Birds and Other Nature Sightings

     Last Thursday I drove the beach at Island Beach State Park hoping to pick up a few fall birds that might be passing through the area, particularly an American golden-plover .  AG plovers (for short) are considered rare for us here in New Jersey, but fall is the best time to find one since their return migration route usually takes them down the eastern coast.  The northbound migration route for these arctic breeders is across the central United States, making them an even rarer find in the spring.  I have been successful the past years finding at least one AG plover by traveling the beach in September and October and scanning flocks of black-bellied plovers .  AG plovers usually associate with the more common and similarly looking black-bellied plovers (BB plovers, for short). The first plover I came upon yesterday was by itself, and it immediately caught my attention.  My first take was that this is a good candidate for an AG plover.  B...