While waiting for real migration to arrive, I thought I'd try and pick off some late winter or very early spring species at Sandy Hook. I managed to find the only part of NJ that wasn't sunny and in the 60's this past Sunday - the wall of fog was literally staged at the Keyport bridge at the Sandy Hook ramp, so it was a cool 50's with limited visibility.
Chokeberry Lot: Long-tailed Duck, American Oystercatcher (First-of-year for me), Red-throated Loon and a single Surf Scoter (FOY). Thankfully an easy to ID male under those viewing conditions. Visibility into the ocean was very limited so I was only able to see ducks that were already closer to shore - a scope wasn't even that useful here since the visibility cut off before the birds got too small to ID via binoculars.
Sadly there was also a sick/injured Long-tailed Duck on the beach - it's too late in the year for a hunting injury but the bird could not fly, and if it had injured a wing it could not dive either. I told the Rangers about this and they seemed motivated to go take a look. These things happen, and Long-tailed Duck is a common species, but it's still a distressing thing to witness.
Visitor Center lot: Long-tailed Duck and some fly-by Red-breasted Mergansers. I didn't scan the bay side very much since it was contra light in this afternoon visit but I also saw Red-breasted Mergansers there.
North Beach: more American Oystercatcher pairs; more Long-tailed Ducks; two more Red-throated Loons; two more Surf Scoters; one Piping Plover (FOY).
Visitor Center Lot revisit: small group of Northern Gannets (adult) and three White-winged Scoters (FOY).
Brant were still in evidence but there were few to no American Black Ducks which have probably decamped for the saltmarshes now that it approaches breeding season. But the trip was good for Scoters - I have particular problem finding White-winged Scoters now that I don't visit Montauk Point (where you could find several thousand of each of the three species) and I hadn't seen Surf Scoter this year either. My alternate favorite location - Barnegat Inlet - isn't reliable for scoter species early in the year, although back in November I had all three species in the big diving duck flock.
Showing posts with label Surf Scoter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Surf Scoter. Show all posts
Monday, March 19, 2012
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Barnegat and Brigantine
The deferred trip to Barnegat happened on Sunday, although in this case I expected the cloud was still going to be a problem, and apart from a short blue sky patch the light was mediocre to poor. There was also a rising strong southerly wind that buffeted me on the end of the jetty. Not ideal conditions but the jetty itself was almost ice-free.
There was a small freighter moving up and down the inlet, apparently part of some dredging operation. This spooked many birds out of the inlet and might explain why I saw no loons whatsoever on this trip. Other regulars: Long-tailed Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, were in relatively low numbers. The usual star of this location - the tame Harlequin Ducks - were present in small groups along the jetty, probably up to 20 or so. Shorebirds were few in number - a few Dunlin and Sanderling, but no Ruddy Turnstones or Purple Sandpipers. This might be a factor of the tide, which was very low indeed when I got there and was still low when I left 3 hours later. 30-odd Common Eiders, and 20-30 each of Surf Scoter and Black Scoter were at the mouth of the inlet. There were large (hundreds) flocks of Greater Scaup a flying south a little further out. The scoter flocks appeared to be mostly male, and as luck would have it one or two came in close to the jetty - at one point a mixed flock of 2 adult male Surf, 2 immature male Surf, 1 female Surf and 2 adult male Black Scoters. I don't normally get to see Scoters that close, and the only regret was that the light wasn't better for photography.
Add in Great Cormorant, Brant and a Red-breasted Nuthatch at the parking lot of the state park and that's pretty much all the birds of note. Harlequin and Surf Scoter were new for the year.
Then on to Brigantine, where it was partly sunny and so windy the car was getting rather buffeted and dirt was getting blown into the car. The freshwater pool was rather icy but with some open water. The brackish pool was predictably much more open. It was a pretty good day for waterfowl numbers, if perhaps not diversity: American Black Duck, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Snow Goose (large flock), Tundra Swan (20++), Mute Swan, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser. Northern Harrier and Peregrine were the only raptors, but the Peregrine was probably the reason why the large flock (a thousand or two) of Dunlin was rather nervous as it roamed around the brackish impoundment. The tide was so low that the water in the sluices was too low to attract diving ducks. I had a bit of a time crunch so didn't spend as much time at Brig as I normally do, but it was still moderately productive. Peregrine Falcon, Snow Goose and Tundra Swan were new birds for the year.
Another entry in the photographers-as-bozos list: an SUV with PA vanity plates "BIRD PIX" was repeatedly pulling up onto the grassy edge of the drive - which is already more than wide enough to let traffic pass. I guess erosion and habitat damage are less important than getting 2 feet closer to the bird.
There was a small freighter moving up and down the inlet, apparently part of some dredging operation. This spooked many birds out of the inlet and might explain why I saw no loons whatsoever on this trip. Other regulars: Long-tailed Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, were in relatively low numbers. The usual star of this location - the tame Harlequin Ducks - were present in small groups along the jetty, probably up to 20 or so. Shorebirds were few in number - a few Dunlin and Sanderling, but no Ruddy Turnstones or Purple Sandpipers. This might be a factor of the tide, which was very low indeed when I got there and was still low when I left 3 hours later. 30-odd Common Eiders, and 20-30 each of Surf Scoter and Black Scoter were at the mouth of the inlet. There were large (hundreds) flocks of Greater Scaup a flying south a little further out. The scoter flocks appeared to be mostly male, and as luck would have it one or two came in close to the jetty - at one point a mixed flock of 2 adult male Surf, 2 immature male Surf, 1 female Surf and 2 adult male Black Scoters. I don't normally get to see Scoters that close, and the only regret was that the light wasn't better for photography.
Add in Great Cormorant, Brant and a Red-breasted Nuthatch at the parking lot of the state park and that's pretty much all the birds of note. Harlequin and Surf Scoter were new for the year.
Then on to Brigantine, where it was partly sunny and so windy the car was getting rather buffeted and dirt was getting blown into the car. The freshwater pool was rather icy but with some open water. The brackish pool was predictably much more open. It was a pretty good day for waterfowl numbers, if perhaps not diversity: American Black Duck, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Snow Goose (large flock), Tundra Swan (20++), Mute Swan, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser. Northern Harrier and Peregrine were the only raptors, but the Peregrine was probably the reason why the large flock (a thousand or two) of Dunlin was rather nervous as it roamed around the brackish impoundment. The tide was so low that the water in the sluices was too low to attract diving ducks. I had a bit of a time crunch so didn't spend as much time at Brig as I normally do, but it was still moderately productive. Peregrine Falcon, Snow Goose and Tundra Swan were new birds for the year.
Another entry in the photographers-as-bozos list: an SUV with PA vanity plates "BIRD PIX" was repeatedly pulling up onto the grassy edge of the drive - which is already more than wide enough to let traffic pass. I guess erosion and habitat damage are less important than getting 2 feet closer to the bird.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Barnegat Inlet, 1/16
A nice sunny day persuaded me to kill my morning headache with a few aspirins and head out to Barnegat Inlet where I encountered the expected swarm of humanity. En route I stopped briefly at Florence on the Delware River to check for gulls and found very few of them, but a consolation prize of 2 Common Mergansers, my first for the year.
At Barnegat the tide was low, the action at the bay side of the jetty was very slow, so I ended up hiking all of the way out. There was a gaggle of photographers clustered around some tame Harlequin Ducks and a few Long-tailed Ducks. Dunlin, Ruddy Turnstone, Purple Sandpipers and one Black-bellied Plover were the shorebirds rock-hopping along the jetty. Further out at the inlet, and mostly on the far side were Great Cormorant, Black and Surf Scoter, Common Eider, more Long-tailed Duck, Common and Red-throated Loons - good scoter numbers but nothing else was at spectacular levels. A pretty good day under fairly mild conditions.
At Barnegat the tide was low, the action at the bay side of the jetty was very slow, so I ended up hiking all of the way out. There was a gaggle of photographers clustered around some tame Harlequin Ducks and a few Long-tailed Ducks. Dunlin, Ruddy Turnstone, Purple Sandpipers and one Black-bellied Plover were the shorebirds rock-hopping along the jetty. Further out at the inlet, and mostly on the far side were Great Cormorant, Black and Surf Scoter, Common Eider, more Long-tailed Duck, Common and Red-throated Loons - good scoter numbers but nothing else was at spectacular levels. A pretty good day under fairly mild conditions.
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