Andy Sewell, Linda Benner, Becky Hatfield and Kevin Pickerd flocked to Belmar, NJ, for the Avids’ December destination. Locations we birded in NJ were: Barnegat Inlet and Lighthouse, Avalon Breakwaters, Beach Island State Park, and Cape May Point. Locations in DE were: the Delaware Bay from the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, Henlopen State Park, the Indian River Inlet of Silver Bay, and Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. The offshore boat trip into the Atlantic, aimed at pelagic species, was cancelled at the last minute due to high seas.
The weather ranged from 27-32 degrees with blinding snow traveling at night through PA to a bright, very cold, very windy day. The following morning was overcast and rainy, warmer at 47 degrees while crossing the Bay on the ferry. As we landed in DE the sky cleared, the sun shone, the temperature climbed to 57 degrees and the wind was not overbearing. The day and beach were wonderfully beautiful!
We experienced skies constantly covered with white clouds, V after V after V formations of birds in flight beside, above, below and adjacent to each other the entire day with hundreds of thousands of snow geese. Brants were as numerous as our Canadas are here; Canada geese were few in all.
The soft twittering of ~90 dunlins and three white winter sanderlings was sufficiently loud to overwhelm the sounds of the ocean waves and the strong wind. The sensation was of erratic flight, but their formation was a constant state of flux with a smooth, fluid alteration of configurations. Quick glimpses of lighter color reflected from their under wings as their wings beat stiffly, swiftly, and steadily. At one point the flock appeared as a single sheet of birds (no depth) while flying in harmony to circle us. The birds were so close, numerous, and tightly-flocked that through our binoculars, nothing could be seen other than their black eyes and heads, lateral bodies and wings fluttering and overlapping each other. The flock landed 50 feet away seemingly merging into the huge, dark-charcoal break wall boulders disappearing instantly and silently. This was a stunning sight and awesome experience.
Overall, we had 88 species identified, and maybe three additional unidentified:
Red-throated loon
Common loon
Pied-billed grebe
Northern gannet
Great cormorant
Double-crested cormorant
Manx shearwater
Great blue heron
Great egret
Tundra swan
Mute swan
Snow goose
Canada goose
Brant
Green-winged teal
American black duck
Mallard
Northern pintail
Northern shoveler
Gadwall
Ring-necked duck
Lesser Scaup
unknown scaup sp.
Common eider
Long-tailed duck
Black scoter
Surf scoter
White-winged scoter
Bufflehead
Hooded merganser
Common merganser
Red-breasted merganser
Ruddy duck
Black vulture
Turkey vulture
Bald eagle
Northern harrier
Sharp-shinned hawk
Cooper’s hawk
Red-tailed hawk
Rough-legged hawk
American kestrel
Merlin
American coot
Killdeer
Ruddy turnstone
Sanderling
Laughing gull
Bonaparte’s gull
Ring-billed gull
Herring gull
Great black-backed gull
Forster’s tern
Razorbill
Rock pigeon
Mourning dove
Belted kingfisher
Red-bellied woodpecker
Downy woodpecker
Northern flicker
Horned lark
American crow
Carolina chickadee
Tufted titmouse
White-breasted nuthatch
Brown-headed nuthatch
Carolina wren
unknown kinglet sp.
Eastern bluebird
American robin
Gray catbird
Northern mockingbird
Cedar waxwing
European starling
Yellow-rumped warbler
Northern cardinal
Savannah sparrow
Fox sparrow
Song sparrow
Swamp sparrow
White-throated sparrow
White-crowned sparrow
Dark-eyed junco
Red-winged blackbird
Eastern meadowlark
Boat-tailed grackle
Common grackle
Purple finch
House finch
Pine siskin
House sparrow