal   Great Bay Blvd
Canvasback   Cedar Run Dock Rd
Ring-necked Duck   Colliers Mills WMA
Greater Scaup   Cedar Run Dock Rd
Lesser Scaup   Lake of the Lilies
Common Eider   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Harlequin Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Surf Scoter   Graveling Point
Black Scoter   Island Beach SP
Long-tailed Duck   Graveling Point
Bufflehead   Lake Shenandoah County Park
Common Goldeneye   Graveling Point
Hooded Merganser   Ocean County Park
Common Merganser   Assunpink WMA
Red-breasted Merganser   Poplar St boat ramp
Ruddy Duck   Assunpink WMA
Wild Turkey   Jumping Brook Preserve
Pied-billed Grebe   Lake Shenandoah County Park
Horned Grebe   Cedar Run Dock Rd
Rock Pigeon   New Egypt
Mourning Dove   Colliers Mills WMA
American Coot   Lake of the Lilies
American Oystercatcher   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Killdeer   Colliers Mills WMA
Sanderling   Island Beach State Park A6
Dunlin   Graveling Point
Purple Sandpiper   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
American Woodcock   Crestwood Community Gardens
Wilson's Snipe   Cranberry Bogs
Greater Yellowlegs   Great Bay Blvd
Razorbill   Manasquan Inlet
Bonaparte's Gull   Manahawkin WMA
Ring-billed Gull   Lake Shenandoah County Park
Herring Gull   Ephraim P. Emson Preserve
Lesser Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP
Great Black-backed Gull   Graveling Point
Red-throated Loon   Great Bay Blvd
Common Loon   Bay Pkwy
Northern Gannet   Manasquan Inlet
Great Cormorant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Poplar St boat ramp
Great Blue Heron   Ocean County Park
Black Vulture   Whitesbog
Turkey Vulture   Wawa Rt 70 & CR 530
Northern Harrier   Cedar Run Dock Rd
Sharp-shinned Hawk   35 Sunset Rd
Cooper's Hawk   35 Sunset Rd
Bald Eagle   Whitesbog
Red-shouldered Hawk   New Egypt
Red-tailed Hawk   Lake Shenandoah County Park
Belted Kingfisher   Ocean County Park
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   35 Sunset Rd
Red-bellied Woodpecker   New Egypt
Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Flicker   New Egypt
American Kestrel   Assunpink WMA
Merlin    New Egypt
Peregrine Falcon   Whitesbog
Blue Jay   Colliers Mills WMA
American Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Common Raven   New Egypt
Carolina Chickadee   Colliers Mills WMA
Tufted Titmouse   Colliers Mills WMA
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Jumping Brook Preserve
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Lake Shenandoah County Park
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Lake Shenandoah County Park
White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
Brown Creeper   35 Sunset Rd
Carolina Wren   Colliers Mills WMA
European Starling   New Egypt
Brown Thrasher   Manahawkin WMA
Northern Mockingbird   Lake Shenandoah County Park
Eastern Bluebird   Ocean County Park
Hermit Thrush   Whitesbog
American Robin   Colliers Mills WMA
House Sparrow   New Egypt
House Finch   New Egypt
American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd
Snow Bunting   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Chipping Sparrow   Ocean County Fairgrounds
Field Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
American Tree Sparrow   Whitesbog
Fox Sparrow   Manahawkin WMA
Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd
White-crowned Sparrow   Hancock Field
Harris's Sparrow   Hancock Field
White-throated Sparrow   New Egypt
Savannah Sparrow   New Egypt
Song Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Swamp Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Towhee   Island Beach SP
Red-winged Blackbird   New Egypt
Brown-headed Cowbird   New Egypt
Common Grackle   Bay Pkwy
Boat-tailed Grackle   Cedar Run Dock Rd
Pine Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Poplar St boat ramp
Western Tanager   Crestwood Village
Northern Cardinal   New Egypt

Common Goldeneye, Harvey Cedars