Leaders: Roger Horn, Kathy Horn, Bernie Hodgdon
Temp: 34° F
Winds: NW 15 mph
Weather Conditions: cloudy
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a group of Tree Swallows perched on a wire in February in New Jersey before. But there they were this morning, bright turquoise in the cold morning light. We do sometimes see small numbers of Tree Swallows in the winter but they’re generally flying over the fields and water in search of insects. I suspect today they were soaking up the sun, staying down out of the wind and waiting for it to warm up a bit to see what insects might appear. Before the walk was over there were some insects flying over a marshy area so hopefully these birds were able to get a meal before the temperatures drop again tonight.
42 species
| Species | Count |
| Canada Goose | 6 |
| Mute Swan | 5 |
| Northern Shoveler | 10 |
| Gadwall | 22 |
| American Wigeon | 4 |
| Mallard | 42 |
| American Black Duck | 4 |
| Northern Pintail | 12 |
| Green-winged Teal (American) | 16 |
| Ring-necked Duck | 6 |
| Bufflehead | 9 |
| Hooded Merganser | 1 |
| Common Merganser | 1 |
| Mourning Dove | 2 |
| American Coot (Red-shielded) | 1 |
| Ring-billed Gull | 1 |
| Herring Gull (American) | 2 |
| Red-throated Loon | 3 |
| Double-crested Cormorant | 2 |
| American Bittern | 1 |
| Great Blue Heron (Great Blue) | 1 |
| Black Vulture | 1 |
| Turkey Vulture | 5 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 1 |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 1 |
| Downy Woodpecker (Eastern) | 1 |
| Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) | 1 |
| American Crow | 5 |
| Carolina Chickadee | 3 |
| Tree Swallow | 3 |
| Carolina Wren (Northern) | 6 |
| European Starling | 12 |
| Gray Catbird | 1 |
| Northern Mockingbird | 1 |
| Hermit Thrush | 1 |
| American Robin | 8 |
| White-throated Sparrow | 1 |
| Song Sparrow | 1 |
| Red-winged Blackbird (Red-winged) | 15 |
| Common Grackle | 4 |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) | 30 |
| Northern Cardinal | 3 |
