Where to begin? This weekend has offered a lot of birding thrills in addition to beautiful weather. The sun has been shining as I’ve made several stops at parks near home. The temperature reached the mid-80s Saturday and is expected to do so again today.
I’ll start with the rare bird that came Saturday to Veterans Park in Hamilton, a greater white-fronted goose. When the report that a GWFG — rare in these parts — was at the lake in the park, I headed down the highway Saturday afternoon to see if I could spot it.
Tipped in the parking lot by birders who had just seen it, I used my binoculars to scour the scores of Canada geese in clusters on the far side of the lake. It took me a while, but eventually the goose’s bright orange bill poked out from among the black-and-white Canadas. I had my second lifetime sighting of the greater white-fronted goose. I managed to get a couple of decent photos, too.
On the walk to find the goose, I heard slapping sounds coming from the lake and looked down to see a double-crested cormorant thrashing a fish in its beak. I blasted away with my camera and caught some peak nature-is-cruel action. After a struggle of roughly a minute and a half, the cormorant swallowed the fish whole.
If that wasn’t enough excitement, a bald eagle came soaring over the lake and landed in a tree, not far from where the greater white-fronted goose was floating. I had plenty of chances to frame the big bird.
When I got home, I tackled the chore of removing the screens from our windows, as the window-washing crew is due to come by this week. From our patio, I could hear a red-breasted nuthatch calling. I made a quick recording (its call starts at 0:11) and went inside for my camera. I never did see the bird — only the third of its kind ever observed at our home in almost 10 years — but its visit added to the enjoyment of the weekend.
I may head out again this afternoon, and I have more to report in a second post to come. 🦅
The Jersey Birder 
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