Registrar: Louise Fraza
Bird Species: 62
We had a perfect early December day for this trip. The sun was out and it was almost windless. The grass had a coating of hoarfrost that was beginning to melt in the early morning sun. On the bay the water had just a light ripple. Everyone showed up on time and the mood was gregarious. An early surprise was the number of Great Blue Herons (about nine) on the island in the pond as well as a lot of Double-crested Cormorants. We had excellent, long looks at a posse of Common Goldeneye as they swam in the smooth water on the bay just offshore. Attention was called to a raptor in the big tree near the field, which turned out to be a Merlin. A bit later we saw an eagle fly over. After a bird-filled morning at the Playlands Edith Reid Sanctuary, we drove to a nearby town park where we had great looks at Purple Sandpipers on the rocks in the bay. From there it was on the Marshlands Nature Center. While we had our lunch at the picnic benches a Wild Turkey came strolling by — a survivor of last week’s Thanksgiving, someone remarked. In a tree at the top of the field that slopes down towards the marsh, we counted three Field Sparrows together with some Song Sparrows. All together, we tallied 62 bird species.
Species Lists
Birds
Brant
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
American Wigeon
Mallard
American Black Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Wild Turkey
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Purple Sandpiper
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Great Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
eagle sp.
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker (h)
Northern Flicker
Merlin
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Winter Wren (h)
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Northern Mockingbird
American Robin
House Sparrow
American Pipit
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Field Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal