On The Wing #62: Pacifically Speaking

What are you doing in New Jersey?
When it comes to rarities, nothing is better than seeing a bird so out of place, it boggles the mind on how on earth it got there. That's how I felt as I spied a Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica) sitting in the middle of an industrial park pond in Morris Plains, NJ at around noon today. I would've been even more pleased if I had taken pictures of it as well (It was literally 50 feet away!! -_-;;), but I'm happy to have added another lifer to my list. As I said in my posting about finding my first wild Canvasback (Aythya valisaneria) in Carver, MA, I quoted Sandy Komito's reaction to finding the Pink-footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchos) he'd worked so long and hard to find. It was over so quickly that he literally felt guilty about how hard he'd worked to find it.

Needless to say, like Komito, it was an easy bird to find. It had stayed in the same area for about a week and seemed content on moving back and forth from the industrial park pond and the nearby Lake Parsippany. It begs the question though. Why stay in a tiny pond in the middle of inland industrial New Jersey when you could be on the coast or just stay at the bigger lake nearby? I'll never know, but having the chance to see such a rare visitor to the East coast was the toast of this weekend. With #320 on the list, I hope to get some new ones again soon.

Have a great week y'all and as always, happy birding ^_^.

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