Duke Island Park 12/27--Cackling Goose

It shouldn't be this hard to sweep the geese for New Jersey, but finally today, after looking through about 1000 Canada Geese

Try finding the Cackling Goose in this flock!

I was able to locate a Cackling Goose, thus ticking off every possible goose in the state for the year.  A couple of my fellow birders with scopes had the bird, though when I looked through the scope I didn't see a goose I could call, in good conscience, a cackler. Shari found one and said it was in the scope but again, it dipped it's head down and I didn't really want to call it. But miraculously, just as I was ready to bag it and leave, I the flock opened up, and there in a clearing was a substantially smaller goose, feeding vociferously. My first reaction was that it was one of the Greater White-fronted Geese we'd already seen because of it's size but that idea quickly evaporated and I was left with the Cackling Goose in my sights. That was quite a field of geese with 5 species in it: Canada Goose (obviously), at least one Cackling Goose (a picture would be too much to ask of the birding gods), the 2 Greater White-fronted Geese:

Greater White-fronted Goose, front & center

a Barnacle Goose, first record for Somerset County and my 2nd of the month (and year)

Barnacle Goose, behind front two Canada Geese

and one Snow Goose, which came in very handy today to use as a "birdmark" to find the other geese.

Snow Goose (center), Greater White-fronted Goose, extreme left front, Barnacle Goose to right of Snow Goose.

To round out the list of interesting birds today, we had a Common Raven fly over the field, croaking its distinctive vocalization. 

Our list for for 2 hours in the park, mostly spent scanning the baseball field:

Greater White-fronted Goose  2     
Snow Goose  1
Barnacle Goose  1     
Cackling Goose  1    
Canada Goose  1000
Great Blue Heron  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1     Heard
American Crow  2
Common Raven  1
Black-capped Chickadee  1
Tufted Titmouse  1     Heard
Carolina Wren  1     Heard
Eastern Bluebird  1     Heard
Northern Mockingbird  1
Northern Cardinal  1     On baseball field with geese
American Goldfinch  1     Heard

Spring Lake 12/20--EGYPTIAN GOOSE

Shari and I did a little trip up Route 35 today, hitting a few shore spots and came up with the expected birds, though this Great Egret on Lake of the Lilies seemed late and out of place:

Great Egret with Great Blue Heron in background

Once we got above the Manasquan Inlet and into Monmouth County I ran into the little directional problem I always have with the territory up to Sandy Hook along the shore: I sort of know where I am wherever I am, but I never know exactly where I am in relation to the next place I want to go. I just haven't internalized the little towns and hot spots in proper sequence. So I was surprised to find that Wreck Pond was only a few minutes from where we were eating lunch and even more surprised at how close Silver Lake was to Wreck Pond and still more surprised how close both of them were to the where I'd seen the Pink-footed Goose a couple of weeks ago.

After a stop at Wreck Pond we drove over to Silver Lake. A pair of dubious rarities has been hanging out there for a while and I wanted to see if we could stumble upon them. Soon enough we did, two EGYPTIAN GEESE, which are not really countable in NJ (though they are countable, I understand, in Florida, where they have bred), because these are most likely escapees. But they are such goofy looking birds and they are roaming free (unlike, say, the Gambel's Quail I saw among the chickens earlier this month) and someday, my rationale is, they might become countable and finally, it's my list, so here they are. I only wish I'd seen them in New Egypt.

Monroe Twp 12/19--Greater White-fronted Goose

The last couple of days I've been going to a spot new to me--Etra Lake (more a pond, really) in Mercer County. Some interesting geese have been reported there, but each day that I've been there I've found nothing but lots of Canada Geese. It became obvious that in order to find the rare geese, I'd have to get there earlier than the 9 AM I've been managing--today when I arrived the geese were already departing in waves of fifties and by 9:30 the lake was virtually devoid of geese. I was about a half hour late, according to one post on JerseyBirds.

Plan B called for me to go back to Applegarth Road in Monroe, about 15 minutes away,where I saw the Barnacle Goose on Monday. I didn't relish the idea.  When you park next to the huge corn field, reduced to stubble now, this is what you're confronted with:

Thousand of Canada Geese. Just as you're getting the scope out of the car, an immature eagle flies over and causes this:

By the time they all settle down, you get to scan through a quarter mile of this:

Until the eagle flies back (see picture 2).

So I was pretty happy when I spotted 3 Snow Geese in the flock; they were at least something different. I scanned back and forth without much hope until I abruptly stopped when looking me full in the face was a Greater White-fronted Goose, the bird I kept missing at Etra Lake. Just then another birder pulled in and as he was setting up his scope the eagle made another pass with predictable results. Happily, the geese settled back in and he was able to spot the GWFG close to the Snow Geese. Unfortunately, I couldn't digiscope because the camera battery died, probably because I left it in the cold car overnight. Such are the frustrations of winter birding.

Considering that I was just going through the motions without any real hope of finding the rare goose, I have once again confirmed my rarity rule--you don't find the bird until you have truly given up.

Monroe Twp 12/15--Barnacle Goose

Another Monday, another goose. Today I ventured into the far western reaches of Middlesex County where the last couple of days a Barnacle Goose (another visitor, like like last week's Pink-footed Goose, from Greenland) was seen in a huge corn stubble field. I couldn't go yesterday because we were doing the Island Beach Christmas Count, so I heaved myself out of bed this morning and set off to find the bird, not relishing looking through a couple of thousand Canada Geese to find it.

I could almost predict who else would be there when I arrived and two of them were (Bob & Deirdre). The third showed up later. Happily, everyone there had the bird and I got a glimpse of it walking away in the scope of a birder from Missouri. Missouri. This guy and his wife had driven out from Missouri to see the Pink-footed Goose and the Barnacle Goose was their bonus. This afternoon I tried a little thought experiment with Shari: what rare bird would we drive to Missouri to see? We couldn't come up with one. I said to my friends there that this field was 30 miles from where I lived and I had to really think this morning if I wanted to make the drive.

(The Missouri birder was given good instructions by us as to where to find the Pink-footed in Wall Township and I happen to know he was successful, because I spoke to another my birder friends this morning as he was looking at the Pink-footed and he told me he'd made the acquaintance of the Missouri couple who had already ticked the bird on their life list.)

While scanning through the flock geese which extended at least a quarter of mile waiting for the BAGO to reappear, Deirdre looked for Cackling Geese, the recently separated species of goose, once considered a sub-species of Canada (studying sub-species of geese can by dizzying). She found a couple of candidates. I found a candidate. But, determining what is and isn't a Cackling Goose (is it really small enough? is its bill stubby enough? Is the shape of the head correct?) can sometimes be way too subjective for me, so, like Western Sandpiper, unless I'm right on top of the bird and it is extremely obvious as to i.d., I won't call the bird. Too bad, because it would be another year bird.

I wasn't happy with the brief look I got. I could count it, but it would be a technicality. Deirdre and her friend left and then came back about 15 minutes later to tell us that we could see the bird from a different perspective down the road in the parking lot of the firehouse. I packed up and drove down there, set up my scope and still couldn't find it. Deirdre pulled up in her car and told me to behind the firehouse, that another guy had the bird. Deirdre did everything but take me by the shoulders and position me to find the bird. I scurried around the back of the firehouse, squeezing between the corner of the building and a hurricane fence and got my tripod legs stuck in the wire. It was really wedge in tightly. As I managed to extricate it, I popped off the rubber tip on one of the legs which flew into a coil of fire hose beyond my reach. That will cost over $17 to replace.

But I got the bird! I saw it in my fellow birder's scope, black breast, white flanks, barring on the back, white patch on the face. It fairly shone amongst the Canada Geese. Then I put it in my scope.  Somehow, you haven't seen the bird until you see it in your scope. Satisfied, I shouldered my scope and headed out to Assunpink to do some real birding and get a walk in.

Word Gripes

With the weather (another surprising snow event) keeping me from my outdoor obsession, this afternoon I turned to my indoor preoccupation--words:

Adjectives can be tricky

 When Shari showed me this label I had misgivings about dinner tonight.

The "original pork tenderloin?" The original pork tenderloin has got to be hundreds of thousands of years old--I don't care if it has been kept refrigerated, I think it's long past its stale date. Maybe the word Stop n Shop was looking for was "authentic," or better yet, "real."

Non-sequitur

I like everything about our Subaru except these four letters. Every time I see this logo I want to get a screwdriver and pry it off. I don't know a lot about mathematics, but I do understand the concept of "zero,"  which is say "nothing" and I know you that you can't divvy up nothing. A vehicle either emits zero toxic fumes or else it emits toxic fumes. The crap spewing out of that tailpipe cannot be "partially zero."

Actually right now the car is a zero emission vehicle because it is parked in the garage. Tomorrow, when Shari drives to Toms River, it will go back to being a vehicle with emissions that amount to a positive number. You don't get to average that number with zero and come out with a section of zero so you can feel better about your carbon footprint.

Allaire Community Farm 12/8--Pink-footed Goose

I did some chasing today. Chasing isn't my favorite kind of birding--it's the proverbial missing the forest for the trees. I originally was going to go back to Parker Preserve and look for the Sedge Wren, but a bird I thought would be more "gettable" was reported yesterday while we were braving the 40 MPH winds at Barnegat Light, so I changed my itinerary.

I started out at Assunpink figuring that I could get the trio of Trumpeter Swans that have returned to the lake, even though I have them on my year list already--they're still cool birds and I also considered them compensation for wasting my time looking through all those Tundra Swans at Whitesbog last week.

I did stop at the farm driveway on the way in to see if I could pick up the always reliable White-crowned Sparrows and a just a little pishing brought two out. A Cooper's Hawk overhead may have explained why there were so few birds in the area.

At the lake I walked to the area where the swans had been hanging out according to Bob Dodelson. I was misled a couple of times as I walked there, looking through the trees, by first a trio, then a quintet of dumb old Mute Swans, but a little to the east of the quintet I the Trumpeters were in place. I managed some photographs with my new camera, which I'm still learning to use and suspect I will always be still learning to use:

Trumpeter Swans

One up, two down

Invoking the "I only need one good bird a day" rule I was satisfied already with my list so the next target was going to be gravy. Yesterday, a Pink-footed Goose was found with a flock of Canada Geese on the Allaire Community Farm (not to be confused with Allaire State Park), which is about a half hour ride from where I was. I had planned the day so as to give the geese some time to fly back in from wherever they spent the night. I had never been to this spot, so I followed the GPS instructions which took me east on I-195.

I was about 20 minutes away when I noticed a little white stuff swirling on the roadway. The more easterly I went, the more white stuff I found, not only on the road but in the air and then on my windshield. Tomorrow there is supposed be a big Nor'easter. Nobody said anything about snow today, but by the time I pulled into a little parking area across from a pond  which I saw 3 or 4 birders were scoping, big, puffy flakes were falling. That was going to make viewing conditions difficult. Fortunately, one of the birders was a guy I know; in fact, I had a feeling he'd be there today and he already had the bird in his scope so I took a quick look before finally locating it in my scope. Since it was swimming we couldn't see the eponymous feet, but the brown head, pink blotch on bill,  & gray back with barring were enough field marks to cinch the identification.

Last year, in January & Februrary, Pink-footed Geese seemed to be all over the place; this is the first one reported this year of this good which normally isn't found much closer to New Jersey than Greenland so it's a good bird to have for the year and I'm happy I chased. When the bird flew off, leading about a dozen geese to the north, it was the signal to get out of the surprising weather and go home

Here's my "quality over quantity" list for my morning in Monmouth County:

Species                         First Sighting Pink-footed Goose     Allaire Community Farm Canada Goose     Assunpink WMA Mute Swan     Assunpink WMA Trumpeter Swan     Assunpink WMA Mallard     Assunpink WMA Northern Shoveler     Allaire Community Farm Ruddy Duck     Assunpink WMA Cooper's Hawk     Assunpink WMA Mourning Dove     Assunpink WMA Northern Mockingbird     Assunpink WMA European Starling     Assunpink WMA White-throated Sparrow     Assunpink WMA White-crowned Sparrow     Assunpink WMA

Bird Detective

My birding for the first week of December got off to a slow & frustrating start in both quality and quantity. But I seem to have assumed a new role as bird detective. Last week while I was on his field trip, Scott showed me a couple of photos of what could have very possibly been Trumpeter Swans that were taken at Whitesbog. Whitesbog is renowned for its flock of Tundra Swans, but Trumpeters are extremely rare in NJ (there are currently 3 in Assunpink, presumably the same trio as last winter), so he suggested that I go take a look. I  had planned to go to Whitesbog on Monday anyway, so, after studying up on the differences between the two species, I spent a couple of hours looking through 75 Tundra Swans in two bogs and came up empty. That's not to say that Trumpeter Swans hadn't been at Whitesbog previously. It only says they weren't there Monday.

Tuesday I drove down to Parker Preserve under threatening skies to meet Bob D and look for the Sedge Wren that Greg found a couple of weeks ago. We spent two hours walking up and down the same 400 foot section of the trail and while we might have heard the little bugger, we never caught a glimpse of him. Naturally, since that day, it seems that everyone and his uncle has seen the bird.

Thursday was more successful though it had its own frustration. Mike had emailed me about an interesting quail at a home near Colliers Mills. It wasn't a bobwhite (which are sometimes, though not this year, stocked in the WMA for hunting) and it wasn't a Chukar (which the hunters sometimes release to train their dogs), so, instead of looking for the Sedge Wren again, I called up the homeowner and, after not finding meadowlarks in the once-famous lapwing field in New Egypt, I drove over to her place.

They keep a small flock of chickens and she said that about 3 weeks ago her husband noticed the quail feeding with the hens. At night, when the chickens went to their coop, he found the quail nestled down with them. The bird (a hen, naturally) has been living there ever since, following the chickens around the couple of backyards they roam in, eating the oatmeal flakes they're fed, and generally living large.

I knew immediately the bird wasn't "countable" because it had a forelock, and only western quail, which don't migrate, have them. The only question was whether it was a California Quail or a Gambel's Quail and the lack of a scaly breast and the coloration indicated Gambel's. I've seen both species out west. The first time I ever saw a Gambel's it ran between my legs at the Tucson Botanical Gardens, so they're not particularly shy.

Too bad the bird isn't countable, it would be a great one to have on the NJ list, but it is probably someone's escaped pet. Yes, I was surprised to find that people do keep quails as pets. Or possibly it's a fugitive from Great Adventure which is about 5 miles away from the house. I didn't put this "sighting" on JerseyBirds because the homeowners didn't really want a lot of people coming around since they have dogs they let loose in the yard. Since it wasn't a bird anyone could put on their list, I didn't feel guilty about keeping the location to myself.

Luxury Chicken Coop

The funniest part was the chicken coop. When it was pointed out to me, I said that looks like a playhouse. Yes, I was told, it was her daughter's playhouse, then her son's fort, and now a very nice apartment house for 9 chickens and one very happy quail.