Long Beach Island 1/13--Harlequin Ducks, Tricolored Heron

Barnegat Light SP Jetty

I went solo on a field trip to Long Beach Island today. That jetty in the state park does not appeal to Shari. Can't blame her: today one of our party slipped off the rocks getting down to the beach, fortunately harming neither himself nor his optics and I found myself standing on a wet, slippery boulder, unable to get any traction and just this side of panic until someone lent me a  hand.

The weather report was for unseasonably warm weather: Good. Unseasonably warm weather in winter often brings fog: Bad. We spent a lot of our time as if we were looking into milk.

We still managed to glean some good birds, both in the inlet and on the ocean, the highlight of the inlet being my second Razorbill this weekend.

The main attraction of the jetty of course, is Harlequin Ducks. From the concrete walkway we got decent but distant scope views. Later, after taking the long way around to avoid rock-hopping our way to the end of the jetty we got the "field guide" looks at the these handsome ducks as the tide took them right by us as if they were promenading before us.

The disappointment today was no sandpipers--no Purple Sandpipers, no turnstones, no Dunlins, no Sanderlings. And they weren't obscured by the fog either.

Barnegat Light SP
22 species
Brant  20
American Black Duck  1
Common Eider  35
Harlequin Duck  3   
Black Scoter  1
Long-tailed Duck  3
Red-breasted Merganser  15
Red-throated Loon  1
Common Loon  10
Double-crested Cormorant  3
Cooper's Hawk  1
American Oystercatcher  4
Ring-billed Gull  200
Herring Gull  5
Great Black-backed Gull  10
Razorbill  1
American Crow  2
Red-breasted Nuthatch  1    Heard
Northern Mockingbird  1
European Starling  25
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2
House Sparrow  20

After a while the fog lifted and the sun briefly came out before it just became an overcast winter day. We were hoping for some "interesting" gulls or "interesting" finches, but found none. We then went a few blocks west to the bay side and stopped at a couple of spots there. We were most interested in seeing if we could find the Tricolored Heron that had been reported off and on for a few weeks. At the first stop, a marina, Scott Barnes, who was leading the trip, found not one, but two TRHE flying off toward a marsh called high bar. I saw them, but I couldn't in good conscience count them as they were really too distant for me to identify them on my own. There was one FOY here for me--a single Boat-tailed Grackle, which was soon joined on its wire by a several Red-winged Blackbirds. It's unusual to see just one of this gregarious species, but oddly, last year, my first boat-tailed was a singleton at the Bridge to Nowhere. 
Bayview Marina
13 species
Brant  25
Canada Goose  40
Mallard  10
Red-breasted Merganser  5
Red-throated Loon  1
Common Loon  2
Ring-billed Gull  X
Herring Gull  2
Rock Pigeon  12
American Crow  3
Red-winged Blackbird  25
Boat-tailed Grackle  1
House Finch  20

Our final stop was a few blocks south at a park on the bay. Almost as soon as we parked a Tricolored Heron (a third? or one of the pair circling back?) flew by us and landed in close by marsh where it proceeded to snap up little fish or eels with great rapidity. We walked along the beach there for a hundred yards or so and along the rack line one of our sharper-eyed birders found us a Palm Warlber feeding with a Song Sparrow. 
Bayview Ave Park
9 species
Canada Goose  X
American Black Duck  5
Bufflehead  20
Tricolored Heron  1   
Ring-billed Gull  X
Herring Gull  X
Palm Warbler  1
Song Sparrow  1
House Finch  20
For the day I finished with 32 species and 6 FOY. Not bad, considering I spent almost as much time cleaning mist off my glasses, binoculars and scope and did looking through them.

Monmouth County 1/12--Razorbill

We went on a long Audubon field trip led by Lloyd Shaw, hitting several stops in Monmouth County. The main attraction, for us, was a chance to bird Manasquan Reservoir, a place we'd never been to. It's always good to go to a new place with someone who knows where to look. We weren't disappointed. The reservoir is part of the Monmouth County park system and is well maintained with many fine view areas.  This is definitely another place we'll put on the birding list, especially in spring when, we were told, it is a great place for warblers.

We started the day, for the 3rd time this week, at Assunpink. While the group felt obligated to look for the Northern Shrike, it was already close to 11 when we set off, so I wasn't optimistic about finding it and we didn't. Two new birds for the year there though were Field Sparrow and a Red-shouldered Hawk whose very clear call Lloyd pointed out twice. Hearing counts, but I didn't want to use that bird for Bird A Day, because it seemed tenuous, as did the Field Sparrow which I only got a brief look at. (I missed a few good birds here that Shari saw, like Pileated Woodpecker and Winter Wren.)
Assunpink WMA
22 speciesCanada Goose  25
Ruddy Duck  100
Great Blue Heron  2
Red-shouldered Hawk  1    Heard
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Ring-billed Gull  10
Rock Pigeon  1
Mourning Dove  3
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Blue Jay  3
Carolina Wren  3
Eastern Bluebird  7
European Starling  25
Yellow-rumped Warbler  5
American Tree Sparrow  1
Field Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  5
Dark-eyed Junco  10
Northern Cardinal  3
Red-winged Blackbird  200
American Goldfinch  2

As we walked along at the various spots, Lloyd let drop some Amazing Bird Factoids. Here are 2 that I found most interesting:

Ospreys have to migrate because, unlike most hawks, they have no insulating feathers on their breasts, which would only get wet and weigh them down when they plunge dive for fish.

Drake ducks, unlike most species of birds in which both species have cloaca (Latin=sewer) they employ for sex and evacuation, have penises (this I knew) and the Ruddy Duck, during mating season, has a penis as long as the drake itself.  There once was a Ruddy from Nantucket...

Our 2nd stop was the reservoir. There is no way to thoroughly bird this area in less than a full day, but the couple of places we set up our scopes turned out to be very productive. The 2 new species for the year here were a couple of Gadwalls and many American Coots locomoting through the water with their "Walk like an Egyptian" head bobs. The most astonishing sight on the water was a massive flock of Common Mergansers. I thought seeing over 30 yesterday at Assunpink was a lot, but this flock numbered at least 2000. That's more Common Mergansers than I've ever seen in one place; indeed, that's more Common Mergansers than I've seen in the aggregate.
Manasquan Reservoir
28 species
Canada Goose  5
Mute Swan  2
Gadwall  2
American Black Duck  20
Ring-necked Duck  15
Greater Scaup  1
Lesser Scaup  200
Bufflehead  5
Common Merganser  2000    
Ruddy Duck  100
Pied-billed Grebe  3
Double-crested Cormorant  25
Cooper's Hawk  1
Bald Eagle  2
American Coot  50
Ring-billed Gull  20
Herring Gull  1
Mourning Dove  3
Belted Kingfisher  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
American Crow  1    Heard
Carolina Chickadee  1
Tufted Titmouse  2
Northern Mockingbird  1
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird  5
House Finch  2
American Goldfinch  2

We continued the day going east to the coast, stopping at the Shark River. Many Brants, the two other mergansers species and FOY American Wigeons were the highlights.
Shark River
10 species
Brant  1000
Mute Swan  200
American Wigeon  5
Bufflehead  25
Hooded Merganser  5
Red-breasted Merganser  10
Great Blue Heron  1
Ring-billed Gull  100
Herring Gull  1
Great Black-backed Gull  10

We rounded out the day on the jetty along the Shark River Inlet. Here's where I got my Bird A Day--a Razorbill seen well and high in the water right in the inlet. Even though there's been an irruption of Razorbills this winter, extending all the way south to Florida, I haven't seen that many since getting to the coast is a chore, as evidenced by the meandering route our caravan had to take through the storm-damaged streets of Belmar just to find a way out to Ocean Avenue to access the beach. I was hoping for a Dovekie, but you can't have everything. Maybe tomorrow at Barnegat Light.
Shark River Inlet
8 species
Red-breasted Merganser  1
Red-throated Loon   1
Common Loon  15
Ring-billed Gull  300
Herring Gull  20
Great Black-backed Gull  10
Razorbill  1    
Rock Pigeon  9

Assunpink WMA 1/11--NORTHERN SHRIKE

At 7:45 this morning, standing in the field behind the mulberry tree for the fourth time in less than a month, I was reminded of W.C. Fields' aphorism:

             If at first you don't succeed, try again.
             Then give up--no sense making a fool of yourself.

The optimal time find what we were looking for appeared to be, from all reports, just after sunrise, so Shari decided to give it a go before she had to start working. Four other birders were also in the field, scanning the tree beyond the swale (love that word), and just as I was repeating Mr Fields' saying to myself one of them started to wave vigorously. We hustled over to them. I could see naked eye high in a tree they were pointing to and scope the shape of a bird and before I got in our scope I checked it out in theirs (birds have wings, they tend to fly off while you're setting up your optics) and there it was, NORTHERN SHRIKE, chunky body, narrow mask, big beak. Finally we saw one, which is especially gratifying after having thought we saw one a few years on Long Island, only to have it turn into a Loggerhead Shrike after much on line debate.

A couple of interesting geese (Pink-footed and Barnacle) had been reported on the lake yesterday so after getting our lifer we drove over to the boat launch to scan the flock of geese sitting on the ice. Alas, nothing unusual there (neither would be lifers), though 31 Common Mergansers were good to see.

Driving back down Imlaystown Road we stopped near the spot that Scott Barnes said was reliable for White-crowned Sparrow and yes, it proved to be.

Assunpink has become a "go to" spot for us now that we've overcome the idea that it is distant and remote, a hangover from our days in Brooklyn.

The full day list:
Comments:    Swale & lake
15 species
Canada Goose  75
Mute Swan  6
Ring-necked Duck  4
Bufflehead  1
Common Merganser  31
Ruddy Duck  100
Great Blue Heron  2
Ring-billed Gull  5
Northern Flicker  1
NORTHERN SHRIKE 1    
Blue Jay  1
European Starling  25
White-crowned Sparrow  2
Dark-eyed Junco  1
Northern Cardinal  2

Cattus Island 1/10--Common Goldeneye

Premonition + Pertinacity = Common Goldeneye. 

I paid my first post-Sandy visit to Cattus Island County Park today. Only about half the trails are open and the viewing platform from the Nature Center is also closed. But I was most interested in what I could find in the bay and access to that area of the park wasn't blocked.

I scanned Silver Bay from a few different points, finding lots of Ruddy Ducks and a smattering of Buffleheads. The marshes along the main trail held nothing. When I reached the end of the road I saw that the boardwalk trail that leads to a small island was also off limits. Cattus Island is a peninsula and the main trail ends about 7/8 of the way to the tip. I decided to walk the last little bit on the beach so I could scan the bay to the south. Last year, when I was on Long Beach Island about 15 miles south, I saw goldeneyes in the bay. I just had a feeling that out on the point would be a good place to find one (or more). I shouldered the scope and walked east along the water's edge where the sand was compact  making for a relatively easy walk. Along the way I spotted more Buffleheads and two pond pigs (swans), but there seemed to be a little activity on the water to my right so I kept on plugging along. No sooner did I plant the scope in the sand at the point than a black and white duck with a very obvious white circle in front of its eye flew overhead. I had my Bird a Day. I watched it fly across the bay and land in the water without the clumsy skittering of a Bufflehead, but once I tried to scope it I couldn't find it and gave up after I got a phone call.

Afterward I tried to got to Shelter Cove but it was closed off due to storm damage. I wanted to go to Marshall Pond (an incongruous body of water in a shopping mall close by Marshall's Department Store, but missed the turn coming and then, after a stop at PetSmart for more bird seed, missed the turn going. I settled for a look at Riverfront Landing. There were more Canvasbacks there than the other day, plus a couple of both scaups. An inadequate photo is below. Clicking it will bring up a larger image in which you may just discern the Canvasbacks and one Lesser Scaup.

Canvasbacks and scaup (3rd from right)

22 species for the day:
Cattus Island County Park
18 species
Mute Swan  2
American Black Duck  3
Mallard  4
Bufflehead  25
Common Goldeneye  1    
Red-breasted Merganser  1
Ruddy Duck  225
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Ring-billed Gull  8
Herring Gull  2
Great Black-backed Gull  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Carolina Chickadee  5
Tufted Titmouse  6
Red-breasted Nuthatch  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  1    Heard
American Robin  1
Northern Cardinal  1    blue trail
Riverfront Landing
8 species
Canada Goose  45
Mallard  70
Canvasback  20
Greater Scaup  1    Round head. clean sides
Lesser Scaup  2    Pointed head
Bufflehead  5
Ruddy Duck  3
Ring-billed Gull  20

Whiting WMA 1/9--Pine Siskin

Some people wake up in the morning and immediately start wondering what they'll have for dinner. Since the beginning of the year my first thought is, "What bird will I be able to use for Bird A Day?"

I took my walk through the WMA this morning and took each bird I saw or heard into consideration. There isn't much back there this winter and the rarest bird I saw for most of the walk--Red-breasted Nuthatch--I'd already used. I was resigned to using Eastern Bluebird, "burning" one of my 30 reliable birds too early in the year, when I came to a feeder along the path the skirts the WMA.  Goldfinches were on the platform feeder and, when I looked more closely, I espied my first Pine Siskin of the year. I looked closely to make certain it wasn't a female House Finch when another flew in--same size as a goldfinch with a small bill--so definitely not HOFI. While Pine Siskin isn't rare, I certainly see them few enough times a year to use it for the BAD list with no qualms.

So, while the Pine Barrens this time of year certainly are, with nuthatch, bluebird, and siskin, the birds I am finding are what a friend of mine would call "quality."

Day list:
Comments:    32 degrees
14 species
Canada Goose  2    Heard
Mallard  5
Downy Woodpecker  2
Blue Jay  1    Heard
Carolina Chickadee  10
Tufted Titmouse  2    Heard
Red-breasted Nuthatch  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  2
Carolina Wren  1    Heard
Eastern Bluebird  7
Dark-eyed Junco  1
Northern Cardinal  1    Feeder off Congasia
Pine Siskin  2    Feeder off Congasia
American Goldfinch  4

Riverfront Landing 1/8--Canvasback

Today was the first day that, instead of deciding which bird I'd already seen during the day to use for my Bird A Day list/contest, I went looking for a specific bird to add. After dropping off Shari at the Toms River Park & Ride bus station, I drove down to Riverfront Landing about a mile away, knowing that this was a reliable spot for Canvasbacks, a large, really handsome black & white duck with a brick red head that always seems to be served at banquets in Edith Wharton novels.

Since last year this little park was the only place I saw Canvasbacks (twice) I figured I'd get them out of the way and on the list--plus I do enjoy seeing  them. When the obsessiveness overtakes the enjoyment, then I'll know it's time to stop birding. At first, from the parking lot, there were only Mallards to be found and few cormorants that flew in. Piers and shacks on the piers block the view. I walked to the edge of the park and turned around facing the piers from the other side, which had the added benefit for putting the sun behind me. I immediately found some Canvasbacks and then, as a bonus, I gave myself a lesson in separating 3 lookalike ducks--Lesser Scaup, Greater Scaup, and Ring-necked Duck. Ring-neck was the most numerous and easiest--just look for the white "spur" on the side plus the white ring around the bill. These birds are often miscalled Ring-billed Ducks which does make more sense since the ring on the neck is virtually invisible. Next I found a duck with no spur and clean white sides and a rounder head than the Ring-necks--Greater Scaup. Finally, a few ducks with no spurs, grayer sides and a puffier head drifted into scope view--Lesser Scaup. The Toms River is not, I think, really a river, more like a tidal inlet, so it incorporates aspects of habitat all three of these species prefer--salt water for greater, and a more protected pond-like habitat near shore for the lesser and ring-necks.

The final little surprise was seeing a Pied-bill Grebe close in among the piers as I was packing up the scope. Another bird normally found on ponds.
14 species
Canada Goose  26    F/O
American Black Duck  1
Mallard  15
Canvasback  4
Ring-necked Duck  14
Greater Scaup  1
Lesser Scaup  5
Bufflehead  5
Hooded Merganser  2
Ruddy Duck  15
Pied-billed Grebe  1
Double-crested Cormorant  5
Great Black-backed Gull  1
Blue Jay  1    Heard

Inadvertent Record Holder

I was reading another birder's blog this evening; he was writing about his plan to do a Passaic County Big Year and break the record his friend established last year of 184 species. (Which, by the way, is pretty damn good, considering that Passaic County is land locked.)

The idea made me curious as to what the record for Ocean County might be and if it was feasible for me to try to beat it. The only place I know of to research to establish an "official" record is eBird. Their records for Ocean County go back to 1951. Looking through all those lists I came to the realization that, at least on eBird, I already hold the record with 182 species last year. (Compared to Passaic County's record this does not seem that impressive to me since I have an entire ocean front to bird. On the other hand, I won't go out on pelagics, which limits my counts. And, on the third hand, most of Ocean County is in the pine barrens, an area not noted for its avian diversity.)

I just told Shari and when she asked how I'd figured this out, I told her I'd just looked through 60 years worth of records. She said I have too much time on my hands. I'd be embarrassed to actually query on Jerseybirds if anyone knew if there is an official record and if there is, do I have it? It isn't like I get a prize or a trophy or even any acknowledgement. It isn't the same as getting a state record. It is just a goofy little statistic. I don't feel any sense of accomplishment; but I am greatly amused. Now the question is: Do I want to break my own record this year, or rest on my laurels? Or just bird as much as possible and see what happens? That seems the best notion.