Birds and Other Nature Sightings

       It had been over four months since I was last out on the ocean, but I finally got back out there this past Sunday.  I joined the Cape May Whale Watch & Research Center on its 12-hour pelagic trip.  We left the dock by 6:30 in the to return by 6:30 in the evening.  This was one of the few long pelagics that was completely in daylight.  It was a little brisk with some wind at times, but I have been out in much colder and rougher conditions in the past.  I was prepared for the weather and just happy to be out on the water again. I had a couple pelagic species I wanted to see, and I actually saw almost all that I had hoped.  As soon as we were about to leave the inlet to the open ocean, we spotted a pair of harbor seals feeding on fish that they caught underwater.  On the way through the inlet, we saw a merlin perched on the jetty probably looking to score an early morning shorebird breakfast.  As usual, great cormoran...

     Late Saturday afternoon I saw reports of a Harris’s sparrow in nearby southeastern Monmouth County.  It was too late to go look for it so I reconciled with myself that if it hung around into Sunday then maybe I would go for it.  The vagrant bird was spotted again Sunday morning, so after catching up on some other things I decided to take the ride.   This bird didn’t exactly meet my personal criteria for chasing a rarity.   Normally, a target bird would have to be a potential life bird and one that I may not have another opportunity to ever see.  Harris’s sparrows only breed in Canada and winter in the central United States.  I have seen one Harris’s sparrow before, in February 2023, the last time one showed up in New Jersey.  I had distant and brief looks at that one.  That bird was about 30 miles away in Mercer County.  The current one was about half the distance.  For that reason, I decided to try for better looks ...

     For the first time this year I took a vehicle ride along the beach at Island Beach State Park.  Off road vehicle access has been closed much of the year so far due to the winter storms battering the beach.  It finally reopened yesterday and since it was cold and windy yet again, I opted for the warmth and comfort of driving rather than walking.  There wouldn’t have been much to mention about today’s jaunt except for a couple of little birds I noticed scurrying across the sand.  It was the fact that they were using their legs more than their wings that first caught my attention.  They weren’t sanderlings because they were too small.  When one stopped and turned around, I knew I had my first-of-the-year piping plovers .   When I was young, the saying was that a robin was the first sign of spring.  Then I realized that robins are around all year.  Maybe different populations of American robins come and go throughout the year...

     Yesterday I took another long walk of the southern end of Island Beach State Park.  Again I was hoping that the lack of bird species would finally change, and, yet again, nothing changed until I reached the inlet at the terminus of the beach.  For nearly the entire mile-and-a-half or so walk the beach was barren, and just a spattering of the usual waterfowl- long-tailed ducks and surf , black and white-winged scoters out on the ocean.  But as I got close to the jetty I did notice something that looked different, something I have not seen in a while. Glaucous gull, center, with American herring gulls.   © S. Weiss Standing on the rocks was what I considered a very clean gull.  With my binoculars I saw a herring-like gull with a pale gray mantle and wings, and a clean white head and tail.  I was looking at my second white-winged gull in a week here.  Last Wednesday a first winter Iceland gull sitting on the water in the inlet im...

     Earlier in this still somewhat new year, I was seeing alcids, mostly razorbills , from the beach and inlets.  I even had a few dovekie sightings, including nice views of one at Manasquan inlet.  But pretty much since the beginning of February I have not seen any alcids.  The only thing more disappointing than a winter beach day without seeing an alcid is a day seeing a dead one.   Yesterday was such that case.  On a short afternoon walk at Island Beach State Park, I noticed an obviously deceased sea bird near the dune line.  As I approached, it became apparent that it was an alcid.  When I came upon it and saw its head, I knew it was a murre.  The noticeable creamy colored gape line on its bill and the lack of dark streaks on its flanks had me saying to myself that it was a thick-billed murre (TBMU).  Of course I took some photographs which I sent to some friends.  Within minutes they all responded back, unanim...

     The miserable winter weather here in New Jersey has not given me much opportunity to get out and about to explore.  The sub-freezing temperatures and gusty winds have seemed to be the norm for a while now.  The foot or so of snow that blanketed the area back in January had quickly frozen over and only recently began to slowly fade.  Any trails that I might walk have been inaccessible; either plowed in or too treacherous to walk on without specialized footwear.  There has been very little, if any, open water around either for the birds to drink or the waterfowl to gather.  The Barnegat Bay has frozen over from the barrier island to the mainland.  Even our ocean beaches are partially eroded and with ice chunks strewn about the sand.  The erosion bad enough to force Island Beach State Park authorities to close its beach to sport fishing vehicles. The past couple days, finally, saw the feels like temperatures climb above freezing. ...