"Birds! Birds! Birds! CMBO leaders and field trip participants spent a super day along the Atlantic Coast. We hit the ground running with a great view of a light morph Rough-legged Hawk at Brigantine, within 10 minutes of starting the trip. Brigantine had some great raptors, but the stars of the show were the ducks. The middle pool held close to 200 Canvasbacks (in great light no less), a dozen Redheads for comparison, and Northern Pintails seemed to be everywhere you turned. A Short-eared Owl was seen at a distance, but this short-coming was atoned for by the superlative show put on by the Short-eareds at Mott's Creek. Five owls were seen in all, with multiples often in the air dog-fighting. Two more Rough-leggeds, a light and a dark morph, were added to the list, making it the highlight of a truly wonderful day around the Atlantic Coastal Salt Marsh. Karen and Brian Johnson, Chuck and Mary Jane Slugg, Kathy and Roger Horn, Janet Crawford, David Lord."
Location: E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Observation date: 2/26/11
Number of species: 38
Snow Goose 1100
Brant 3000
Canada Goose 53
Mute Swan 12
Tundra Swan 45
Gadwall 57
American Wigeon 11
American Black Duck 90
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler 52
Northern Pintail 220
Green-winged Teal 70
Canvasback 175
Redhead 12
Lesser Scaup 8
Bufflehead 23
Hooded Merganser 22
Common Merganser 6
Red-breasted Merganser 26
Horned Grebe 1
Great Blue Heron 5
Turkey Vulture 6
Bald Eagle 2
Northern Harrier 11
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 5
Rough-legged Hawk 1
Peregrine Falcon 2
American Oystercatcher 1
Ring-billed Gull 4
Herring Gull 45
Great Black-backed Gull 14
Short-eared Owl 1
Northern Flicker 1
American Crow 7
Carolina Wren 2
Red-winged Blackbird 74
Eastern Meadowlark 2
Location: E. B. Forsythe NWR--Motts Creek
Observation date: 2/26/11
Number of species: 15
Snow Goose 400
Canada Goose 6
Mute Swan 3
American Black Duck 8
Hooded Merganser 6
Great Blue Heron 4
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 4
Rough-legged Hawk 2
Herring Gull 3
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Short-eared Owl 5
Red-winged Blackbird 13
Boat-tailed Grackle 5
House Finch 1
