Today we explored Palmyra Cove Nature Park for a little snow birding. Last night we ended up getting a few inches of snow and by mid-morning it already started melting! It seems like Palmyra got a little less snow than where I live, but it was nice to be out in the quiet of winter.
We were greeted by a number of songbirds right in the parking lot: a first-of-year Brown Creeper, White-throated Sparrows, a Northern Cardinal pair, a Tufted Titmouse, Dark-eyed Juncos, and a Downy Woodpecker. A female Bufflehead at the beaver pond was a pleasant surprise as hundreds of gulls flew overhead. We even saw a mink! We ended our walk with 4 Cedar Waxwings near the visitor center. Overall we observed 17 species.
Palmyra Cove Nature Park (17 species, 314 individuals)
9 Canada Geese
2 Mallards
1 Bufflehead
1 Mourning Dove
60 Ring-billed Gulls
150 Herring Gulls
1 Turkey Vulture
3 Downy Woodpeckers
1 Hairy Woodpecker
5 Tufted Titmice
2 White-breasted Nuthatches
1 Brown Creeper
3 Carolina Wrens
4 Cedar Waxwings
16 Dark-eyed Juncos
50 White-throated Sparrows
5 Northern Cardinals
Bufflehead female (Image by Michelle Horowitz)Angry Canada Geese (Image by Michelle Horowitz)
We are halfway through the count weekend and Team BirdNation has observed 36 different bird species and 2,412 individuals. Other fun finds the last two days were a mink, deer, and a backhoe. Let’s see what the second half of the weekend will bring.
Have you participated in the first two days of the bird count? Share some species you saw in the comments below.
Sorry I missed Waterfowl Wednesday this week! It was my first night of my Bio 2 Lab, so I didn’t get home until late. To make up for it, I wanted to share some facts about my newest life list addition, the Common Goldeneye.
Hunters sometimes refer to the Common Goldeneye as the “whistler”. Goldeneyes are rapid flyers, so their wings make a whistling sound when they fly away. They can reach speeds of around 40 mph in flight.
Common Goldeneyes are part of the genus Bucephala, which is derived from the Greek word boukephalos, meaning “bull-headed”. The other two living species of this genus are the Barrow’s Goldeneye and the Bufflehead.
Common Goldeneye female and male (Image via pinterest)
Goldeneyes have up to 14 different movements that they can use during courtship displays. One common display is when the male stretches out his neck, suddenly whips it back over his body, and kicks his feet up to cause a splash while making a two-note call. Many males will try to court a single female. (I recommend searching “common goldeneye courtship” on Youtube and watching some of the cool display videos).
Common Goldeneyes sometimes act as brood parasites and lay their eggs in another Goldeneye’s nest, particularly when nest sites are in short supply.
Like Wood Ducks, Goldeneye females lay their eggs high up in tree cavities. They commonly use Pileated Woodpecker holes, but will use artificial nest sites if readily available. Chicks will leave the nest cavity one day after hatching. They have quite a fall to endure: some Goldeneye cavities can be as high as 60 feet from the ground!
During breeding season, Common Goldeneyes are found in the taiga through Alaska and Canada. They spend the winter throughout a majority of the “lower 48” of the United States.
The Common Goldeneyes are obviously named for their gold-colored eye, however their eyes change colors many times before adulthood. All chicks are born with gray-brown eyes. By five months of age, their eyes will have transitioned from purple-blue, to blue, to green-blue, to pale green-yellow. Males will have their eyes change to golden by adulthood, while females will have a range from yellow to white.
Hello friends! We are 14 days into 2018 and it’s been pretty eventful so far…
Last year on January 6th, 2017, I saw one of my first real rare birds: an American White Pelican. Remember Mr. Pelican? It was a pretty special day.
This year, on January 6th, 2018 something else extremely special happened…
Dave and I got married!
Of course birds were part of the celebration. See the birds on my dress and the feathers in my hair? Dave’s mom was also nice enough to frame some of our best bird photographs and have them displayed throughout the reception room. I already considered Dave my lifelong birding partner, but I’m so happy it’s finally official!
Our wedding also happened to be on one of coldest day of the year/winter so far. I believe the forecast was a high of 13 with a windchill of -2. That’s the kind of weather we’ve been dealing with since the end of December here in New Jersey. So between the weather, our wedding, and generally craziness we haven’t had much opportunity to go birding.
Today, January 14, was our first birding trip of the year. We went to Forsythe NWR. It was 26 degrees, so most of the pools and parts of the ocean areas were frozen over. We only saw 11 species, but I think it’s pretty cool to see what the refuge looks like when its that cold. Species observed were: American Black Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Bufflehead, Herring Gulls, an American Crow, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Mallards, Canada Geese, a Northern Harrier, Mute Swans, and Tundra Swans.
American Black Duck (Image by David Horowitz)
Bufflehead (Image by David Horowitz)
Hooded Merganser (Image by David Horowitz)
Although we only saw 11 species on today’s trip, I’ve seen 31 species so far this year. This is the first year that I decided to keep a Year List. To be honest, I’m kind of bad at keeping lists, so we’ll see how I do. I wanted to try it though. Some days I get too busy with the really mundane things in life (like work lol), so I thought a Year List might help me stay connected with birds when I’m not able to spend time in the field. My first bird of 2018 was the Mourning Dove, which I feel is a nice start.
Question: if I did a feature at the end of each month about some of the new birds I added to my Year List that month, would that be interesting to read? Let me know in the comments. I’d like your opinion!
That’s where we are at so far. Waterfowl Wednesday will return next week (it’s been a bit of a crazy week!). Hope your year started off well. More to come very soon!
Hi everyone! Sorry I didn’t post a Waterfowl Wednesday yesterday. One of my pets has been sick, so it’s been a rough week for me and I haven’t been getting much sleep. So I’m going to make up for it today with a post about the different kinds of ducks.
Ducks can be split into 3 major categories: dabblers, divers, and sea ducks. Knowing what category a duck species belongs to can tell you a lot about their lifestyle.
Dabbling Ducks feed by “tipping up”: submerging their heads underwater with their tails in the air. They sit high up on the water and have longer bills that help them filter food from the water’s surface. A dabbler’s feet are towards the middle of their body, making it easier for them to walk on land. They have a small hind toe. Since they have long wings, it’s easier for dabblers to take flight at a moment’s notice right off the surface of the water. They also have brightly-colored speculum feathers (a patch of secondary feathers located on their sides). Dabblers are typically found (but not restricted to) shallow waters and are omnivorous; eating aquatic vegetation, worms, and insects. Dabbling ducks are also capable of diving, but rarely do so. Examples of dabbling ducks include Mallards, Northern Shovelers, Wood Ducks, Green-winged Teals, Blue-winged Teals, Gadwalls, and Northern Pintails (to name a few).
Diving Ducks feed by submerging their whole bodies underwater. Their feet are larger and further back on their bodies, allowing divers to be strong swimmers underwater. They tend to sit lower on the water’s surface. Their hind toes has a large lobe. Their wings are shorter than dabbler’s wings, so diver have to run and furiously flap to become air-born from the water. A diver’s speculum feathers are duller than a dabbler’s. Divers and dabblers can be found in the same habitat, but divers prefer open waters or saltwater habitats. Divers kick their strong feet to obtain submerged prey and will eat clams, fish, invertebrates, and plant material. Examples of diving ducks include Canvasbacks, Scaups, Ring-necked Ducks, Ruddy Ducks, American Wigeons, and Redheads (to name a few).
Most people break ducks down into dabblers and divers, but you can go even further by breaking down divers into sea ducks. They generally live in marine habitats (mergansers tend to prefer riparian habitats). Many sea ducks have developed specialized glands so they can tolerate salt water. Their bills are also specialized and adapted to eat fish, mollusks, and crustaceans. Most sea ducks spend most of the year far north in Canada and Alaska, so they generally breed later than other kinds of ducks and raise their young in open waters. They are superb divers, and some can dive up to depths of 180 feet! Sea ducks include mergansers, eiders, smews, Harlequin Ducks, Long-tailed Ducks, goldeneyes, Buffleheads and scoters.
What’s your favorite kind of ducks? I’d love to hear about them in the comments. My favorite dabbler is the Wood Ducks, diver is the Ruddy Duck, and sea duck is the Hooded Merganser.
On Wednesday, Dave and I made our way down to Cape May for the second time. We went to two locations: Cape May Point State Park and South Cape May Meadows. The two parks actually connect, so it was easy to explore both locations.
We arrived at Cape May Point mid-morning. It was in the low 4os, which to me is perfect winter birding weather. The first stop was the Hawk Watch platform, which I sometimes see listed on as a location on the NJ Rare bird list. No rare birds today, but the lake was full: Mute Swans, Mallards, Northern Shovelers, Hooded Mergansers, 2 Great Blue Herons, Double-crested Cormorants, Northern Pintails, Ruddy Ducks, Canada Geese, and even a male Gadwall (the first life list bird of the day).
Double-crested Cormorants (Image by BirdNation)
There are a few small ponds that dot the trail. At one of them we found 4 Mallards swimming together. One looked a little unusual though. He had some Mallard features; such as the curly black tail and yellow bill, but he only had a partial green head and lacked the white neck ring. He clearly is some sort of hybrid, which is common among ducks. Upon further investigation on the Cornell Lab’s All About Birds website, I found that he may possibly be a Mallard and American Black Duck hybrid. This hybrid features darker plumage and a partially green head.
Possibly Mallard x American Black Duck hybrid (Image by BirdNation)
The next pond over was a small group of Bufflehead (who I just featured for Waterfowl Wednesday). Buffleheads tend to stay in small groups as opposed to large flocks. They were swimming closely together and sometimes would seem to dive at the same time. There were also 4 American Widgeons (life list bird #2). Males have white and green heads while females have gray-brown heads with a dark smudge around the eye. They kept going over to the 2 Mute Swans, almost swimming into them at times.
Male American Widgeon (Image by BirdNation)
While watching the Widgeons and Buffleheads, a small gull flew overhead. It was a graceful and skillful flyer. Everyone once in awhile it would dive down to the water, and just as easily maneuver its way back into the air. I finally got a good look at it, and it wasn’t our usual gull: it was a non-breeding Bonaparte’s Gull (life list #3)! It had a small black dot on each side of its head. This gull was a 1st winter Bonaparte’s. It had black wing tips and narrow dark patches on its upper wings. He gave us a pretty cool flight show, before flying off to a new pond. We continued on our way to the connector of the Point and South Cape May Meadows.
1st winter Bonaparte’s Gull in flight (Image by BirdNation)
Bonaparte’s Gull (Image by David Horowitz)
We didn’t spend too much time in the Meadows, but we did get to explore some of the same ponds that we saw on our last Cape May trip. As expected there were large flocks of waterfowl: Mallards, Shovelers, Pintails, Ruddys, Buffleheads, and more Swans. The was a species that we didn’t expect to see: Tree Swallows. I though they would all be gone by this point, but there were a decent amount of them flying over the pond. There were also a large number of Turkey Vultures. They found a carcass of a gull, so they were having a feast across the pond. We did find one other gull at this pond: over on the side we were on. He looked pretty worn and a little chubby. I’m not sure what kind of gull it was, but we joked that maybe he looked kind of sad because his friend was being eaten by vultures.
The “chubby” gull (Image by BirdNation)
As we were listening to some Carolina Wrens sing, a flock of quick, small birds flew into nearby trees. It was a flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers. They were eating little white berries. They were quick, but Dave ended up getting a really great picture of one.
Male Yellow-rumped Warbler (Image by David Horowitz)
We didn’t see anything new on the trip back to the car, but we saw a nice variety of species on our trip. It has been a great month for waterfowl: we added 6 new species to our life list over the past couple of weeks. I’m glad we had a chance to return to Cape May for some winter birding. I hope to visit Cape May again for the spring migration.
Have you gone winter birding yet? If you have tell me about it in the comments.
Before I became a birder I hated winter. Like seriously hated it. I wanted nothing to do with being cold and couldn’t wait until summer again.
But ever since I became a birder my opinion of winter has changed. I no longer dread it, but really look forward to it now. Why the change of heart? Because in the winter, new birds will arrive that you don’t get to see other times of that year. I especially love all the winter waterfowl that arrive in New Jersey.
I do really love waterfowl. Quick story: I once took a webinar about identifying waterfowl from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I’ll admit: I saved my confirmation e-mail because it addressed me as a “Waterfowl Enthusiast” and that made me super happy (yes, I’m a nerd). So to me, wintertime = wonderful waterfowl. What is waterfowl you ask? Ducks, geese, and swans. Here are some of my favorite winter visitors:
Northern Pintails
Male and Female Northern Pintails (Image by J.M. Garg via Wikipedia)
Look for long tail feathers pointing upwards. They are also dabbling ducks, so you will see them stick their tail feathers in the air to look for small invertebrates and plants. You can find them in salt marshes.
Dabbling Pintails pair (Image by David Horowitz)
Hooded Mergansers
You can’t miss a Hooded Merganser. Males has large heads with a white crest and a golden eye while females have a cool brown crest. They are diving ducks. Look for them in marshes and lakes.
Hooded Merganser male (Image by BirdNation)Hooded Merganser female (Image by BirdNation)
Buffleheads
Can be found in saltwater bays, lakes, and ponds. Males have a white crest and greenish-purplish gloss while females are dark with a white spot on their cheeks. Another diving duck.
Male and Female Bufflehead (Image by David Horowitz)
Northern Shovelers
Northern Shoveler pain (Image by BirdNation)
Northern Shovelers have large, distinct bills that they use to strain food out of the water. They are dabbling ducks, and can be found in both freshwater and saltwater areas.
Snow Geese
Banded Snow Goose (Image by David Horowitz)
Snow geese breed on the tundra and come here by the thousands in the winter. You can find huge flocks in salt marshes and coastal bays. They are all white with black wing tips and pink legs/bills. Look out for the blue morph geese mixed into the sea of white.
There are so many more species of waterfowl I love to see: Blue-winged Teals, Green-winged Teals, Common Mergansers, Tundra Swans, Brants…there are too many to fit in one blog post. One of my favorite places to see waterfowl is the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Brigantine, NJ. In winter I see flocks of thousands of birds, it’s amazing.
So if you want to make your day wonderful, go seek out some waterfowl. I guarantee they’ll make you smile :-).
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