Morris-Sussex Ducks

Strong winds this morning discouraged me from my original plan of spending a few hours in Sussex County. After lunch winds had lessened some. I didn't think there would be many small birds out, but so as not to waste the day I went out in search of ducks in the two counties that had the fewest listed-- Morris and Sussex.

First up was Lake Parsippany in Morris County. I had seen Long-tailed Duck reported here in eBird a few times recently and decided it was worth a stop. I didn't realize the lake is a private community and it took me a bit of driving to find an acceptable spot to view the lake. Once I found a legal place to park I was able to find the lake was full of ducks. There were many Common Mergansers, among which I found a single Red-breasted Merganser. Both were Morris FOYs.

Next I stopped at Mount Hope Lake where a Eurasian Wigeon had been a few years ago. It was pretty empty besides Gadwalls and Mute Swans (which were not very mute). From here I continued North into Sussex County. I found the landfill to be closed so I continued North again to Culver's Lake.

I stop at two locations around Culver's Lake. In total I found a pair of Mallards, a few Black Ducks, almost a dozen Ring-necked Ducks, ten Bufflehead, almost forty-five Common Goldeneye, and a single Long-tailed Duck mixed in. All of these were Sussex FOYs. Canada Goose and Song Sparrow were repeats. I finished off the day at a small park I found on Route 15. I was attracted to the park by a flock of Canada Geese. A search turned up no rare geese. In the brush and trees in the park I did find my Sussex FOY Downy Woodpecker, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches, and White-throated Sparrow. Some roadside Wild Turkeys were also FOYs.

In the end I added two birds to my Morris list and thirteen to my Sussex list.

Morris - 88/125

Sussex - 52/75