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April 12, 2008, Sandy Hook MEETING
PLACE: Visitor's Center HIGHLIGHTS: The morning started out with a heavy fog. We started our trip at Horseshoe Cove. Walking down the bike path we came upon a group of Cedar Waxwings. One pair was feeding each other and dancing their mating dance. Migration was beginning. We kept on walking and came upon a yellow-bellied Sapsucker working on one of the trees. The Townesend Solitaire seems to have left us for parts unknown, but we did come across a Rusty Blackbird. Our last stop was at the North end of Sandy Hook. We visited the Hawkwatch just in time to see a brief hawk flight. A red-shouldered hawk circled with a Cooper's Hawk. A merlin raced past to find his next meal. In the trees below an early White-eyed Vireo,ruby-crowned kinglet and a blue-gray gnatcatcher flitted in and out of the branches. A wonderful way to end a day that turned out Sunny and warm. March 29, 2008, Beginners' Bird Walk, Turkey Swamp Park MEETING
PLACE: Rangers Station I had 7 people at today's walk. We braved cool temperatures and windy conditions for great views of most birds. We heard, but did not see, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker. and Eastern Towhee. February 12 , 2008, Sandy Hook MEETING
PLACE: Visitor Center HIGHLIGHTS: The day was damp and cold, but that didn't stop us. From the Visitor Center we crossed the street to visit Spermaceti Cove to begin our trip. There were hundreds of Greater Scaup blanketing the water, a welcome sight in a winter when the number of waterfowl has been low. We all enjoyed the calming sounds of their wings flapping in the wind. Great Cormorants stretched their wings to dry them on the other side. They proudly posed as we looked through our scopes. The
call of the Cedar Waxings and the hope of finding a reported Bohemian
Waxwing was our next stop. No luck. The flock was just out of our reach,
so we decided instead to search for the ever cooperative Townsend 's Solitaire.
Success! It was a nice ending to our trip. January 19, 2008, Barnegat Light / Cedar Run Dock Road MEETING
PLACE: Barnegat Light State
Park HIGHLIGHTS: The Monmouth County Audubon Society held its annual field trip to Barnegat Light today and were delighted by the calm winds, moderate temps and flat seas at the Barnegat Inlet. The birds weren't bad, either. We got great looks at a MYSTERY SCAUP that had some field marks of Greater and some of Lesser. No determination was made as to a positive ID of the bird. We had good numbers of HARLEQUIN DUCK, probably in the 20s total, plus one COMMON EIDER, lots of LONG-TAILED DUCK, both COMMON and RED-THROATED LOON, and R/B MERGANSERS. Noticeable in their complete absence were BUFFLEHEAD - there's a real mystery! We also had fair numbers of PURPLE SAND, SANDERLING, RUDDY TURNSTONE and a huge flock of DUNLIN asleep on the jetty. Several participants got a look at some HORNED LARKS that were flushed by a dog in the dunes. LOW-light of the day was when one of our junior attendees took a header INTO the rocks while trying to collect a sample of "jetty water" from a puddle. He landed completely upside down wedged in the rocks with his head in the water and his legs straight up in the air, flailing. While he lost his Giants hat, I am delighted (and completely amazed) to report that other than a wet head, he didn't have a scratch on him. What a miracle. Our plans were to finish at the Bridge to Nowhere, but three different sources reported to us that the road is now completely impassable and quite dangerous, so after a break at the Dunkin' Donuts in Manahawkin we took the group instead to Cedar Run Dock Road to look for Short-eards. We were not disappointed with two SHORT-EARED OWLS flying over the road before we'd even parked the cars! I estimate that there were 3-4 owls in all, putting on quite a show, plus 5-6 NORTHERN HARRIERS, a GREAT EGRET flyover (!!) and great looks at a GREAT BLUE HERON. As usual, a fine time was had by all.
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©2000-2008 Monmouth County Audubon Society |
