Last week, I had the opportunity to join a New Jersey Audubon Young Birders field trip to Barnegat Lighthouse State Park on Long Beach Island. There were many guides and fellow birders eager to search for birds. Despite the strong winds, numerous birds swam along the coast and soared through the skies. Our group of approximately 20 people walked a trail from the lighthouse to the beach, observing birds in ponds and thicket along the way.
At the lighthouse, we saw numerous birds, such as:
- Harlequin Duck
- Black Scoter
- Bufflehead
- Red-breasted Merganser
- Ring-billed Gull
- American Herring Gull
- Great Black-backed Gull
- Thick-billed Murre – a highlight for everyone, generating a ton of excitement among the group!
Birds weren’t the only animals who were taking advantage of the one day of relatively warm weather between the snow storms. Many seals were seen within the bay, resting vertically before they headed back out into the ocean.
Along the trail to the beach we heard and saw more birds:
- Brant
- Canada Goose
- Mallard
- American Black Duck
- Common Eider
- Dunlin
- Northern Harrier
- American Crow
- Common Raven
- Snow Bunting
- Northern Cardinal
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
I was extremely surprised to see many birds at the beach, not just flying overhead but on the water. Many birds were swimming near the shore despite the waves and cold temperatures, treading water peacefully and ignoring the waves. Other birds were sitting along the rocks or on towers.
- Red-throated Loon
- Common Loon
- Northern Gannet
- Lesser Black-backed Gull
- Great Cormorant
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Long-tailed Duck
- Surf Scoter
- Ruddy Turnstone
- Sanderling
- Razorbill
Time and time again, nature surprises me with the abundance of birds in one location and their resilience despite the recent freezing temperatures and emerging bird flu. It dawned upon me on the walk that places such as New Jersey and Pennsylvania are considered south for Northern and Arctic birds. This realization helped me understand why the spotting of the Snow Buntings, Northern Gannet, and Thick-billed Murre was extremely rare since they are Arctic birds.
How to distinguish a Thick-Billed Murre from a Common Murre (from allaboutbirds.org)
| Thick-billed Murre | Common Murre |
| Shorter, thicker bill | Longer, thinner bill |
| Darker face, no black line from the eye | Whiter face with black line from the eye |
| White chest meets dark throat in inverted “V” (breeding plumage) | White chest meets dark throat in a “U” (breeding plumage) |
The Curious Birder 
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