Archive for New Jersey
The Meadowlands in Winter
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Winter isn’t very wintry lately here in northern New Jersey. The dog and I spent a couple of hours at the Meadowlands on a warm, windy afternoon yesterday, and it could have been early spring.

With all the water open, Greater Yellowlegs weren’t that much of a surprise, and the Canvasback raft–now up to 235 birds–was pretty much expected, too.

The real surprise, though, was a ticking, tail-wagging Western Palm Warbler in the phragmites. That’s a rugged parulid if ever there was one, but even so, it should have been in Florida palms at this time of year, or at least hanging out in the relatively tropical climes of Cape May with all the other half-hardies.
Full list at eBird.

Nobody Doesn’t Know the Harlequins
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I’ve made three trips to Barnegat Light this past week, each of them a lot of fun: how can it fail when there are Purple Sandpipers and Common Eiders, and, yesterday, Razorbills to enjoy?
And Harlequin Ducks, of course.

This odd and beautiful little sea duck has been a reliable target for birders at Barnegat Light since at least the mid-1980s, when I first started visiting the flock there; but something has changed in recent years.
In the 80s and even just a decade ago, fishermen and jetty walkers used to stop and ask me whether I was looking for whales or watching ships. My answer: no, just watching birds. Oh, they’d say, and that was that.
Nowadays, I can hardly get out of the parking lot without having someone ask me whether I’m going out to see the Harlequins. And once I’m out on that treacherous jetty, everyone I meet is eager to point them out, to talk about them, to ask whether they’re in yet.
It’s a great thing, this overwhelming popular consciousness of a rare and inconspicuous bird, but I wonder where it came from. Was there a series of newspaper articles, a special on public television, a poster competition in the public schools? Whatever did it, it’s heartwarming (and a little mysterious) to find non-birders, honest-to-goodness normal people, proud of these fine feathered visitors.

Your Birding Ancestry
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the most interesting questions in modern birding is that of intellectual heritage: How and by whom are birding knowledge, culture, and ethics passed down?
Help me think about this by answering two easy questions:
1. Who was your birding mentor?
2. Who was that person’s birding mentor?
You may need to talk to the answer to the first before you can answer the second. But it will be worth it.
Birding Course at Westfield Adult School
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Want to enjoy birding even more? Join me this spring at the Westfield Adult School for a new course. We’ll be meeting two Monday evenings for lecture and discussion, followed by a Saturday morning field trip to try out our new skills.
You can register here. See you in March!
Free Barnegat Light Trip This Monday
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Winter at Barnegat Light is the time to look for such specialties as Common Eider, Harlequin Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Great Cormorant, Northern Gannet, Purple Sandpiper, Snow Bunting, and Ipswich Sparrow; there’s also a chance at a rare gull or a Snowy Owl.

Meet at the lighthouse at 9:00 am on Monday, January 23; we’ll be finished by 2:00 pm. Carpoolers can meet at 6:30 am in the Pet Smart parking lot at the intersection of Highway 23 and Willowbrook Boulevard. New birders, casual birders, out-of-towners are especially welcome!
Dress for the cold, and bring notebook, pencil, and lunch.





