Birds and Other Nature Sightings

 Friday, I went over to the Toms River Veterans Complex to walk the power line cut trail behind the back parking lot.  It was a hot summer day so birds were not the primary focus of the walk.  It’s a good habitat with native plants and weeds, grasses, woods and ephemeral pools.  My friends Doug and Chelsea brought this location to my attention a year or two ago. I only managed a little over an hour there as the persistent sweat running into my eyes became unmanageable.  I had about a little over a dozen bird species.  Several field sparrows were singing.  A yellow-billed cuckoo was calling.  A pair of red-tailed hawks were perched on one of the power line towers.  There was plenty of other summertime wildlife though.  A mini herd of deer grunted at me before trotting away through the woods.  I spotted a small frog, a small snapper turtle and a very tiny Fowler's toad.  But the insects highlighted my stroll. Left, a Fowler’s toad, about the size of my thumbnail.   © S. Weiss Right,