Mannington Marsh, April 17, 2019
The day was gray, a little on the cool side and not very breezy, but the birds seemed to pay the weather no mind. The only negative was our arrival coinciding with a rising tide which precluded our chances of picking up some shorebirds (we did see some Greater Yellowlegs). We had a nice look at an Eastern Meadowlark in the broad open fields on Featherbed Lane. We also did well with raptors, seeing several Bald Eagles, a Northern Harrier, several American Kestrels, a Red-tailed Hawk and a couple of Ospreys.
In the marsh areas we got nice looks at Horned Grebe (almost in breeding plumage), a single Caspian Tern, a couple of Forster’s Terns and we think a quick look at an adult Little Blue Heron. Lots of Mute Swans, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Canada Geese and DC Cormorants rounded out the marsh birds. Not a great day for land birds but a Brown Thrasher was picked up in a little copse near the causeway that crossed the marsh.
Twelve ML birders saw 40 species and had a nice lunch at the Swedesboro Diner to end our day.
Participants: Ethel Cebra, Dino Fiabane, Gil Goering, Fred Kahan, Robert Koch, Laurie Larson, Miriam Swartz, Jean and Chris Tindall, Louise Tompkins and Ro Wilson. Guest: Margaret Carpenter (Miriam’s daughter).
Report by Robert Koch. Photos by Robert Koch and Fred Kahan.
Bird List
Canada Goose
Horned Grebe
Mute Swan
Double-crested Cormorant
Mallard Duck
Ring-billed Gull
Laughing Gull
Caspian Tern
Forster’s Tern
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron (?)
Greater Yellowlegs
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Northern Harrier
American Kestrel
Osprey
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeon
Chimney Swift
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
American Crow
Fish Crow
Blue Jay
Carolina Wren
Common Grackle
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
European Starling
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Cardinal
Eastern Meadowlark
Field Sparrow
House Sparrow