An Afternoon at Barnegat Light

 [Female Long-tailed Duck at Barnegat Light, NJ this afternoon. Click to enlarge all photos.]

Somehow I managed not to photograph the female King Eider or any of the Harlequins, but other than that it was a fine, cold afternoon outing at venerable Barnegat Light, NJ, which is where everyone goes to photograph eiders and especially Harlequins, so maybe it's just as well I concentrated on the other species present. This was the first serious bird outing I've had in a couple weeks, so everything was appreciated, especially the everything that was close to the jetty, which was most things. There was a really fine, big collection of ducks in the inlet, with all three scoters, both eiders, and a nice bunch of Greater Scaup, plus plenty of Long-tailed Ducks and Red-breasted Mergansers and Common Loons and two Red-necked Grebes and Great Cormorants and. . .it was really pretty good.

[Dunlin forages in the wrack on the edge of the Barnegat Light Jetty.]

[Landing female Common Goldeneye.]

[Always a nice surprise, two Red-necked Grebes were in the Barnegat Inlet near the lighthouse. Note the red on the neck of the back bird, leftover from breeding plumage.]

 [Red-breasted Merganser races past.]

[Pair of Black Scoters. There was much whistling and courting by this species in Barnegat Inlet today.]

[The rarest of the three scoters, we saw a total of 7 White-winged Scoters today.  There are fewer White-winged scoters in the world in absolute numbers than the other two scoter species, and they tend to winter farther north (and on the west coast), which is why we see fewer of them than the other two.]

Word Is

[Word is. . . it's cold outside, says this puffed up Yellow-rumped Warbler at Forsythe NWR yesterday.]

Word is, there were 29 or more Fox Sparrows on the lawn at Cape May Point State Park today, refugees from snow cover.  That word being from Tom Johnson. Dunno about you, but I've never seen that many Fox Sparrows in one shot.

Word is, the Cape May canal is frozen solid at the ferry terminal, that word being from Richard Crossley, who called to chat about American Black Duck - Mallard hybrids at Forsythe NWR, my workplace.

Word is, the birdseed on the deck is much appreciated, that word being from the juncos and whitethroats devouring it now.

Word is, it's winter, that word being from the National Weather Service, which says temps will go down to 9 degrees F. this Tuesday.  Good time for heat tape and keeping the water trickling in the tap.

Imagine being a bird right now, all the choices you have to make right to survive.  Feed here, or move on to feed elsewhere.  Roost here, or seek shelter elsewhere, and risk being found by hawk or owl while you are looking for the perfect spot.

Word is, we're lucky to be human and sheltered in our homes while our beloved birds struggle out in it.

Thoughtful Thursday: Frozen Sunset

[Norbury's Landing, NJ January 22, 2014.]

"One man's sunset is another man's dawn."
- Wylie Burp

Wordless Wednesday: Snow Sparrow

The Hordes

 [European Starlings thronging to Eastern Redcedar berries in Stone Harbor, NJ on Sunday.]

I guess I was hoping for something fancier when I went to Stone Harbor today, but the highlight had to be the flock of several thousand European Starlings devouring eastern redcedar berries, poison ivy berries, sumac berries, and probably foods I didn't notice on the Nummy Island causeway.  It was a real spectacle, one I'm sure the native birds that were looking forward to these foods probably didn't appreciate.

[European Starlings, Stone Harbor today. The buff feather tips will wear off over the course of the winter, leaving the birds in fine, dark glossy green-black breeding plumage come springtime.]