Migration Is Not Just For Birds
For five days since last Saturday, New Jersey had been in the grip of a Nor’easter, battered by persistent 20-plus mile-per-hour northeast winds (stronger near the coast) and rain. Finally, that system pulled away, and winds lightened and swung around out of the northwest Wednesday night, setting up a bird migration flight. It was something to look forward to since, despite my efforts, sea watching in driving rain and strong winds yielded nothing. I wasn’t expecting a banner flight of songbirds, and waterfowl movement is still to come. But there are some second-chance birds (those that I missed on spring migration) to look out for, and a big push of sparrows has yet to occur. I spent a couple of hours walking the trails and driving the beach at Island Beach State Park and although I logged over 60 species of birds, the activity waned as the day progressed. Sparrows had moved in, but I did not pick up anything new for ...