Out for Duck Rarities and More!

As November is coming to a close birders are getting ready for duck season to come into full swing.  There have already been some interesting rare bird reports in the Bergen County area as well as the region.  Interesting species documented thus far include: Eurasian Wigeon, Common Goldeneye and a couple other aquatic birds such as the Horned Grebe and Red-necked Grebe.

I have been to Lake Tappan three times to see the purported Red-necked Grebe pair and Horned Grebe.  I have, however, had no such luck seeing them.  I have learned that searching for rare birds is not always an easy task and it is really a "hit or miss" type of event.

As it turns out I have seen one very local and reliable rare duck.  Also, I saw a common duck in a not so common place.  Let the pictures explain...

On two separate occasions I tried to see the Common Goldeneye female on Phair's Pond at the Celery Farm in Allendale.  Although I had no such luck, I was able to see some other great birds along the way.  Above are a couple Great Blue Herons that were at the Celery Farm.  Below is a Brown Creeper at the Celery Farm.

A Mute Swan on the pond at Wood Dale County Park.

Gadwalls (above) on Darlington Lake at Darlington Park in Mahwah, NJ.  American Wigeons (below) with a rarity amongst them.  Can you see her?  Also on Darlington Lake.

The rare duck on the right is the Eurasian Wigeon female that has been reported here the last few years.  She must have some kind of love interest for the guy (American Wigeon male) on the left.

GBH on Darlington Lake

Hooded Mergansers on Phair's Pond at the Celery Farm

A shot of the cattails and phragmites with woods in the background taken at the Celery Farm in Allendale, NJ.

A Cooper's Hawk at the Celery Farm

A Bufflehead male on the pond at Van Saun Park, Paramus, NJ.  These small ducks are usually seen in pairs (male and female) and are constantly diving.  The only few times I have seen them in my short birding tenure have been at a very far distance.  This one was about 75 feet away from me at one point.

A Domestic Snow Goose or Snow Goose/Canada Goose hybrid in with a group of Canada Goose at the pond in Van Saun Park.  This is the second year I have seen this bird in this flock.

A couple different White-tailed Deer bucks I saw out birding.  The top buck was at Saddle Brook County Park across from Bergen Community College.  The lower buck was seen along Poplar Road in transit to the area where the grebes have been sighted.

Red-tailed Hawk along Lake Tappan

The two grebe species were reported to be found amongst a large flotilla of Common Mergansers.  Flotilla basically just means a large number of birds congregated together on water.  After much scanning with spotting scopes (by my birding friend and I) we were unable to see them.  I did, however, get some great shots of the flotilla at sunset.

Keep on (rare) birding on!