Boonton Northern Shrike 1/16

Today I was able to use an extended lunch period (due to a professional day at work) to make the short drive to Boonton and a park where a Northern Shrike was seen yesterday. Shrikes are interesting birds--some of only a few predatory songbirds. Many songbirds eat insects, but only shrikes eat large insects and even small rodents and are well-known for impaling them on thorns or barbed wire for later feeding. When I arrived I scanned the area and the cedars where previous observers had seen the bird but I saw nothing. From my car I grabbed some more MCDonald's fries from my hurried lunch-on-the go and noticed a Turkey Vulture sailing over a nursery full of short conifers in the distance. Something in a twenty-five foot tall maple just below the vulture's flight path caught my eye--the shrike! There it was, only my second-ever Northern Shrike, perched conspicuously in the top of the tree. I was able to snap a few poor quality 'record shots' to mark the occasion. The entire stop took only ten minutes.

The shrike marks a noteworthy accomplishment for my 2012 Big Year. My last all-out NJ effort was made in 2009 during the competition between Rob, Larry, and myself--the 'Big Year Challenge.' That January I put up my best recorded January effort to date with 91 species. Today's shrike was my 92nd bird this January; beating my previous best January and only half way through the month! My goal of reaching 115-125 species this month was set by Larry's effort back in January 2009 when he logged 120 species. I still have my work cut out for me, but I think I am on target to reach that goal.

NJ - 92

ABA - 92

World - 92