By Scott Barnes, Senior Naturalist
Our “Kick Off Your Year List” trip to Sandy Hook was excellent, with hundreds of scoters, Red-throated & Common Loons, Northern Gannets & many gulls feeding on the oceanside in the morning. Among them were Razorbill, Red-necked Grebe, and the first of two Iceland Gulls. The first-cycle Glaucous Gull that I found in mid-December continues to hang around the beaches along the oceanside at the southern end of the park. Participant Bruce Murray spotted a bright male Western Tanager at M-Lot, which showed well to a gathering crowd of birders & onlookers. It was feeding on eastern red cedar berries around nine-gun battery. To our amazement, when I posted a message about the bird, another message posted moments later revealed that there was a second Western Tanager (a female) seen simultaneously at a different spot on the hook! Seventeen Great Cormorants were out on channel markers at the north end, Common Goldeneyes and Horned Grebes showed well at Horseshoe Cove, a beautiful flock of Snow Buntings flew past us a few times, and a quick look at an Orange-crowned Warbler rounded out a great weather and birding day. Full trip report eBird Checklist – 1 Jan 2024 – Sandy Hook – 52 species (+2 other taxa)
NJ Audubon’s All Things Birds has field trips to Sandy Hook and other coastal locations this winter. During this season we generally focus on waterbirds including waterfowl, gulls, loons, grebes, alcids, and raptors—though we always look at everything we can see!
https://njaudubon.org/calendar/category/all-things-birds/list/
