Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Now Entering the Jump Circle

The trip was originally planned for today which I couldn't make but was rescheduled to yesterday - hooray.  I had to send a copy of my driver's license and car registration and swear that I was a U.S. citizen to even be allowed on the trip. We had to meet the Conservation Officer at 0700 (that's 7 AM) outside of the base.  We carpooled to reduce the amount of traffic through the checkpoint.  We remembered the Hindenburg disaster. Then, we entered the "Jump Circle".

What am I talking about?  The DVOC birding trip to Lakehurst Naval Air Station to see Upland Sandpipers, of course.  Each year, Upland Sandpipers nest in the Jump Circle at Lakehurst because it is one of the only places in NJ that has an expanse of low cropped fields which is the perfect habitat.  The only reason that this exists in the middle of the Pine Barrens, is because the military keeps it mowed for parachute jumpers to practice.  After all, you wouldn't want the paratroopers to land on pine trees.

If you are old enough, you may have heard the famously chilling radio account of the Hindenburg disaster.  You have probably seen the 8mm film footage of the disaster no matter how old you are.  Well, guess where that happened?  Yep, Lakehurst Naval Air Base.  Here is a link to more information www.airships.net/hindenburg/disaster .  Here is a photo that I took of the hangar that housed the giant airship. The hangar is enormous.


Once we made it to the Jump Circle, we basically got out of the cars and started looking for our target grassland birds.  We were immediately met with flying, singing Upland Sandpipers.  These are shorebirds that never see the shore and don't act like shorebirds at all.  They soar like hawks and live like songbirds for the most part.  The weather was very overcast, so I didn't get a very good photo of any of the "Uppies", which is what the other group members kept calling them.

 Upland Sandpiper in flight - terrible photo

Click here to hear the call. It sounds like a construction worker whistling at a pretty girl walking past.  Honestly.  www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Upland_Sandpiper/sounds

Once the Uppies settled down, the star of the show became this Grasshopper Sparrow who refused to quit singing from this stem despite the wind:

 Grasshopper Sparrow close-up

Singing away

Wind blown from behind. We were all surprised to see yellow on the wings which does not appear in the field guide.
This is the basic habitat that attracts the Upland Sandpiper, Grasshopper Sparrow, Horned Lark and Meadowlark which we also saw on yesterday's trip.  Pretty barren, but they all seem to like it.

Still singing!

Dismissed!

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Sun and Moon

We went to Sunset Beach this evening with our friends from Norfolk to see sunset.  Here it is:

Sunset - June 2, 2012 at Cape May Point

I snapped that photo then turned around and snapped this one of the almost full moon:

 Moon - June 2, 2012 at Cape May Point

What a lovely evening!