In a now-annual Christmas tradition (five years running!), I took a trip with Paul's dad on Tuesday out to the Brigantine division of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge while we were visiting family in New Jersey for the holidays. With an eight-mile wildlife drive through coastal wetlands, this is a pretty special place, and there are always lots of interesting birds hanging around. Some of the coolest creatures are the Snow Geese that come down from their arctic breeding grounds to overwinter here in huge numbers:
We estimated the Snow Geese on Tuesday numbered somewhere in the thousands. They made quite a sight blanketing the marsh as they foraged, and they were striking in flight as well, with those black-tipped wings:
Most of the Snow Geese wore pristine white costumes:
But there were a few blue morph individuals as well; I think these birds are particularly handsome:
Here's a (very) brief video of some of the Snow Geese foraging; the sound should give an idea of how crowded the area was with these birds:
Lots of other cool birds made an appearance during our visit as well. This gorgeous Great Blue Heron was hunting near the road:
A Greater Yellowlegs (such an appropriate name!) brightened up the shoreline:
And there were ducks all over the place. We saw big American Black Ducks that flashed the iridescent patches in their wings as they bathed:
Buffleheads that dipped in and out of the water, pursuing their meals:
Ruddy Ducks with their funny round bodies and big beaks:
Flashy Hooded Mergansers:
And a single female Common Goldeneye, looking quite pretty in her simple costume:
It was great to get out to the shore and see so many creatures. What an awesome place!
I had a lovely walk at Silver Sands State Park this morning, although I had to renavigate a bit when I ran into a problem with the path. Oops... can't go that way!
This walkway used to continue off to the right and slope down to sand level, but not anymore! Superstorm Sandy really did a number on this park, tearing down whole stretches of the boardwalk (which was only put up in the past few years, I think). It's still possible to access the rest of the beach from the other end of the park, but clearly some work will have to be done. I wonder when and how they'll rebuild the walkway.
I saw lots of active birds on and near the beach, including several American Black Ducks and Mallards bathing in the marsh's high water -- I'm actually still amazed at how different these two species look when they're right next to each other, since at one point I would have easily confused an American Black Duck for a female Mallard:
Several sparrows were hanging around, including this American Tree Sparrow, a cute winter resident who I was happy to welcome back to the area:
On the beach, an adult Cooper's Hawk flew over my head:
The last bird sighting I have to share is a first for me: an honest-to-goodness vagrant. Cave Swallows live year-round in Texas, Mexico, and the Caribbean (that's their range in the field guides), but under the right weather conditions, they can get blown around and end up at the Great Lakes as well as along the northeast coast at this time of year. In fact, several people have reported seeing Cave Swallows on the Connecticut coast over the past few days, so it seems that the right weather conditions are happening now. And lo and behold, as I was wandering around this morning, I saw a group of about five Cave Swallows swooping high above the marshes -- I gotta think these southern birds weren't too happy with the freezing-cold temperature! Here's my super blurry documentation picture (my Loch Ness monster picture, if you will) -- it's not much to look at, but you can see the pale red rump contrasting with dark wings, which at least helps prove what I saw:
I guess you really just never know what creatures will show up next!
Yesterday was cold but clear, and I decided to have an adventure. I've been curious about what the beach is like at this time of year -- I have no idea what sorts of animals live at the shore in late fall/early winter -- so I headed down to our beach of choice, Silver Sands State Park, to check it out. I walked through some areas that I'd never been to before, along the shoreline and through some marshland, and there was plenty to see!
Several ducks of various species were gathered in a medium-sized pond along the path, and I had fun trying to figure out who was there. I don't spend a lot of time around ducks, and these ones preferred to stay some distance away from me -- I think I figured out why real birders bring spotting scopes with them on walks -- but I was able to get a good enough look to identify some of them at least.
Most of the ducks were American Black Ducks:
If I hadn't seen these birds before (and had someone tell me what they were), I probably would've thought they were female Mallards -- Mallards don't have such a dark body, though, or such a clear line between neck and breast. There are other differences, too, between the two species, but that's the most obvious one to me.
A pair of American Wigeons was hanging out as well, a new bird for me. The male was particularly fancy, with shiny green and yellow on his head:
And speaking of fancy ducks, a female Wood Duck was paddling around, too:
What a pretty girl. I think Wood Ducks might be some of my favorites. :)
Moving away from the pond, I was pretty excited to see the bird in this next picture, even from far away:
Hiding among all that tall grass is the characteristic write rump of a Northern Harrier. (I'm pretty sure this is the only raptor in our area to have that distinctive marking.) I'd love to see one of these birds up close one day -- they have the most interesting faces, all angular and pointed and very strange. Later, I saw the Northern Harrier again (or possibly a different one) hunting over another patch of marsh, flashing its white spot as it flew:
Meanwhile, a few yards away, a small herd of White-tailed Deer looked on:
It seems crazy that I've been keeping a wildlife blog for months now, and yet I haven't posted any pictures of White-tailed Deer until now. I think this has to do with the fact that I have never once seen a deer in the woods where I usually walk -- Naugatuck State Forest -- and I have no idea why this is. (Could it have to do with the hunting?) Deer are anything but rare in this area, but for whatever reason, I guess I frequent places where they do not. In any case, it was cool to actually see some of these big mammals that I always expect to encounter in the woods, but never do.
Toward the end of my walk, four Red-tailed Hawks burst from a tree, screeching and wheeling through the air, and sometimes careening into each other. They seemed to be having some sort of tussle -- a family dispute? I didn't get any pictures of the action, but one of the hawks flew low enough over my head for some nice views:
For all that these birds are so common around here, I don't think I could get tired of seeing them, especially at such close range. They're quite impressive.
As I was leaving, a few Great Egrets flew by:
Does anyone else think these birds look like dinosaurs? (Or possibly dragons?)
And here's one last surprise for the day:
The first day of December, and a butterfly is still hanging around. This sulphur butterfly (I'm not sure of the exact species) was definitely alive -- it flew up into the air when I first walked by -- but it seemed pretty sluggish in the frigid air. That was probably to my benefit, actually, because it meant that I got to get very close to this beautiful creature. I'm a big fan of those bright green eyes.
The shore feels so different from the woods, and it's fun to add some variety to my walks every once in a while. Hooray for exploring and seeing new things!
