South Jersey thread (1 Viewer)

[AlphaFan]

Posted this in another forum, but since it is New Jersey thought I'd also post it here.

Had the good fortune to make it out to Barnegat Lighthouse State Park in Coastal New Jersey yesterday. I make the trip once or twice per winter and always find it rewarding. In addition to the common NJ coastal species it once again it reliably produced Great Cormorants, Purple Sandpipers, Harlequin Ducks, Common Eiders, Snow Buntings, and Savannah Sparrows (lpswich). The lighting was terrible, and some species were too far out for pics, but I took a few.

 

[dak]

Hey Alpha, those images are great, in spite of the light. The duck is gorgeous, makes even wood ducks look drab. The cormorant sighting is surprising for me. I have never seen them around here after early December, and the s jersey bays have tons of them. This winter though has been ridiculously warm, and over the past 5 years or so I have been noticing a lot of species that are normally scarce in the winter.

I got to head up to Barnegat soon. Thanks for the report!

 

[dak]

Interesting development today. I have been stopping by the Forsythe NWR resident eagle nest all winter to see when they would return to mate and lay eggs, but only saw the 2 two juvies hanging around once. Today one of the refuge staff told me there is a second nest. I went there and both adults were present. So, apparently the family relocated. Could possibly be because there was some construction on the road that goes by the old nest.

Also, saw the grey ghost again. He rose up right in front of me and then hovered for a bit by my driver side window about 20 feet away while I fumbled like a maniac with my camera. What a shot I could have got if I were prepared. Still, I got a couple decent but blurred shots. One of these days I will get a crystal clear closeup! A visually stunning bird.

 

[dak]

I saw a Great Egret today. This winter has been crazy warm, even for the recent warming trend in this area.

 

[dak]

A week ago I checked the new eagle nest and no one was home. But the last 2 times I visited there was 1 adult sitting low in the nest, so they must have just laid eggs. It will be fun to watch the new family.

 

[dak]

Weird, I saw a Tree Swallow today, way earlier than usual. The ducks are starting to dwindle, mainly Green Winged Teal and Pintails left. Spring migration is underway!

 

[dak]

Today winds were gusting to 40 mph. Not 1 duck in sight anywhere. Where do they go during these kinds of conditions?

Two days ago I saw a Horned Grebe, Cormorants, Oyster Catchers, and a male and female pair of Common Mergansers.

 

[dak]

First Osprey sighting of the year today..

 

[dak]

The spring peepers are peeping, ospreys and cormorants are here, which means the striped bass are here. Time to start looking for warblers; I'm not very good at spotting little songbirds, but that leaves lots of potential for learning!

 

[dak]

The Eagles are now standing in the nest which means the eggs have hatched. Lots of Eagle action today. I saw an adult harassing an Osprey with a fish, very cool.