Horned Grebe, Bertrand Island, Lake Hopatcong, NJ, Mar. 17, 2013 (digisccoped by Jonathan Klizas)
No Loon reports here. See the following link for the Daily Loon update for today:
Three Pacific Loons in Morris County.
1,500 Common Mergansers were on a frigid Split Rock Reservoir this morning. As is typical with this body of water, not much else was here besides 4 Bufflehead, Ring-billed and Herring Gulls.
Mt. Hope Lake had 175 Ruddy Ducks, 34 Mute Swans, 26 Ring-necked Ducks, 15 Bufflehead, 1 Hooded and 2 Common Mergansers, 2 Bald Eagles (one on the nest), and a Winter Wren picked out by Simon Lane.
Lake Musconetcong had 8 American Wigeon, 26 Bufflehead, 3 Hooded and 20 Common Mergansers, 1 Pied-billed Grebe and 1 American Coot along with the usual gulls, geese and Mute Swans.
Clark Drive in Mt. Olive Township had a female Common Goldeneye in the marsh with American Black Ducks and Bufflehead.
As Simon Lane and I arrived at Budd Lake, all of the 500-1,000 Canada Geese lifted off and out of the lake. The lake had 2 Northern Shovelers, 8 Redhead, 2 Greater Scaup (male and female), 21 Lesser Scaup, 150 Common Mergansers, 2 American Coot and a meager 25 Ring-billed Gulls. 5,000 gulls were at the lake on February 25.
There were zero Ring-necked Ducks at Brady Road Bridge today. There was practically nothing besides a pair of Bufflehead. What a dramatic difference from a week ago when 1,100 were tallied.
Bertrand Island at Lake Hopatcong had a Horned Grebe and 5 Tree Swallows acting like Storm-petrels dancing on the water. Keep in mind the temperature was at the freezing point and the wind was biting. It was a morning for frozen fingers.
There are other birds besides loons at Boonton Reservoir. Simon Lane watched an adult Great Cormorant flying from east to west near the Heron and Cormorant Island earlier today.
mocosocoBirds 