Taking a break from peregrine falcons, here are some birds that made me happy last week.
On March 14-17 I went on the Todd Bird Club outing to coastal New Jersey, led by Margaret and Roger Higbee. We started at Cape May on Monday March 14 and worked our way north to the Sandy Hook unit of Gateway National Park by Thursday March 17.
It’s pretty hard for me to get a Life Bird in the eastern U.S. so I was pleased to see a seaside sparrow at the Edwin B. Forsythe NWR, Brigantine. Click here to see what he looks like. Thank you for finding him, Margaret!
On Wednesday we had close looks at purple sandpipers (Calidris maritima) at Manasquan Inlet, above, and I finally learned why this brown sandpiper is called “purple.” In good light his slight iridescence produces a pinkish-purple sheen in the middle of each feather. Who knew!
It was a real treat to see the harlequin ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) at Barnegat Light. They’re fearless in rough water.
And every day we saw American oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus) and long-tailed ducks (Clangula hyemalis).
Coastal New Jersey is a great place to visit in March. Thanks to Margaret and Roger Higbee for a great trip and Tony Bruno for these gorgeous photos of last week’s Best Birds.
(photos by Anthony Bruno)
Beautiful birds & glad you got to add to your life list 🙂
I live in Manasquan and one of my favorite things to in winter is to walk out to the end of the inlet rocks and catch purple sandpipers in just the right light. It’s cool when you can get one to light up. It’s more like mauve than purple. There have been a few stray razorbills there this winter, but it has not been a big year for alcid viewing close to shore. Did you visit the North Shore ponds and lakes? Belmar has breeding peregrines and in the summer, the little dune beach hosts a very active breeding ground for least terns, common terns, oystercatchers and black skimmers this year! The skimmers were so fun to watch this past season. They are truly amazing birds. So if you come back in the summer make sure to visit the dune area adjacent to the Shark River Inlet and the fishing pier. Just stay on the rocks to avoid confrontations with least terns.
kc, how lucky that you live in such a “bird-y” place! We visited Belmar and Shark River (the place that looks like a lake) and Shark River inlet (it was boring that morning compared to the river itself) and many, many more hotspots. I’ll have to come back to that area some day.
ps…seaside sparrow is a good find
The Shark River estuary is a pretty interesting area. In cold winters, it’s good for grebes. Horned and red-necked can be seen at close range from the Belmar town marina. It’s fun to watch them change plumage. One winter there was an eared grebe in the inlet for a few days. Also on the estuary is a nesting pair of bald eagles, towards the west end. The peregrines, should you make it back, nest under the Rt. 35 bridge which goes over the estuary at the east end. There is a pedestrian walkway under the bridge which makes it nice for viewing purposes. There is a ton of activity in the area including car traffic on the Rt. 35 bridge, a very active railroad bridge, boat traffic and foot traffic. The peregrines don’t seem to mind one bit. The railroad bridge goes up and down and I’ve actually seen them stay put on the bridge as it goes up and down.
Wow!