Last Call for Alcids 4/13/2023

      On Thursday, I got down to Reeds Road at Island Beach State Park a little earlier than I normally do, and as such, it turned out to be a good thing.  First, it got hot early. Yes, mid to upper 80s hot in April in New Jersey.  So I was able to leave the park while all the beach-goers that were entering had to sit in traffic that was backed up due to the ongoing new sewer line installation project.  Secondly, when I reached the western end of the Reeds trail at Barnegat Bay, I noticed three chunky black-and-white birds flying south over the bay.  They got my attention because with the naked eye they didn’t seem right for waterfowl, nor shorebirds.  When I picked them up looking through my binoculars, I realized they were razorbills.

Razorbills, Barnegat Bay, NJ 4/13/2023.  © S. Weiss
Three late razorbills heading south over Barnegat Bay.  The trio were likely on the way towards Barnegat Inlet, about eight miles to the south, to head back out to sea and, hopefully, to their northern breeding grounds from Maine to near Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.  The lead bird is in alternate plumage.

I was justly excited for multiple reasons:  seeing any alcids from land during April in New Jersey is rare; seeing them west of the barrier island is unusual any time of year and seeing one in alternate (breeding) plumage is uncommon.  These three late razorbills come on the heels of a late and long-staying common murre at Manasquan Inlet to the north.  These birds should be the finale of a memorable alcid packed winter.  Barring any other surprise sightings, my alcid tallies since the start of this year are:  3,153 razorbills; 159 dovekies; 35 Atlantic puffin; four common murres and one thick-billed murre.

To my recollection, Thursday was the first time I have seen a breeding plumaged razorbill.   As for the Manasquan Inlet common murre, it seems eBird last reported it seen on April 9.  That is one day later than than the NJBRC accepted record of one on April 8, 1966 (http://njbrc.com/documents/ARL.pdf).

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