Sunny Monday Lunchtime

It was a cold but bright day. I decided to take a look at the local ponds, but they were frozen solid. So I drove over to the "island" at the eastern end of Interlaken to see if things were any better there. And indeed, there was some open water. In addition to the inevitable gulls, there was a large number (200+) Brant Geese congregated there. I wonder if this is the flock from Shark River Hills or a different set of birds.

I parked just inside Interlaken on Bridlemere, close to its intersection with Grassmere, and headed towards the geese. As I passed the entrance to Interlaken, I notice some small birds in the grass. Clearly sparrows, but very small. I grabbed a couple of pictures.

While they looked like Song Sparrows, my first reaction was that they were too small. But if there were the case, I didn't know what they might be. I went on to check-out the geese. There was a bitterly cold wind, so I didn't hang around long. They were making a heck of a racket, chattering among themselves in the cold water.

Some of them were standing on the ice still ankle-deep in water, like this one:

There was just one Canada Goose in sight. It had separated itself from the Brants when I took this shot. Had it not been so cold I'd have waited for the bird to get closer to the Brants again so I could show their comparative sizes for this was one of the smaller Canada Geese I've ever seen. So small that I was wondering if in fact it were a Cackling Goose. But without the evidence of such a picture, I'm going to stay with this being a Canada Goose.

I headed back to the car. The sparrows were still there foraging on the grass and in among the leaves. While there still looked very small, these shots suggest that they were indeed Song Sparrows:

On my way home, I again took a look at the north branch of Deal Lake but took no pictures. Then, as I was passing Wanamassa School on Bendermere, I noticed a couple of crows on the grass in front of the school. I was able to get this shot of one of them.