This update begins last week at Wood Dale County Park. This was my first time visiting the park, however it was for good reason, 2 species I needed on my year list (one of which I needed on my county life list!) I instantly saw the first bird, the American Coot. While common at several places across the tri-state area, I wanted to get this rail relative out of the way as the chances of me going to Jamaica Bay or Lake of the Lilles among other places during the winter were slim. While it took a bit more time, I soon found a lone male Ring-Necked Duck in the small, mostly frozen-over pond. While I avoided birding on Sunday due to inclement weather, Monday was absolutely beautiful, first day near 50 this year (well at least the real feel, it had been near 50 when I traveled to Sandy Hook and Connecticut however the winds made it feel much colder.) Thanks to this nice weather, I ignored the slush and mud and went to the Celery Farm in search of a couple lifers- Eastern Screech-Owl, Barred Owl, and Virginia Rail. I knew that all these species were hard to spot and I would be lucky to come out of the Celery Farm with just one. After a suspiciously quiet walk at first, we came to an area where the Screech-Owl would be. Fortunately I found the Eastern Screech-Owl roosting high up in a tree. After taking a quick picture, I continued on, not trying to disturb it. I wouldn’t take long for me to see the Barred Owl which I would also admire for about a minute before leaving it alone. Finally I had arrived at a section of the Celery Farm where the Virginia Rail was known to be. A good sign was immediately a photographer looking into the creek where it’s been and after coming a bit closer, the Mockingbird sized Virginia Rail was in sight. I left the Celery Farm with much success with a pair of 2 beautiful male turkeys being a bonus. Finally yesterday I took advantage of the fact there wasn’t 5 inches of snow on the ground (it’s supposed to snow a lot tonight) to go birding, even if it was just ol’ faithful Van Saun Park. Even if I wasn’t going to be seeing any birds there, it was a nice outing as someone had dropped seed along the path, allowing me to get some great photos of some hungry birds, and it was always cool to see the Rusty Blackbird. While I was taking pictures of some birds, I heard something that sounded like a Chickadee right next to me, I turn around to try and get a photo of the curious bird and it turned out I spooked a Brown Creeper. While the creeper never showed back up, it was still a pleasant surprise.
Birds
83) American Coot (Fulica americana)
84) Ring-Necked Duck (Aythya collaris)
85) Eastern Screech-Owl (Megascops asio)
86) Barred Owl (Strix varia)
87) Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola)
88) Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)
Progress:
Mammals- 4
Birds- 88
Herptiles- 0
Total- 92
Now that I’m sick it’s probably a good time to provide an update of my adventures in the past month.
Starting in February right after posting this I took a trip to River Barge Park to knock off several easy species. Double-Crested Cormorants and Lesser Scaup (a long overdue species on my county list) were abundant. While it initially seemed as I would miss the Northern Harrier yet again in the Meadowlands, I was able to spot one right when pulling out of the parking space. After a week of bitter cold temperatures restricting my birding, I was able to make it to Packanack Lake in Passaic County to spot a long continuing group of Redheads. Despite the cold temperatures restricting me for another week I was able to spot a Great Horned Owl perched atop a bare tree in my neighborhood. Finally with warmer weather towards the end of the month I began going out more again. First was to Parsons Pond Park to see a Horned Lark. Despite it being nice to see over 50 Ring-Necked Ducks, the Lark was nowhere to be seen. The next day while I initially prepared to go up to the Ramapo Mountains for the first time this year, I got sidetracked due to a
Ross’s Goose being spotted in industrial Secaucus. The goose was easily feasting on the grass next to a busy road with some Canadas. A couple days later I toook an evening trip to Ramapo to attempt to see some Timberdoodles. While I had zero luck with them, I got a couple of long overdue Wood Ducks on my year list so it wasn’t a total failure. The next day I trekked to Van Saun Park. While nobody had seen it there yet this year, I knew it was a reliable place for Killdeer, seeing one February 11th last year. While it seemed dry at first for the plovers (although there were 6 species of waterfowl plus a hybrid American Black Duck/Mallard, which is quite high for the small pond there,) one landed in the mudflats with its iconic calls right as I was about to leave. The next day I was greeted with a Sharp-Shinned Hawk as soon as I got home. That night I traveled to Piermont Marsh in Rockland County New York in search of a Short-Eared Owl the night before (of course respecting the owl’s space which was quite easy from atop a mountain.) While my luck with owls this year had been superb, my luck did not continue that night as I saw no owls (although I won’t complain about the hundreds, maybe over a thousand blackbirds in the marsh.)
The next morning it was March and I woke up at 4:30 to go to Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in search of Night Partridges. While I didn’t plan on arriving till 6, new species for the year began right as I left my home as a neighbor’s motion-activated light revealed a pair of Raccoons. When I arrived in the Great Swamp I heard what was easily a dozen Bog Suckers. Unfortunately the light was still too early to see any Labrador Twisters besides a shadow that could’ve easily been an early robin. As the final Peents were going through the crisp morning air I thought I wouldn’t be able to see one that morning but as I looked in the road behind me, I had found an
American Woodcock had decided to display on the side of the road. While I couldn’t get my camera out in time it was still such a cool moment. I then went to the Wildlife Observation Center where I had luck last time birding, while the only new bird there was an Eastern Bluebird singing in the parking lot, I was able to find quite a few Eastern Chipmunks along the trail too. After accidentally going down the wrong road, I arrived at the Visitor Center where I immediately spotted a pair of Red-Shouldered Hawks. It didn’t take much longer for me to wander to find a pair of White-Crowned Sparrows enjoying the feeders with 5 other common sparrow species. I then went around the White Oak Trail looking for a Red-Headed Woodpecker. While I had no luck getting an early start on a species that I’ll definitely add to my life list later this year, I did enjoy a view of a Brown Creeper that lasted more then half a second.
Finally on the way back I stopped at Lake Parsippany. While it took me 20 minutes to find a decent view of the lake that wasn’t private property of some kind of club for wealthy people, I finally found a view that was also perfect to see my target species there, a
Red-Necked Grebe. While Horned Grebe and Common Loon had also been spotted there, the winds were very strong, making it almost impossible to see the Red-Necked Grebe that was just feet from the shore. That basically wraps up my updates as I was busy at the beginning of this week and towards the end before I got sick, rain and heavy winds kept myself (and I’m sure many bird) away. Additionally, I saw an Eastern Cottontail in my yard as I right this!
Mammals
5) Raccoon (
Procyon lotor)
6) Eastern Chipmunk (
Tamias striatus)
7) Eastern Cottontail (
Sylvilagus floridanus)
Birds
89) Double-Crested Cormorant (
Nannopterum auritum)
90) Lesser Scaup (
Aythya affinis)
91) Northern Harrier (
Circus hudsonius)
92) Redhead (
Aythya americana)
93) Great Horned Owl (
Bubo virginianus)
94)
Ross’s Goose (Anser rossii)
95) Wood Duck (
Aix sponsa)
96) Killdeer (
Charadrius vociferus)
97) Sharp-Shinned Hawk (
Accipiter striatus)
98)
American Woodcock (Scolopax minor)
99) Eastern Bluebird (
Sialia sialis)
100) Red-Shouldered Hawk (
Buteo lineatus)
101) White-Crowned Sparrow (
Zonotrichia leucophrys)
102)
Red-Necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena)
Progress:
Mammals- 7
Birds- 102
Herptiles- 0
Total- 109
