Birds and Other Nature Sightings

     This past weekend I was scheduled to go in a 24 hour pelagic trip out of Cape May.  I had previously been scheduled to go out on their August trip, but it was postponed by a day and another commitment kept me off that boat.  I was anxious to finally get back out on the water until I received the email late Wednesday postponing this trip too.  My disappointment didn’t last long when my buddy called to invite me on a tuna fishing trip over the weekend.  I wasn’t going to merely be a passenger looking for and photographing marine life in Cape May, but I would have to balance being a passive observer with being part of a fishing crew.  Looking for birds, cetaceans and other marine life would be secondary to cutting bait, tossing chum and other deck duties.  No problem, as either way, I was going to be out on the ocean. We left mid-morning on Saturday and returned Sunday afternoon.  This was one of the rare chances that I would have dayl...

     This past week I took a road trip up to Plymouth, MA for a whale watching excursion. I’ve been wanting to expand my pelagic experiences and ever since my eldest daughter moved up to Rhode Island I’ve wanted to get out on the New England waters.  I had heard that the area known as Stellwagen Bank is a popular feeding location for several species of whales and dolphins.  I decided that if I didn’t make the trip soon I would miss the opportunity for another year.  The weather looked good for midweek so my daughter and sister joined me on the trip. Stellwagen Bank is a marine sanctuary not too far from the Massachusetts coast between Gloucester and Provincetown.  There are many operators offering whale watching excursions to the sanctuary.  Since our home base for the trip was my daughter’s apartment in Rhode Island, I chose the closest one which was in Plymouth, almost 75 miles away.  We chose the morning sail so that afterwards we could sp...

     Last week I was able to get out on the water twice.  Sunday afternoon I met my friend Jason in Keyport, Monmouth County and we took a whale watch outside of the Sandy Hook area.  Less than 12 hours later I joined my friend Captain John on a tuna fishing trip out of Barnegat Inlet, Ocean County.  During the 24-plus hour span I was treated to several up-close whale interactions, saw hundreds of shearwaters and dolphins, and even caught a few yellow fin tunas . On Sunday the whale cruise took us out of Sandy Hook Bay to just a few miles east of land.  Other than the usual inshore seabirds, there was not much marine activity.  But from inside the harbor and out to the ocean we saw many pods of Atlantic menhaden , or bunker as we call them in New Jersey, which was a good sign.  The juvenile bunker is a targeted food for much of the local recreational and commercial fish species.  It is also a favorite food of our whales.  The capt...

     Following up on my self-published book, Birds of Island Beach State Park in 2023, I am proud to announce that Birds of Ocean County, NJ is now available.  Birds of Ocean County is an account summary of all the bird species that have occurred in there.   eBird lists 404 species of wild origin for the county with one provisional for 405.  Using eBird records, bird banding records, historical ornithology periodicals and bird records committee reports I have found 421 bird species and another 15 species not of wild origin through 2024. Front and back covers.   © S. Weiss The paperback book is 264 pages with an account of each species.  The accounts are each accompanied by a representative photograph and a colored distribution map.  The birds are presented in the most recent eBird taxonomy and divided into family groups.   The book is fully sourced and referenced.  It includes an Introduction, Table of Contents, Reference p...