Birds and Other Nature Sightings

   Yesterday was a pleasant fall day, a perfect day actually to spend on the beach.  One of my favorite activities is taking a leisurely drive along the beach at Island Beach State Park and with the day to myself, that’s what I did.  Inland birding was rather slow, and an earlier walk at Reeds Road, one of the park’s birding hotspots, also did not produce many bird highlights.  So, as a sports fishing beach buggy permit holder, I entered the beach at the Gilikins entry point at the park’s northern section.   Now that the summer tourist season is over, the bathing beaches are open to beach buggy vehicles, and I can drive the beach for nearly seven miles to the north jetty at Barnegat Inlet.   After a short lull the last couple days, the sea duck and bird migration flight along the Atlantic corridor was back in action.  Waves of scoter flocks were traveling south, each flock containing probably anywhere from 50 to maybe 200 birds each.  I conservatively estimated the total number at 2000