Birds and Other Nature Sightings

     The past two days birding were very productive for winter sea birds.  On Monday I joined a group of birders on an inshore pelagic trip as part of the Barnegat (NJ) Christmas Bird Count.  We spent about ten hours on a boat patrolling the ocean boundaries of the area covered by the Bird Count in Ocean County, from Barnegat Inlet to the southern end of Holgate.  On Tuesday I spent about four hours at the opposite end of the county, at Manasquan Inlet standing on the jetty on the Point Pleasant side.  Both days were mostly highlighted by alcids - Razorbills  and Dovekies , and small gulls - Bonaparte’s and Little . The front end of a line of razorbills during morning flight.   © S. Weiss For the previous week or so, razorbills had been reported in huge numbers along the New Jersey coast from Sandy Hook to Cape May.  Observers reported hundreds of birds passing each day.  The birds didn’t disappoint us on Monday either.  ...