Sunday, May 03, 2009

A miserable rainy day grebe

It seems yesterday was the day to be out birding after seeing the amazing reports from Garret Mountain (a popular migrant trap in northern NJ). Unfortunately, TODAY was the day I chose to go birding. We had a potluck gathering for all Sandy Hook Bird Observatory volunteers. There was a great turnout despite a steady rain that was quite heavy at times. The highlight of the day, for me, was a breeding-plumaged Red-necked Grebe in Spermaceti Cove. That plumage is a fairly rare sight in NJ and it's the first time I've ever seen it. Sorry, no pics due to the rain. The second highlight was the food. I should have taken photos of that! It was quite the spread.

2 comments:

John B. said...

Congrats on the state bird! Sometimes miserable weather is for the best.

Erica Mueller said...

Yesterday I birded with 2 friends at Garret and we ran into Pete Dunne! We chatted about Garret for a little bit...pretty cool! I also got a lifer....Blue-winged warbler.....for some reason I have never been able to get a look at one until yesterday. That's great to see a breeding plumage red-necked grebe! I've only seen the winter plumage.