Tags
cormorant, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, european starling, great egret, photography, postaday
Last week, at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, I saw for the first time an American Avocet standing among other familiar birds. In fact I did not know what it was until I got home, saw a strange bird in the photo and looked it up.
American Avocet, on the right, and Mallards.
Great Egret.
The following photo is unusually wide so that all the Cormorants in that one spot can be seen.
Cormorants drying their feathers.
Finally, many smaller birds were flying around: Grackles, European Starlings, and Red-winged Blackbirds. I did not get a good shot of the Red-winged Blackbirds, although they appeared to be leading packs of small birds around the marshes.
Grackles.
European Starling.
Great Egret.
neihtn 
It’s nice to see a stranger mix with the locals, isn’t it? I’ve only seen them once or twice and I love them – so graceful, with the upturned bill and soft coloring.
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Beautiful captures!
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Enjoy so much of your bird captures! 🙂
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Thank you Amy!
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That’s a great shot of the avocet! For that matter, all the images were great, but with the mallards with the avocet, people can judge how large they are by comparing it to the mallard.
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Thank you Jerry! For me, it was exciting to see a new bird. Early morning photo trip paid off, as usual.
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It’s the first time I’ve seen an American Avocet.Beautiful bird,Hien.Loved the iridescent blue plumage of the Grackles as well 🙂
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Thank you Doda. I will try to get more photos of that bird this weekend, if it is still around.
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The European Starling is quite striking. Beautiful photos, Hien.
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Thank you Lois! I was able to get pretty close to the European Starling to get the shot.
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Good morning, Hien. A not-so-smart question: how do you look it up? Is there a way to look it up with an image?
Have a wonderful day.
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Helen, there are probably many ways, but I usually search the Internet using a description of the bird. In this case I searched for black and white bird, then refined it by specifying marshes as their environment. Finally, I looked in Images to see whether there are similar photos of such a bird. I also look in a foldout pamphlet listing New Jersey Birds with illustrations. However, there is no Avocet on that foldout.
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Thank you, Hien. I meant to ask this long time ago, but I was hoping eventually I would find out how and I didn’t. Thanks!
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If you’re looking for a great guide book, I recommend the Peterson Field Guide to Birds. The book I have covers all North American birds, however, you can also get regional books. I have a National Audubon Society field guide but don’t use it because the Peterson field guide is superior and much easier to use in identifying birds. Happy bird spotting!
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Thank you Christine!
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Thank you, Christine. I definitely will get one. There are a lot of birds on the trail and I really want to know what kind they are.
Thanks.
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