After a storm delay at the beginning of our trip south (for real, not the fake kind that United Airlines likes to invent), today we made our way from Sturbridge, Massachusetts to Ocean City, Maryland. This, however, was not a non-stop drive as we had planned layovers in New Jersey and Delaware to look for two Code 4 Birds. 

What is a Code 4 Bird, you ask?

The American Birding Association (ABA) groups birds into frequency categories based on how often a species is seen in the United States and Canada.

• A Code 1 is a Common Species that is found throughout the continent (think Blue Jay).

• Code 6 Birds are extinct species.

• Code 4 are species that are not reported annually but have been seen three or more times in the last 30 years.

Now if anyone is still awake . . .  WE SAW TWO CODE FOUR TODAY!!!!

Both the Pink-footed Goose we saw in Lincroft, NJ and the Barnacle Goose (Smyrna, DE)  breed in Greenland and Iceland and winter in Europe.  

To see them both on the same day made for one very happy landing!