Birds and Other Nature Sightings

      According to eBird, there are 400 species of birds on the Ocean County, NJ list.  This lofty number includes vagrants, one-day wonders and historical records (the latter is what I refer to as those that were last seen before the year 2000).  The list also does not include exotic species and escapees.  The list does include a few ghost birds ; birds that I know are around, but they seem to always elude detection.  One such ghost bird in the county is the Pileated Woodpecker.  A few live in the western portion of the county, particularly around New Egypt in Plumsted Township.  Most of the birders around here know where to look for them, but most search attempts are usually futile.  Today, I lucked out.  I went to one of their “known” locations and was able to see one and hear another. Pileated woodpeckers, Fort Mose Historic State Park, St. Augustine, FL (2018).   © S. Weiss The pair in the left photo is of a female (l...

     When my younger daughter was attending college in St. Augustine, FL, I got to visit her often.  I spent many days out birding the area while she was on campus.  St. Augustine is on the northeast coast of Florida, roughly a 50-minute drive south from Jacksonville.  It is the county seat of St. Johns County and the oldest city in the United States.  It is one of my favorite places to visit.  There are many birding hotspots nearby and the ones I frequented most often were Anastasia State Park, Masters Tract Stormwater Treatment area on Hub Bailey Road and Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTM NERR). Today I look back at one day walking through part of the large GTM NERR expanse.  GTM is located in beautiful Ponte Vedra Beach, about a 40-minute drive from St. Augustine.  GTM covers over 76,000 acres and lists over 350 bird species, dozens of reptiles and amphibians and over 500 plant species.  It was at G...