Cackling and Barnacle Geese and hybrids (Feb 23rd)

Despite rainy conditions I decided to go goose-watching in Jamesburg at Thompson park just south of town.  I located a few large Canada Goose flocks and was digging the scope out of the car when a local birder drove up and point me in the direction of a Barnacle Goose at the far end of the field.  I'd seen a report of a Barnacle and three hybrids in the NJ RBA and so it turned out: what he couldn't pick out in his binoculars but was clearer in the scope was that the Barnacle Goose was accompanied by three Barnacle X Canada/Cackling Geese hybrids, which looked rather Cackling-like in stature, but were grayer on the back and flanks and with Brant-like dark breasts.  A small amount of white above the eye that was separated from the white cheek also indicated mixed parentage.  I snapped a couple of bad pictures in bad light and heavy drizzle.

On the way out of the field my eye caught something a couple of 'scope scans had not: a Cackling Goose in one of the Canada flocks.  This one had the square head and even a little white collar at the bottom of the black neck sock.

Barnacle x Canada hybrids are center and right in this photograph and the parental influence is most clearly shown in this photo with the feather coloration and the extra white in the face.  More pictures on Flickr.  Upon reflection the goose at left is a likely Cackling Goose but the head profile is not "classical" Richardson's - it's approaching that of Lesser Canada - but there's a fair amount of gray in the feathers, suggesting Cackling.

Rough-legged Hawks, Bedminster (Feb 16th)

Between being somewhat jaded (see: AZ trip) and bona fide tired, I did very little birding on this past weekend and went on one specific trip to look for Rough-legged Hawk in Bedminster.  I parked up at one end of Rattlesnake Bridge Rd adjacent to some grassy fields and there was a pretty good group of raptors almost immediately: American Kestrel, Northern Harriers, several Red-tailed Hawks and a distant Bald Eagle.  The conditions were pretty windy but I could sit in my car and get a good scan of two adjacent fields.

I saw one Rough-legged Hawk-ish bird hover briefly and skip down an adjacent hedge row.  While talking to some other birders that turned up it emerged that "the" Rough-legged in the area was a dark morph, and the RLHA-candidate that I saw was a light morph.  Odd.  Five minutes later a well-marked (likely immature) light morph Rough-legged came up over the tree line to prove my initial suspicions correct.  It gave decent albeit distant views and all the raptors were pointing away from the car since the wind was from the north.  Eventually a little patience was rewarded by the dark morph Rough-legged turning up over the same field.  There's been a good showing of inland Rough-legged this winter, not by any means unprecedented in NJ but probably also because of the effects of Hurricane Sandy killing a large chunk of the coastal rodent population.

I watched both birds to circuits for some time and left when a hunter turned up to walk the fields - they're owned by some hunting organization so assume this is legit, but wasn't aware that hunting was legal in NJ on Sundays.

A pass through the nearby Great Swamp NWR after this didn't net anything of note.

This little trip did make up for not having enough time to track down Rough-legged at the San Rafael Grasslands in AZ when I was there the previous week (and where Rough-legged are significantly rarer).

AZ trip (Feb 7-12th)

As I inch toward USA 700 I decided to do an AZ trip which seemed to offer the potential for a nice count of new birds, and some bird that I rarely see from year to year.  In real life, however, the birds didn't entirely play ball and I came away with three new ones (Le Conte's Thrasher, Western Screech-Owl, Rosy-faced Lovebird) and missed more interesting ones (Ruddy Ground-Dove, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Nutting's Flycatcher) which for the most part chose the previous weekend to become elusive.

Trip report here.  Photos to be added.

Better luck with Geese, Jan 26th

Although my main preoccupation was shoveling a little snow on Saturday morning, the report of two Barnacle Geese at Assunpink WMA had me head out there for about 10:30am - definitely a slacker start to the day.  The lake had been reduced to the size of a pond by the recent cold snap, with waterfowl clustered in and around it, and the two Barnacle Geese were sitting at the right hand side of the pond.  From time to time they would stand up and be seen well.  Bobbing around in the melee of mostly-Canadas were several Mute Swans, American Black Duck, Hooded Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Ring-necked Duck and probably several other waterfowl that weren't easily picked out at a distance with a lot of geese in the way.  These Barnacles were certainly the duo that I had missed the previous week.

I could have pursued the local (and elusive) Northern Shrike that's been spending the winter at Assunpink but the snowy track and the hunters dampened enthusiasm for that, and instead I went out to  Tom's River to look for the Pink-footed Goose.  This is almost certainly the other goose that I missed last weekend, with it apparently getting bored of the Hightstown area and heading south-east.   It was, as reported, on a golf course adjacent to a busy road (corner of Bey Lea and Old Freehold Road, Tom's River) so not a peaceful wilderness viewing experience, but with the scope I was able to get good looks at the Pink-footed Goose in a large flock of Canadas.

As previously, no sign of Cacklings in either Canada flock.

I've seen Pink-footed Geese in three of the last six years, and Barnacle Goose four of the last six.  While still rarities they've dropped from being the really major rarities to just "good birds", presumably courtesy of population increases in Greenland (quite a few Greenland-originated Canada's winter in the North East).

While on the coast I wanted to make a little foray to Manasquan Inlet (Point Pleasant Beach) to look for sea ducks.  My first attempt, via Mantoloking, was blocked since only resident traffic was allowed northbound along the barrier island (plenty of Hurricane Sandy damage still visible in this location).  With some back-tracking I finally got to Point Pleasant beach which had lost its ocean-side boardwalk along the beach but was not entirely trashed.  From the (intact) breakwater along the inlet there was a very modest selection of ocean birds - most of them Common Loons which were putting in a pretty strong showing.  Otherwise: one Red-throated Loon; Greater and Lesser Scaup (the Lessers likely displaced from the frozen ponds); Long-tailed Duck; Bufflehead; Red-breasted Merganser; Brant.  Not a great variety, or numbers, but I haven't yet made my late winter trip to Barnegat Inlet which often produces better results - but not a place I visit on frigid days with the odds of ice after recent snowfall.

Northern Lapwings (again) but no exotic geese, Jan 20th

Although the Montauk pair of Lapwings I saw back in November have long since vanished, the invasion of them has apparently been so extensive that three (yes, three) were found near New Egypt in January.  That's close enough to my home base in central NJ to constitute a must-see.  So on the Saturday after my TX trip I went out to the grassy farm field to witness the somewhat surreal scene of three Northern Lapwings together, sitting in a cow pasture.  To add to the exotic feel a couple of Sandhill Cranes flew in - apparently there had been a persistent few Sandhills in this general area for many years but I've been mostly aware of the ones up in Somerset Co.  The Lapwings were at this location through at least Jan 26th.  God only knows how many of these there are littered around the north-east.

After that I struck out on the other targets for the day - both Barnacle and Pink-footed Geese that had been reported fairly regularly from the area of Assunpink Lake WMA and Etra Lake (Hightstown) and fields nearby while I was away in TX, but became elusive around the time I got back from that trip.  Despite looking at likely farm fields around Etra Lake and Hightstown I couldn't even find a big flock of Canada's.  Nor was  I successful with Cackling in the flock that remained at Lake Etra.

TX Trip January

In a triumph of lack of imagination I went on Yet Another Texas Trip January 11-17th.  This year was marked by worse-than-average weather and worse-than-average species diversity but as is often the nature of Texas trips there was one surprise: Flammulated Owl (USA #677) - not an obvious target bird for sea level in January; White-collared Seedeater - not a lifer but oft-missed on these TX trips and a perennial on by "better view desired" list.  The latter was a cooperative female.

Trip report here FWIW.

Year Listing - Long Island and PA

The year list attracts my attention in January, so I did some roaming around to find some of the more difficult winter birds, to limited success: no Tufted Duck on Long Island; no Barnacle Goose on Long Island - I picked the wrong Barnacle to chase since the Van Cortlandt Park bird is still there.

Nevertheless, on Jan 5th:

Huntington Harbor viewed from Halesite Park gave a nice mix of winter water birds but without the Tufted Duck I desired: Common and Red-throated Loons; American Black Duck; American Wigeon; Gadwall; Greater Scaup; Bufflehead; Red-breasted and Hooded Mergansers; Mute Swan; Brant.  One of the Red-throated Loons was especially dark (an immature), so dark that it almost had a chin strap.

I got to Belmont Lake State Park after the Barnacle Goose had flown out, but there were still: Common Merganser; Ring-necked Duck; Northern Flicker; Brown Creeper; Golden-crowned Kinglets.

A stop at Jones Beach State Park at Lot 6 revealed that the boardwalk had been damaged and the main building was closed.  Not a great deal visible over the ocean but a few distant Scoter sp, Nothern Gannet, Common Loon, Long-tailed Ducks and an alcid sp.  The alcid was almost certainly Razorbill but the surf was up and alcids stay down a while while feeding thus making viewing extremely difficult.  Three fly-by Sanderlings made for half the shorebird species for the day.

On to the Coast Guard station where Long-tailed Duck, Red-breasted Merganser and Brant were in the dock area (here too the dock was ripped up due to Hurricane Sandy), American Oystercatcher and Bonaparte's Gull in the bay, and both species of Loons were numerous here taking advantage of calmer waters than the ocean.  Nothering much going on in West End 2 but at the Theodore Roosevelt Nature Center I had a fly-by Great Blue Heron (immature, hopefully headed south), three Horned Larks and Yellow-rumped Warblers.  Notable by their absence were any type of raptor at Jones Beach - normally a reliable place for them but Sandy may well have killed off the small mammal populations.

Then I started to head back to NJ, first stopping at Tottenville Train Station where American Wigeon, the expected male Eurasian Wigeon and an adult Great Cormorant were easily found.  Back in NJ at Edison Boat Launch there was nothing beyond common gulls and Mallards but one Red-tailed Hawk was hovering in ways that suggested Rough-legged (alas, no, but the land-fills around that part of Edison/New Brunswick have attracted white-winged gulls and Rough-legged recently).

Finally, with an idea of adding more interesting gulls to the day's list I made my last stop at Falls Twp Community Park in PA where I found 3 Lesser-black-backed Gulls and one second winter Iceland Gull, although I had to wait for the latter and it was on the darker end of the Kumlein's Iceland scale with some duskiness in the primaries.  Not a viable Thayer's however.

On January 7th I added a Red-breasted Nuthatch at my back yard feeders and Bald Eagle at Mercer County Park lake.

All this rummaging around has propelled me to 62 for my year list, a number that is going to get larger once I make my annual TX trip at the end of the week.

Wild Goose chases, either side of Xmas

A Pink-footed Goose at Assiscong Marsh found by Frank Sencher (possibly the Cushetunk Lake individual from earlier in Dec) had me braving the potential for bad mall traffic on the 24th - but I got through Flemington quite quickly and after 15 minutes of sorting through an infinite number of Canadas.  The early start was just as well - I saw the Pink-footed Goose at 7:20am, about 10 minutes before it decided to fly out of the marsh to go feed (it was re-found in a park nearby later on).  Good diagnostic looks, but I was hoping for pictures as well.  At least I managed to put the other birder present on the goose before it took off.  I've now seen Pink-footed in NY, NJ and PA.  Other waterfowl present included: American Black Duck, Mallard, Gadwall and Green-winged Teal.  A brief look around local roads didn't show any goose flocks but I didn't realize until later that there was a nearby park that I should have checked too.


On the 27th a report of a Barnacle Goose came up on JerseyBirds at Mercer Corporate Park found by Mary DeLia - this is just inside Mercer County near Allentown and within striking distance of where I was.  (This spot is also the Northern Lapwing location from this fall).  I'd seen Barnacle in NJ before (Califon) and Barnacle this year (NYC/Bronx) but the odds of getting another Barnacle Goose in Mercer Co seemed remote so I headed out to see it.  It had moved on to an adjacent field making for more obscured viewing but after a little walk up the hard shoulder I picked it out at the back of the Canada flock.  On the recent CBC there had been two Barnacles at Plainsboro Preserve and one at Lake Etra, so there are multiples here or hereabouts.

Both these birds are presumed Greenland-originated (although with Barnacle it's difficult to be certain), and increased numbers of both in the north-east are related to melting of the Greenland ice sheet due to global warming.  Nevertheless they remain some of the more prized winter geese by their scarcity.

Barnegat Inlet, Dec 23rd

The lure of alcids brought me to the NJ coast just before Xmas, but I was to be thwarted on the quest for either Razorbills or Dovekie.  In fact Barnegat Inlet was pretty quiet initially.  Long-tailed Ducks had put in an appearance in numbers compared to my last visit, Common Loons were around in decent numbers but everything else was pretty slow.  Minor novelties were a Canada Goose flock, probably bouncing down the coast as the weather hardens, and Hooded Mergansers flying up the inlet into the bay.  One female Black Scoter was at the bay end of the inlet and a female or subadult male Surf Scoter was along the rocks at once point.  Notable by their absence were any Great Cormorants (regular here in winter).


Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Northern Gannet
Double-crested Cormorant
Common Eider
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
Black Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Turnstone
Purple Sandpiper
Dunlin
Bonaparte's Gull
Yellow-rumped Warbler