Hey Loon, You Are On the Wrong Ocean!

As far as Loons go, we have 2 species that hang around our area in winter - Common Loon and Red-throated Loon. Occasionally, a loon from the west ends up on the wrong ocean for the winter. This year, a Pacific Loon has been spending time at Manasquan Inlet in NJ. I am old enough to remember my parents having a weather radio. Back in the day, we didn't have the Internet or mobile apps giving us up-to-the-moment weather alerts. Back in the 60's and 70's, we had a special radio that only provided weather information. Why is this relevant? Because the weather alerts included tide information "from Manasquan Inlet to Cape Henlopen" and I always wanted to know where Manasquan was. Now I know.

Marty and I decided to head down to the inlet in hopes of seeing the Pacific Loon. We have both seen Pacific Loons before. I saw one waaaaaaayyyyyy off of the beach in NJ a few years ago and we both saw them in Alaska flying past St. Paul Island. We wanted to see this one because reports were that the bird was swimming the inlet and giving everyone a close-up "show".

Of course, we headed down and encountered 20 mile per hour winds with strong gusts and 20 degree temperatures. That didn't deter us from standing along the inlet waiting. And waiting, and waiting for the Pacific Loon to make an appearance. We passed the time by photographing Common Loons and found one that had leg bands. You can see the red band in this photo and maybe even make out the light blue band on the other leg if you look closely.

Banded Common Loon

 At long last, the Pacific Loon popped up across the inlet. We had brief views before it dove under again searching for a meal. This frustration continued for 20 minutes or so until finally, our perseverance paid off and the bird popped up right in front of us!

Pacific Loon

The field marks to look for on this bird are darker back, thinner bill, smaller overall, and the "chin strap" which is that dark line under the chin. You can see the chin strap in both photos.

Pacific Loon - shaking it off

Once we had our fill of the Pacific Loon, we headed down the coast through the seaside towns of Tom's River and Seaside Heights to Island Beach State Park. This park is on the other side of Barnegat inlet. I've never been to this side before and wanted to explore. There was a report of a Snow Owl on the dunes. We stopped to have a quick look.

Snow Owl

I noticed a falcon out of the corner of my eye. He was on the beach tearing the feathers off of his lunch. We couldn't tell what species of bird was on the menu but we were able to get pretty close. We initially thought it was a Peregrine but after review, the falcon is a Merlin.

Merlin

We walked the entire beach to the inlet which was over a mile. The wind was at our back on the journey. Now for the unpleasant walk back to the parking lot with the wind in our faces. Yuck. The state park allows vehicles on the beach. A guy stopped to ask if we needed a ride. We must have looked really bad. LOL. He alerted us to a seal on the beach. What a treat. This Harbor Seal could care less about the people or the trucks. She just lounged there occasionally looking around.

Harbor Seal

Then we said goodbye. She waived. 

Bye Bye

Peace out! 

Loony

March is an interesting time for watching birds molt their feathers from winter to "breeding" plumage.  The best example that I can show you today is with Common Loons.  Here are photos of a few different Loons taken on our trip this week. It is like one of them just doesn't want to go north while another is trying hard and yet another is almost ready. Click on the photos to enlarge them.

 Still dressed in winter feathers. Dull as dull can be.

 This bird is really in the middle between winter and summer.  He is getting that "checkerboard" back but still doesn't have the black head or "necklace".

 Almost ready to head north for summer with the necklace and checkerboard.  He is just waiting for a few more feathers to turn black on his head.

The famous "snorkeling" posture where the loon looks underwater before diving. 

It was really amazing how tame this last loon was.  He just floated around while Di positioned the boat between him and sun so that I could get decent photos.  This bird was truly content even though we were only 20 - 30 yards away from him.  It makes me wonder if he summers on a pond that has lots of people and boats like his winter home in Charlotte Harbor FL.

I wonder where these birds go for the summer home.  Maine? Canada? Minnesota? Upstate NY?  Where ever they go, they will be a real treat for anyone who is lucky enough to see them in their summer finest.

Too Many Titles to Choose From

Try these titles:

Car Rental Fiasco
So I left the girls at the Phoenix airport and headed to the NTEN Conference in San Francisco. I arrive a day early so that I could extend my birdwatching by going to Point Reyes National Seashore on Sunday. I called the hotel to ask if there was a car rental nearby. They said yes, so I proceeded to the hotel only to find that all of the rental car agencies were already closed. Oy. Long story even longer . . . I had to take a shuttle back to the airport at 4:40 AM Sunday to rent the car.

I Don't Remember US1 Being the Windy (that's windy as in not straight)
Connie and I made the trip to Point Reyes about 10 years ago which is why I decided to go again yesterday. I just don't remember the road being soooo windy. It's a good thing that Enterprise gave me a free upgrade to a Nissan something or other. It was quite fun to drive that road without a passenger so that I could go as fast as I wanted.

Is it Always So Windy? (that's windy as in blowin' a gale)
I started the birding at the Beaver Valley Ranger Station which was really quiet at 7:00 AM. I saw a colony of Acorn Woodpeckers and got to watch a White-tailed Hawk hover hunting in the field. Here are a few photos - 1)hovering 2)flying away with it's catch 3) the pocket gopher



That Loon Wants to Poke My Eye Out
After a great day of birding, I was making my way back down US1 and saw 2 cars pulled off of the road and a Loon sitting on the road. That is NOT good. It was a Red-Throated Loon just coming into breeding plumage with a little red patch under his neck. Loons can bearly walk well due to the placement of their legs at the back of their body and cannot take flight unless they get a runnning start on the water.

The guy in the other car wanted to know if I had a "plan" when I got out of the car with my sweatshirt. Of course I had a plan. I was trained for such an occasion by the Tri-State Bird Rescue in Delaware during the big oil spill a few years ago. Diane and I volunteered to bathe the affected geese in Dawn dishwashing detergent and have the Coast Guard Citation to prove it. So, I put my past bird rescue training into action! I threw my sweatshirt over the bird's head, grabbed it by the neck, threw it under my arm and walked it over to the water.

That bird got it's head out of the sweatshirt and looked at me with it's red eyes. He really did want to poke my eyes out and would have if I let go of his neck for a second. I plopped him in the water and away he swam. He looked fine in the water and didn't even thank me. Some nerve. And they guy in the other car took off before knowing if the bird was OK. Oh well, what a day.