Tail Trails

Today we headed back to Bradshaw's Beach to check on the progress of our little stranded seal.  The sky was blue and even though it was a cool 39 degrees, the sun was warm.  The ocean was blue and calm with gentle waves breaking over the beach.

Where the baby seal had been there was only a trail leading down to the high water line where he apparently took to the ocean once again.  We were glad to see him gone and equally glad to see his flipper marks in the sand return to the sea. 

Bradshaw's Beach returns to await the summer visitors with their books, beach towels and sandals.  No one will know while they are running in the surf that their beach was a home for a few days to a stranded baby seal.

Winter's Last Gasp?

 

Winter is holding on to the shore like a tiger this week.  We have been out almost every day looking for the sun and signs of spring.  Today it is snowing.  Not the kind of snow that comes in big flakes and turns the ground into a fairy land, but the kind of snow that is a bitter reminder that winter has a hold on our days.  It is tiny snow flakes that blow in your face and melt when they hit the ground, leaving people in the wake chilled to the bone.   

Yesterday we saw gannet flying along the shore.  The beautiful white birds with black wing tips were flying in formation, but to us they appeared to be dancing in the sky.  They would dip and rise and turn in unison almost like a choreographed ballet.  We saw more than 20 birds but were unable to get a picture of  their antics.

We did catch a loon in changing plumage at the Manasquan Inlet.  The light was poor and the distance was great but he is still a beautiful sight.  It is regrettable that just at the time they are becoming most colorful they leave our shore for places further north.  In only a few days they will all be gone.  

Today we were looking for the gannet again when we went to Bradshaw's Beach.  There we found a most unusual animal.  Stranded on the beach far away from the reach of the angry waves was a baby harbor seal.  He was not moving when we saw him and looked like he was injured on his head.  Upon closer inspection he raised his head to look as us.


We reported his whereabouts to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center who have been watching him for a few days.  They say he is doing fine and that the red on his head is not blood but the mark of a grease marker to identify him as one they are keeping an eye on.  They further reported that he was probably beached or came ashore to rest and will hopefully return to the ocean when he is ready.

Thousands of Ducks

 

We took a drive up the what is fondly called the North Shore on March 8.  It is a pleasant drive up from Point Pleasant to Sandy Hook with lots of birding haunts along the way.  It is especially good during the winter months because of the many ducks and shore birds you can catch in a short amount of time.  

We must admit that on some levels our trip was a failure.  We have been looking for the elusive snow bunting at Sandy Hook and the equally evasive cross bills at Seven Presidents Park in Long Branch. Neither co-operated on this day.

 As we were driving on Rt 8A heading toward Sandy Hook we crossed the Navasink River.  There we saw more ducks than you could ever imagine on the river.  The river was literally covered in what appeared to be mostly scaup.  There were a few mallard, mergansers, and bufflehead scattered amid the flocks.  As we watched from the bridge, groups or flocks of the large gathering took flight until the sky was black with ducks like a swarm of gnats.  Most left within three to four minutes gathering in a circling flight until they took off to the skies.  We drove over to the entrance of Hartshome Woods (Claypit Creek entrance) just across a small bridge off of Locust Ave. We walked down to the rivers edge where we were able to get a picture of very small segment of the ducks that had not flown.  Some of the huge flock had returned as we were leaving. 

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We continued on the Sandy Hook and heard lots of red wing blackbirds and song sparrows and of course gulls and starlings were in abundance.  The only other sign of spring we saw was a female cowbird. She posed for quite a while so that we could catch  a picture of her.

Shore Drive

It's a shore thing!  We like to take leisurely drives around home.  Today we headed north and ended up in Long Branch.  Traveling around the ponds of Long Branch we found a Ring Neck Duck.  He was so beautiful and it is rare for us to get close enough for a photo. 

A Sunday Drive

A Sunday drive for us started with a trip to PetSmart to pick up animal food so we took our two pups along.  We had to pass the lake where we have seen ring necked ducks and common merganzers so of course we took the binoculars along.  It was windy so we took only the point and shoot camera.

 

A stop at Arbys for lunch left Rose and Coco alone in the car for a very short time.  Rose watched the door all the while, certain that we would step out at any minute.

There were few birds visable in the strong winds and chilly weather but we found a couple backwater routes that may prove productive in future spring outtings.  The bay was still very drab and wintery looking.  One lonely tug boat was very picturesque against the dreary landscape. 



Barnegat Lighthouse and Jetty

How perfect can weather be in February?  Today was as good as it gets in New Jersey.  It was a balmy 61 degrees and partly cloudy when we arrived at Ole Barney.  There was a light warm breeze blowing and the skies were clearing.  Being the beginning of the President's Day weekend there was a gathering crowd as people were glad to shake off their cabin fever and take to the outdoors.  Most people were there just looking for a bit of sun but we had objectives.  We were looking for a peek at the harlequin ducks and hopefully a look at some common eiders.  We have even been so lucky to see ruddy turnstones, scooter, dunlin and oyster catchers in previous years. 

Entering the jetty walkway, we saw our first duck of the day .  She was a red breasted merganzer and she posed for the camera and I think you can even see her smile.

We did not pause for long before heading on down the jetty. Gulls were plentiful.  

Still on a quest for the elusive harlequins we saw lots of brant.

Finally as the tide reached low tide and began to change the harlequins came close enough for me to capture them.  Please forgive us if we over indulged with the camera but they are so amazing and so cute that there were plenty of good opportunities to get a good picture.

It was such a beautiful day that we sat in the sun and just let the world go by for quite a while.  On the horizon we saw some large white birds flying over the water.  It is a gull?  No they were eiders.  Please forgive the out of focus shot but we did see eiders today as the photo shows!

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Taste of Spring

Today was a great day to be out and about in New Jersey.  We hopped into the car this morning and headed up the shore.  We were not in search of anything in particular but as usual we had our binoculars and cameras in tow.  We headed up through Wall Township on Rt 35 and came across the bridge entering Belmar.  It was such a glorious sight to see wintering swans on the water.  I am sure there are more than a hundred although we did not take the time to count.  We saw lots of gulls none very remarkable and of course brant and Canada geese.  In among the geese and brant were scattered mallards, black ducks, bufflehead and red breasted merganzers.  They were all really just a bit too far out to photograph so we continued northeast through Belmar and found a couple of good viewing spots near the Shark River inlet.  There were not many birds there today but we did see one peep - probably a purple sandpiper on the rocks.

 

We doubled back to what I think was Silver Lake. Driving along the lake's edge we saw a flock of robins foraging for holly berries and one even pulled out a worm.  They were in beautiful plumage their red breasts afire against the dull drab grass of winter. 

On that same lake we found one section that was not frozen and in the open water there were a number of ducks and geese feeding.  Because the only water open was very near the shore we got excellent looks at three northern shovelers, a couple of coots,  gadwall and widgeon.  I have never seen a northern shoveler up so close.  He was displaying his blue wing feathers and I was able to get a picture.  They did not seem bothered by our presence. 

We traveled on around the lake and found a flock of gadwall feeding .  Mostly I was able to photograph only the duck butts as they dabbled for food.  But it made an interesting picture.