Harlequins and More - Catching Up

Catching Up

It seems like forever since I've updated this blog. I keep meaning to work on it, but life always seem to get in the way. I conveniently manage to find some excuse or other as to why this gets put to the side: volunteering at Edwin B. Forsythe NWR, photographing wildlife, especially birds, critiquig for my writers' group, family, etc. But to be honest, there are times now and then that I could devote to uploading photos here. The recent mention of my blog in a local paper has finally motivated me.

I guess it makes sense to start with the most recent photos, which include one printed with that article. These were recently taken on the jetty at Barnegat Inlet. 

Group of  male harlequins on the jetty. These photos are difficult to get due to the necessity of climbing onto the rocks, which are often slippery. Many people have fallen there, and carrying a camera with a 6oomm zoom lens, makes it more treacherous. But these pics make it worthwhile.

Male harlequin walk/flying up the shell covered rocks.

 Female harlequin flying away from a group of her admirers.

Purple Sandpiper on the jetty.

Male Red-breasted merganser swimming in the Barnegat Inlet.

Going back to 2016, the next photograph was taken while participating in  Audubon's Christmas Bird Count. The day we did it was so foggy that we weren't able to start surveying our assigned area of Mystic Island until the fog burned off somewhat. 

Do I need to identify these? 

When we first stopped at the small lake at Mystic Shores, there was one eagle sitting in this tree. As I walked slowly towards it, another soon joined him. It stayed a few minutes before flying across the lake, landing in another tree. 

Red-shouldered Hawk

Imagine my surprise when I looked out into my backyard and saw this hawk. He was kind enough to stay there long enough for me to get my camera and get him into focus through my none too clean window.

More photos from 2016 to come soon.

Costa Rican Adventure

Costa Rican Adventure

Ever since I’ve been involved in birding, I’ve heard about the marvelous birding opportunities in Costa Rica. There are still numerous species I haven’t seen in the U.S., but when I learned that I could see hundreds of species in a week or two in Costa Rica, I just had to go there. Luckily, two friends were just as excited about embarking on this adventure as I was. We left on a Road Scholar birding trip in early February, and it far exceeded our expectations. We each increased our life list by over 200 species.

I could go on and on about the trip, but this blog is about birds, so I’ll limit myself to sharing pictures of a few of them. Unfortunately, since I am fairly new to photography as well as to birding, I didn’t always have the correct settings for the changing conditions, especially in the rain forest. There were also times we were in a small boat, which took us to see birds we otherwise wouldn’t have seen. However, small boats sometimes rock, making clear photos difficult. One of my many treasured memories is of riding in such a boat, shortly after dawn, drifting down a hazy river, with herons, egrets, and various other picturesque birds in trees and along the shore and caimans lying at water’s edge.

I am still going through the thousands of pictures I took, deleting, deleting, deleting. Over the next days, or weeks, I’ll post some of the better ones. Not all of these will be of the best quality, but I am hoping people will overlook that and focus on the birds.

                                                        Inca Dove

                                                            Black and White Owls

                   This Boat-billed Heron was very hard to see from the boat. It was deep in the foliage.

        This picture of a Scarlet Macaw was taken from a great distance. Notice that it's sitting on a blue barrel. These barrels are put out for the Macaws to nest in. This is a bird that should NOT be kept as a pet. It is very unhappy in captivity.                  

                                                                     Squirrel Cuckoo

                               I had to go all the way to Costa Rica to see my first Painted Bunting.

                                                                   Tennessee Warbler

                                       .                                         Notice the the eye ring on this White-winged Dove.

Birding in Cape May, NJ during the Fall Migration

This past week, members of my birding club and I spent a few days in Cape May during the Fall Migration. The numerous cars in the State Park parking lot from states all over the country were witness to the fact that we were not there alone.  The weather was perfect, and apparently, the birds agreed. This was evident at the early morning flyovers at Higbee.  I've never seen more than one Northern Flicker at a time before. One morning the trees next to Higbee field were full of them.                                                                                                                     

 I was surprised that these pictures of the Cooper's Hawk (above) and the Sharp-shinned Hawk (below) came out this clear with the birds flying so high over head.

Warblers were beginning to go to the Magic Tree, along with a Sapsucker and this little Downy.

What a surprise when we received a message that a Rufous Hummingbird was just around the corner. We arrived within minutes, along with quite a few other birders. We had to wait for a while for this young bird to return to the feeder, but the wait was well worth it.

This Sparrow was near the boardwalk that goes behind the Hawk Watch, back to the Bird Blind.

I would have liked to stay longer, especially since messages keep coming on my phone about interesting new sightings. I can hear that another message has come in. Hmmm....

Herons and a Hummer

I love when a friend calls and asks if I can go out and play. Oops. That was a zillion years ago. It's even better now when a friend calls and asks if I want to go out birding. The trade off is a lack of time to spend on writing. I know, a poor excuse for neglecting this blog. How about if I add that I've also been trying to master my SLR camera? For me, photographing the birds is as much fun as seeing them, and it sure helps with identifying them, especially when I've gone birding on my own.

The two herons were seen at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

This young hummingbird was in my backyard.

These two were seen on March 15, 2014 in the Barnegat Inlet. It was an extremely windy day, and I was out on the rocks. I'm surprised these came out as clear as they did.

                                                               Black Scoter

                       

                                                              Black Scoter

Female Scaup

Green Heron

Yesterday I was visiting a friend in Forked River. This Green Heron was across the lagoon in front of her house. It's the best view I've ever had of this species.

 

 The second picture was taken when he first landed on the branch. The lighting wasn't very good, and the wind was making it difficult to hold the camera still. And of course, he was moving somewhat as well. I was surprised it turned out as well as it did.

Woodpeckers

A few weeks ago, a few members of Southern Ocean Birding Group went on a field trip to Old Mine Road, which goes along the Delaware River in New Jersey. The main purpose of the trip was to see  migrating warblers. It was a success, but we heard more than we saw. Although I always had my camera at the ready, the little warblers, stayed high in the trees and seldom stayed in one spot long enough for me to focus on them. Therefore, my best picture on the trip was of a Pileated Woodpecker, which I took near the home we were staying in in Pennsylvania.

 

 

I've also seen Pileated Woodpeckers in Florida and Virginia, but so far, not in New Jersey. I have seen other woodpeckers here, however, and a couple of days ago, I was able to capture a picture of this Red-bellied Woodpecker enjoying the food in one of my backyard feeders.

 

 

Not just birds

I've been birding, but have had little time to update this blog. Here are a few of what I've seen. How many can you identify? Obiously, the first two are not birds. You never know what you'll see out in the woods of South Jersey. The last one was seen along the Potomac in Virginia.

 

 

 

 

 

Osprey Flying And a Black-necked Stilt, birding trip highlights

Yesterday I was on a birding field trip to southern New Jersey. Our primary purpose was to see migrating warblers, but the highlight of the day turned to be a Black-necked Stilt at Heislerville. We didn't arrive there until mid afternoon. The last thing we did was walk down a bike/walking path where we'd heard someone had spotted a Black-necked Stilt. We encountered a man with a scope who said he'd seen one there, but it had flown about five minutes previously. We then assumed this would be one of those times we just missing a special sighting. We continued on in spite of this. When we were nearing the end of the trail, someone in our group sighted it. It was the highlight of the day. What a great way to end a wonderful day.

As we returned to our cars, an Osprey flew overhead. Unfortunately, by the time I took the lens cap off my camera and focused on him, he had flown so high the pictures aren't as clear as they could have been had I reacted faster.

Nesting Mute Swans

The other day a friend invited me to see a pair of Mute Swans that have a nest directly across the lagoon from her house. The female never left the nest while I was there, so I didn't get to see the eggs. My friend's husband saw the eggs earlier when Momma left the nest. He said he was surprised at how large the eggs are. At first the male was nowhere to be seen, but then we saw him slowly meandering up the lagoon.

                                                                

Mommaon nest

 

                                                                      Dad arrives

                                                                    Dad showing off

                                                               Dad comes in for a closeup

 

Momma stays on her eggs

 

Cape May and Barnegat Bay Sightings

This newbie birder has seen seventy species so far this year. It's very rewarding that I identified many of these without help. Though I do admit that I still often rely on those more expert. Photographing the birds I see has played a huge role in my ability to identify them. Since I'm learning about both birds and photography at the same time, I'm on a large learning curve. But it's a lot of fun.

                         Yesterday at  Cape May, this Merlin became number seventy on my list.

 

     He must have been waiting for someone. We walked under him before a friend spotted  him.          Then he stayed on his perch long enough for me to snap numerous shots, and was still there when we left.
                              

 

This morning I braved the extremely cold wind on the jetty at the Barnegat Inlet. The only sightings I made there at that time were Long-tailed Ducks. Since I already have many pictures of them, and the wind would have made focusing difficult, I left to see if I could find anything interesting on Barnegat Bay.

What luck! Two Oystercatchers searching for food along a small island opposite a parking lot near Viking Village. It always amazes me how much less wind there is on the bay than at the inlet.These pictures are of two different Oystercatchers, one of them appears to be banded.

He looks intent on finding his lunch.

 

                                  He was walking with a purpose. Did he see something?

                              If you look carefully at his legs, one appears to have a band on it.

                                       Notice his catch. I can't see what it is, though.

                                                              What is he watching?