Gulls continue at Budd Lake in impressive numbers. Herring Gulls decreased slightly from 4,000 to 3,000 although some were streaming in later in the afternoon. The numbers are relative. There seemed to be slightly fewer. 2 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 30 Great Black-backed Gulls and a throng of 500 Ring-billed Gulls populated the lake. What differed from yesterday was the number of ducks, especially Ring-necked Ducks. 500 were counted where none were on the lake the day before (unless they were hidden by the geese!). Approximately half as many Canada Geese were present today as there were yesterday.

Here are the numbers:
Canada Geese – 4,300
Mute Swan – 3
Am. Black Duck – 12
Mallard – 26
Northern Pintail – 13
Green-winged Teal – 3
Ring-necked Duck – 500
Lesser Scaup – 11
Scaup sp. – 15
Bufflehead – 3
Common Merganser – 175
Ring-billed Gull – 500
Herring Gull – 3,000
Lesser Black-backed Gull – 2
Great Black-backed Gull – 30
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A very quick stop at Lake Parsippany, which is almost entirely thawed, yielded 6 Redheads (4 drakes, 2 hens), 2 Gadwalls, 135 Ring-necked Ducks, 13 Lesser Scaup, 1 Hooded Merganser, 51 Common Mergansers, 1 Ruddy Duck and 2 Am. Coot.
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From Alan Boyd in Roxbury Twp.:
Hi Jonathan – This afternoon I had a flock of about 25 Common Redpolls on Mooney Rd. They were in evergreens around the yard at 199 Mooney. This is a stone’s throw from Mooney Pond where I had them on 1/15.

Alan Boyd