2013 Birding Year in Review

Little Gull at Morgan Mudflats

I saw four new life birds this year. Since I do most of my birding in and around New Jersey, it is getting harder and harder to find new species that I have not seen before. My life list ended the year at 359 species, and my New Jersey list is at 306.

Species	Location	Date
Pink-footed Goose	Monroe Twp	16 Jan 2013
Pacific Loon	American Rd. Corporate Pond	16 Mar 2013
Little Gull	Morgan Mudflats	12 May 2013
Clay-colored Sparrow	Donaldson Park	03 Dec 2013

These were all among my new state birds as well, with the one exception being a Western Grebe, a species I previously saw in California.

Species	Location	Date
Western Grebe	Cape May Harbor	10 Jan 2013
Pink-footed Goose	Monroe Twp	16 Jan 2013
Pacific Loon	American Rd. Corporate Pond	16 Mar 2013
Little Gull	Morgan Mudflats	12 May 2013
Clay-colored Sparrow	Donaldson Park	03 Dec 2013

My county list grew significantly, even though I doubted at the end of last year that I would be able to find many more species in the county.

Species	Location	Date
Pink-footed Goose	Monroe Twp	16 Jan 2013
Black-headed Gull	Raritan Bay Waterfront Park	04 Apr 2013
Blue Grosbeak	Davidson Mill Pond Park	11 May 2013
Western Grebe	South Amboy Boat Ramp	11 May 2013
Little Gull	Morgan Avenue Mudflats	12 May 2013
Wilson's Warbler	Cheesequake State Park	18 May 2013
Lincoln's Sparrow	Donaldson Park	03 Oct 2013
Red-headed Woodpecker	Ernest L. Oros Wildlife Preserve	12 Oct 2013
Nelson's Sparrow	Raritan Bay Waterfront Park	02 Nov 2013
Saltmarsh Sparrow	Raritan Bay Waterfront Park	02 Nov 2013
Tundra Swan	Duhernal Lake	26 Nov 2013
Clay-colored Sparrow	Donaldson Park	03 Dec 2013

With a similar number of new species in 2014, my Middlesex County life list (currently at 233) would pass my list in Cape May County (currently at 240) for my highest single-county total, something that was hard to imagine just a couple years ago.