Wednesday morning, January 19, 2011, was an overcast day; the temperature was above freezing, and snow was on the ground. Jean Jordan, Miriam Swartz and Louise Tompkins left the Lumberton Community Center with Louise’s telescope, and headed for the Monarch Lake overlook to observe the waterfowl. The lake was completely frozen and no wildlife was seen, not even one Canada goose. We then headed for the Rancocas Trail. The trail was snow covered, so we each took a bamboo pole at the trail head and carefully walked down the snow covered slope. Our first sighting was a ittle Golden-crowned Kinglet flitting around on the ground and on the lower branches of the Virginuia Pine trees. We heard Blue Jays calling in the tree tops.

Our next exciting viewing was two Bluebirds feeding on the banks of the Rancocas. We observed many Mallard Ducks, Ring-billed Gulls, and far off swimming with the tidal currents were Common Mergansers, Ring-necked Ducks and a very few Canada Geese. Off in the distance a Belted Kingfisher’s rattly call was heard. Three Coots with their white bills and their funny green feet were searching for food on the river bank. As we started our return up the path, a large flock of Mallards took to the air from a dense set of reeds in a marsh area on the far side of the creek. Sitting at the top of a deciduous tree just across the Rancocas was an adult Bald Eagle.

In the two hours alloted for our census, we observed or heard 27 species of birds in and around the Lumberton Campus. Mort and Tali Yoemans, Wes and Mary Kerr increased the count to 30 species with the addition of a Carolina Wren and White-thorated Sparrows and White-breasted Nuthatch respectively, as they viewed their feeders from home. Our only regret is that there were not more people along with us, to see the may beautiful and interesting birds, and the tracks of deer, raccoon, fox, and “large dog.”

Early in the morning, I heard the Great Horned Owl calling, and in the afternoon I saw a Northern Harrier crossing the road and carrying off an American Robin for a mid-afternoon snack. Since these two birds were outside our 9:00 – 11:00 AM time frame, they were not counted in our official census.

Participants: Jean Jordan, Miriam and Dave Swartz, Louise Tompkins, Mort and Tali Yoemans, Wes and Mary Kerr.