As you may remember, Wednesday the 12th was a day of unprecedented gorgeousness for mid-March,
reaching a high temperature in the mid-sixties, complete with full sun and a
gentle breeze. It was a perfect day to go
birding with friends and enjoy the weather.
These birders, however, chose the following day for our outing which, thanks to forces of cosmic humor, reached a high temperature in the
mid-twenties with winds at 35 miles per hour causing a chill factor of -9°.
This group of fearless birders was not deterred.
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| Left to right: Fairfax Hutter, Sharyn Magee, Brad Meritt, and Hannah Suthers |
Within moments of arriving at Assunpink Lake we had
spotted the trio of large and conspicuous immature Trumpeter Swans, foraging on
the far side of the lake with another trio of Mute Swans. The much more slender necks and larger black
bills of the Trumpeters made them readily separable from the Mutes.
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| Trumpeter Swans (center) and a Mute Swan (right) |
The significance of these swans’ appearance in our neck of the
woods is that New Jersey is well outside their normal range, which consists of scattered populations in northwestern and central North America, with he highest numbers occurring in Alaska. During migration they sometimes disperse widely, and are occasionally reported far from their usual range, as demonstrated by these three individuals.
At one point a lone Tree Swallow flew over the ice along the
south shore of the lake where we stood; this was the first Tree Swallow of the
year for the entire group, a very exciting (but not very convincing) sign of
spring on such a blustery day. Among the
numerous Northern Pintails, Ring-necked Ducks, Mallards, and Common Mergansers was
a single duck that stood out as it flew across the lake. This duck was predominantly gray, with a
bright white speculum, reddish head, and a buff-colored stripe running from bill to
crown; any guesses?
This was a drake (male) Eurasian Wigeon, a rare vagrant to the east coast of North America from the Old World.
Interestingly, our American Wigeon is a vagrant species that is occasionally
sighted in Europe – something for the “twitchers” of the U.K. to get excited about. This spectacular little duck was just more icing on the cake.
We only stayed for about 30 minutes before the cold and wind became unbearable, forcing us to retreat to our cars. To celebrate the
productive speed-birding session at Assunpink, we retired to Woody’s Towne Café
in Allentown for a bowl of hot chili. Who
else is ready for warm weather?
