Am I Really a Leader?

Can you call yourself a leader if nobody shows up to the field trip? I have scheduled a few field trips for the DVOC over the past year. Most of the trips get rained out but last Saturday's weather was set to be sunny so I headed to Barnegat Lighthouse to meet the group at 8 AM. 8 AM came and went. Thank goodness Harvey showed up otherwise I would have been totally alone. Oh well. Their loss.

Harvey and I headed out on the jetty to see what we could find. There weren't many ducks but we saw Red-breasted Mergansers. I love the way the wind blows their feathers into a mess.

Red-breasted Merganser

 We were just about to give up on our prized Harlequin Ducks when another photographer told us that they were a little farther out. Jackpot. We found the flock up on the rocks of the jetty.

Harlequin Ducks

They swam past us while we snapped a billion photos.

Harlequin Duck

Harlequin Duck

We didn't find as many shorebirds as normal. Only this small group of Dunlin with a single Sanderling mixed in.

Dunlin and Sanderling

On our way back to the lighthouse, we spotted this Horned Grebe swimming away from us. It would dive under the water and resurface farther down the jetty.  I would run along to try to get ahead of it but that sucker can swim fast underwater. I managed to get this shot which shows that blood red eye.

Horned Grebe

The bird was on a mission to get somewhere fast. I couldn't keep up.

Harvey and I had a nice day. I wonder if anyone will show up to my next field trip? 

One of Those Days

Yesterday was one of those days where everything just falls into place to produce a great day of birding and photography. As you know, winter storm Nemo (since when do we have to use names with snow storms?) hit us on Saturday, but we were virtually unaffected with less than 3" of snow.  Sunday turned out to be one of those stellar winter days with gorgeous blue skies and just a hint of thin cirrus clouds. It started out at 15 degrees but quickly warmed up to 30. I know that doesn't sound very warm, but it was delightful to be outdoors with warm sunshine and very little wind.

In addition to the fabulous weather, the DVOC had a photography trip planned to Barnegat Lighthouse so I decided to join them for the morning.  Roxy and I showed up a little late but quickly found the group which was being lead by Steve Kacir. Cindy and her husband Scott were the other participants.  We wandered down the beach and along the jetty for the better part of 3 hours watching and photographing winter ducks and shorebirds.  It was really great to be with the group. We all had the same appreciation for the day and the birds.

It was one of those days.  One of those days where I have so many photos that I can't show them all in one post.  One of those days where I have so many photos that I can't decide which ones to leave out.  One of those days where I thought to myself - it's about time I had one of these days. 

Harlequin ducks are just about the gaudiest ducks that you can find. I have always had trouble getting good photos in the past due to poor lighting/weather conditions or being too far away.  Not yesterday.  We had perfect weather for photography and the ducks were literally swimming and sunning themselves within 20 yards of us.  They are pretty comfortable with people walking close to them on the jetty.  Here are a few photos. The first photo shows a single male Harlequin in the water.

Harlequin Duck - Male

Here is a group of males swimming in unison. They would group together and then form a single line, then group together again.  I love this one where they are all facing away and converging.

Group of Male Harlequin Ducks

 In case you were wondering what all of this was about - of course it is all about getting a female.  Here she is in all of her drab-ness being courted by 5 males.  She appears to be unimpressed by any of their flaunting and chasing.

Male Harlequins courting Female

 Although she appeared not to care about what was going on, she was seen a few minutes later hanging out on the rock with one of her beaus. . .

Male and Female Harlequin Ducks

 Here is another male preening in the sun.  This photos is barely cropped.  I was standing on the rock jetty about 15 feet away.

Male Harlequin preening

 As if those shots weren't enough, here is a photo of the Harlequin flapping his wings after preening AND a Purple Sandpiper wandered into the same frame.  I almost fainted when I saw that this shot turned out.

Harlequin and Purple Sandpiper

 What was Roxy doing while I was on top of the jetty photographing gaudy ducks?  Check it out - she refuses to come on to the jetty which is a good thing since her presence would definitely scare off all of the birds and I would never allow that to happen.  But there she is at the edge of the water wagging her tail waiting for me to return.  Good dog!

Roxy at Barnegat Lighhouse

More to come. I'll post other photos and the rest of Sunday's story later in the week.

Duck + Hawk + Gull = 3 Lifebirds

Yes, we chased the Ivory Gull that has been reported at BreezeeLee Marina this week. Yes, we saw it! It flew all around the marina, sat on pilings, and generally didn't care about all of the people gawking at it. This is the first Ivory Gull ever reported in New Jersey and has been hanging around all week. The Sibley Field Guide states: "Rare. Found in extreme far north among pack ice; rarely ventures farther south." In fact, they make their living following polar bears around and picking the leftovers of seal meat. The gull is so rare, that famous birders have not seen it even though they travel to the arctic specifically to see it. We saw it. snicker, snicker.

The adults are completely white. The bird in NJ is an immature which has some "smudging" of dark feathers on it's face and some brown/black feather tips on some wing feathers and black tips on the tail. Here is my best photo which shows these markings and the marina. From pack ice to packed boat yard:

The next photo shows 1) the gull backlit by the morning sun and 2) the top of Tara's head just before she was blinded by looking into the sun - with binoculars. "Don't look into the sun, don't look into the sun" I said because I could see her following the gull's flight path directly into the sun. She didn't listen, but she did regain her sight within minutes. snicker, snicker.

The gull was NOT our first life bird of the day however. We noticed some cars and people with scopes pulled over on Ocean Drive on our way to the marina. A nice couple pointed out the Norther Goshawk sitting in the cedars along the marsh and let us look through his scope. Very nice. He also told us that he just left the Ivory Gull, so our nerves were calmed somewhat.

After staying with the Ivory Gull for awhile, we drove down to the concrete ship and the lighthouse to see if anything was up. Only about a hundred Widgeons on the pond, that's what was up. We then headed up the Parkway to get Lori and Tara their Harlequin Duck - which was the whole reason for the trip in the first place. I thought we would have a chance at the Avalon Sea Watch so we went there first. No Harlequins, but we did get Long-tailed Ducks and Common Loon up close and some Common Eiders out by the jetty.

Then, off to Forsythe NWR with our Wawa sandwiches for ducks and geese. Here is a Hooded Merganser photo which I thought would turn out better than this but at least you can see his cool "hood":

After an hour or so at Forsythe, we made a last push for Harlequins and drove farther north on the Parkway to Barnegat Lighthouse. It was now 3:30PM. We left the house at 7:30 AM. We were tired. We were running out of daylight. The wind was howling down the beach. We persevered and walked to the end of the jetty. We got the Harlequins! 1 male and 2 females right next to the jetty. Unfortunately, the light was not good enough for a good photo. Sorry Tara, this is the best one:

We made it back to my house by 7:00 PM. Almost 12 hours. Lori and Tara had more than that because they had another 20 minutes on each end of the day.