Sunday Images
13 Sunday Mar 2022
Posted barnegat, Photography
in13 Sunday Mar 2022
Posted barnegat, Photography
in12 Saturday Mar 2022
Posted barnegat, Photography
inThe Great Black-backed Gull is the largest gull in the world. It has a domineering attitude and does not shy from harassing other birds to steal their food. I saw an example of this two weeks ago while photographing near the Barnegat Lighthouse. A Great Black-backed Gull swooped in and landed right next to a Herring Gull. It quickly took away whatever the Herring Gull was eating.
The thief then flew away, unconcerned, happy.
05 Saturday Mar 2022
Posted barnegat, EBF Refuge, Photography
inTags
barnegat lighthouse state park, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, postaday, red-breasted merganser
Red-breasted Mergansers are fairly common in the winter along the coast of New Jersey. In the past two weeks, I took their photos at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge and also near the Barnegat Lighthouse on two different occasions.
According to All About Birds, a Red-breasted Merganser has to eat 15 to 20 fish per day, requiring it to dive under water for 250 to 300 times a day! The Red-breasted Merganser population in North America is stable and has been estimated at 500,000 in 2017.
26 Saturday Feb 2022
Posted barnegat, Photography
inLast Monday I went to Barnegat Lighthouse State Park to photograph Long-tailed Ducks. There were two large groups of these ducks swimming in the ocean near the lighthouse. Estimates ranged from 100 to 300 ducks.
Despite their names, only mature male ducks have a very long tail curved at their backs. Female and immature male ducks do not have it.
They are very good divers and are capable of foraging under water at depths up to 200 ft (61 m) to look for food, mainly invertebrates plucked from the bottom.
23 Wednesday Feb 2022
Posted barnegat, Photography
in04 Friday Feb 2022
Posted barnegat, Photography
inLast week, a day after this year’s Nor’Easter blizzard, I went to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge refuge, only to find that it was closed because there was too much snow to be cleared. I turned around and drove to the Barnegat Lighthouse. It was still very windy, cold, and the sea was rough.
A young White-throated Sparrow was braving the wind. It kept jumping around, but I finally managed to get a shot of it.
There was a small park next to the lighthouse. It was loaded with snow.
Higher in a tree, an American Robin did not seem to be too affected by the weather.
European Starlings were flying around and landing here and there, asking to be photographed.
As I started to go home, I saw a cheery sign for an art gallery.
06 Saturday Apr 2019
Posted barnegat, Photography
inA few days ago, a flock of Sanderlings appeared to be still sleeping around 9 AM on several boulders near Barnegat Ligthouse.
Later on I saw a Tabby Cat in a wooded area not too far from where the Sanderlings were. I have seen him several times for the past three years, roaming among the trees and bushes, perhaps stalking for prey. However, the Sanderlings usually kept by the beach, so maybe the Tabby Cat was after smaller birds.
15 Friday Mar 2019
Posted barnegat
inA few days ago, while I was photographing Long-tailed Ducks, there were two or three Common Loons swimming around the same area.
At one point, I heard a big crunching noise. Turning toward the source of the noise, I saw a Common Loon eating part of a crab that it had caught and broken apart.
It practically swallowed that part, then dipped into the water and brought up several more parts to eat.
After finishing the crab, it took a drink of water and tilted its head up to swallow it and perhaps the mashed up crab also.
11 Monday Mar 2019
Posted barnegat, Photography
inTags
Buffleheads are among the smallest ducks, one with a large head relative to the body. A small group of them was swimming near the Barnegat Lighthouse a few days ago. These ducks live mainly in North America, but may be seen in some Western European countries and Japan, but only rarely.
Suddenly they took off flying toward the open sea.
Then they began landing on the water.
Here are two of them swimming around, watching the humans and the other ducks and loons.
10 Sunday Mar 2019
Posted barnegat, Photography
inLong-tailed Ducks also breed in the Artic Coasts and winter in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic coast, although New Jersey, Delaware, and parts of Maryland are as far South as they will go. There were many of them yesterday near Barnegat Lighthouse. They swam back and forth during the time I spent there, providing many opportunities for photographs.
Just before I left, a male Long-tailed Duck flew around several times, at least three, calling out constantly, perhaps reminding all the other ducks that migration time was fast approaching. It was quite a show and a photographer’s dream.
10 Sunday Mar 2019
Posted barnegat, Photography
inA Brant is a relatively small goose that breeds on the Artic coasts of Western Siberia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. In late fall, they migrate to Western Europe from Siberia. In North America, they fly down from Alaska and the upper reaches of Canada to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, at times making non-stop flights that could be as long as 1,000 miles (1,600 km) or more. While the Pacific and European Brants have black bellies, the Atlantic Brants that I see have white ones.
Yesterday, as temperatures climbed to the 50’s (10 °C) I went to Barnegat Lighthouse State Park where the Brants put on quite a show in preparation for their impending flight back to their breeding grounds.
29 Saturday Dec 2018
Posted barnegat, Photography
inLong-tailed Ducks breed in the Arctic parts of Canada and Alaska, and only migrate to the coast of New Jersey in the winter. Thursday of this week, I saw several near Barnegat Lighthouse.
I could not photograph a male Long-tailed Duck swimming in the water, so here’s a photo of two males taken in 2016.
This past Thursday, there was a male that took off from the water as shown in the following flight shots.
These ducks are about half the size of Common Eiders, and their take off is shorter and quicker. Although there are no estimates of their current population, they are classified as Common Bird in Steep Decline as of 2014.
28 Friday Dec 2018
Posted barnegat, Photography
inSince they are so big, Common Eiders take a long time to get airborne and fly, like Cormorants and Swans. Yesterday, one immature Common Eider put on quite a show.
28 Friday Dec 2018
Posted barnegat, Photography
inIn late fall, Common Eiders appear as far South as the coast of New Jersey. Yesterday several dozens of them were swimming along the jetty at Barnegat Lighthouse. They are the largest ducks, weighing from 2.5 to almost 7 lbs (1.1 to 3 kg).
It is not breeding season yet, so the males are not showing their distinctive and handsome colors.
There was some kind of hunting going on and I often heard sounds of gunfire coming from the other side of the bay. An immature Common Eider was sitting on a rock right next to the jetty. It would not move even as I came very close to it. A fellow photographer said that it may have been wounded by a shotgun pellet, could not move, and would probably die eventually.
In the 19th century, hunting almost wiped out this species in the Atlantic. However, their population has rebounded and Common Eiders are not on the list of endangered species.
25 Tuesday Sep 2018
Posted barnegat, EBF Refuge, Photography
inTags
bald eagle, barn swallow, barnegat lighthouse, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great egret, Long-billed Dowitcher, mourning dove, photography, postaday, ring-billed gull, sanderling, year of the bird
2018 is the Year of the Bird, as declared by the National Audubon Society, National Geographic, BirdLife International, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I didn’t know about that until now, but here are seven photos I took recently of birds around New Jersey.
26 Sunday Aug 2018
Posted barnegat, Photography
in03 Friday Aug 2018
Posted barnegat, Photography
inTags
This year rain has been plentiful in our area, and plants everywhere have been responding gleefully. Last week I went to Barnegat Lighthouse State Park and was surprised to find more than half of the beach covered with vegetation. Here’s what it looked like.
Various plants were thriving in the sand. In normal years they grew further inland, but this year you had to walk through them to get to the ocean.
While taking these photos, I heard wings flapping up in the sky. It was an Osprey carrying a freshly caught fish back to its nest.
20 Saturday Jan 2018
Posted barnegat, Photography
inRed-breasted Merganser spend their winter on both coasts of North America. There were quite a few of them a week ago swimming and diving in the Barnegat inlet. The male duck can be very striking, and even funny looking with its Mohawk head feathers.
However, the female ducks are very pretty, with their super model looks and colors.
While they are considered large ducks, they look small when swimming by a seagull.
13 Saturday Jan 2018
Posted barnegat, Photography
inLike many of us, shore birds or ducks like to eat and are often busy fishing or foraging for food. Two days ago, I saw quite a few Red-breasted Merganser swimming and diving along the Barnegat Lighthouse jetty. A female Merganser was particularly energetic in her diving and was eventually rewarded with a good catch.
Meanwhile, on the jetty rocks some Ruddy Turnstones were having an all-you-can-eat buffet. These birds don’t go in the water much and prefer to remain on shore where they sometimes can find actual smorgasbords.
12 Friday Jan 2018
Posted barnegat, Photography
inIt was foggy at Barnegat Lighthouse yesterday, as you can see from the photo below. However, it was not cold, and the ice that covered most of the bay was starting to break up, helped along by two Coast Guard vessels.
There was a thaw indeed. In the two hours I was there, snow had retreated quite a bit from the sand, or was melting away even if the sun was hidden by clouds.
26 Tuesday Sep 2017
Posted barnegat, Photography
in24 Sunday Sep 2017
Posted barnegat, Photography
inAfter photographing waves crashing on the beach, I walked back to Barnegat Lighthouse and could not help but notice at least two Monarch butterflies flying around. One of them landed and held still long enough to have its picture taken.
Later I went to the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences, located in the nearby community with the unusual name of Loveladies, NJ. It is named after Thomas Lovelady who owned an island near the area. Over time the name of the place evolved into its current version, with a very visible sign welcoming visitors to Loveladies community…
As I walked around the grounds of the foundation, I stumbled on its Monarch butterfly waystation where many Monarch butterflies were feeding on milkweed and other kinds of flowers to replenish their energy for their annual migration to as far South as Mexico. This was the most I had seen in over 40 years!
There were also other butterflies, fellow diners.
16 Sunday Jul 2017
Posted barnegat, Photography
inI’d rather be sailing, but the following sailboats are not mine. I only saw them last week as they left Barnegat Bay to go toward the Atlantic Ocean.
09 Sunday Jul 2017
Posted barnegat, Photography
inYesterday at the end of the Barnegat Lighthouse jetty, a Great Black-backed Gull Seagull grabbed a good-sized crab from the ocean.
Great Black-backed Gull catching a crab. It brought the crab to shore and ate most of it within five minutes.
Meanwhile a Herring Gull hovered, looking for a similar lunch.
13 Saturday May 2017
Posted barnegat, Photography
inToday is a rainy day, with up to 2 in (5 cm) of rain to fall all day long. It’s time then to show photos taken on a sunny day last week of an Oystercatcher named T2 and his companion, Lady Hamilton, as dubbed by the locals at Barnegat.
They went inside the restricted area of the beach, walked up the dunes and maybe toward their nest. Another blogger on WordPress said that this pair, together now for several years, has not yet managed to produce any offspring, but there could be hope for this year.
Oystercatcher are of national conservation concern, with several thousands living on the shore of Mid Atlantic states like New Jersey.
All these coming and goings under the watchful eye of Barnegat Lighthouse.
09 Tuesday May 2017
Posted barnegat, Photography
inSemipalmated Plovers are very close to Piping Plovers in size and cuteness. They look similar but with different feather colors as you can see in the photos below. I found several dozen of them in the roped off area of the beach at Barnegat Lighthouse, with one or two Piping Plovers running through their midst.
A crucial distinction is that the Semipalmated Plover is not considered endangered, with a population estimated to be about 200,000. There are fewer than 10,000 Piping Plovers.
08 Monday May 2017
Posted barnegat, Photography
inPiping Plovers are considered an endangered species, or they are at least on the verge of being so. That’s why a section of the beach and dunes at Barnegat Lighthouse is roped off from April to September. Signs placed at regular intervals warn that the area is a nesting site for them, and for two other kinds of shore birds, Black Skimmers and Least Terns.
Of course these cute little birds disregard the signs, and I have seen some running out to search for food on the beach and near the water. They look like cotton balls trotting up and down between the dunes and the waves.
07 Sunday May 2017
Posted barnegat, Photography
inA male Northern Cardinal will often court a female by offering her food. I have seen that behavior before, but today was the first time I managed to capture it in photos. This took place this morning in a small grove next to Barnegat Lighthouse.
06 Saturday May 2017
Posted barnegat
in04 Thursday May 2017
Posted barnegat, Photography
inI saw a couple of Oystercatchers this past Sunday near the end of the jetty at Barnegat Lighthouse. They were walking on the beach, finding shellfish to eat, not minding people approaching to take their pictures. One was banded with “T2” clearly visible.
02 Tuesday May 2017
Posted barnegat, Photography
inLast Sunday I saw a vivid flash of orange fly by as I walked along a trail next to Barnegat Lighthouse. It was a male Scarlet Tanager, the first time I saw one. It kept jumping from branch to branch, even spending some time on the ground. It had to be one of the most handsome birds in the Northeast United States. Because it was so active, I had trouble focusing and only two shots turned out well enough to post here.
08 Sunday Jan 2017
Posted barnegat, EBF Refuge, Photography
inTags
barnegat lighthouse, common loon, long-tailed duck, mallard, photograpy, postaday, red-breasted merganser
A week ago at the Barnegat Lighthouse, many people came to walk along the beach, as it was sunny and the wind was bearable, especially if one wore a good winter jacket or coat.
Along the jetty, but away from the swift currents that Harlequin ducks preferred, there were three other kinds of ducks or waterbirds swimming and diving calmly for food.
Long-tailed Duck. This kind of duck can deep dive up to 200 ft (60 m). This one was just looking around and enjoying the sun.
Red-breasted Mergansers, a rather large duck compared to the well-coiffed Hooded Mergansers that I photographed last year.
Earlier in the day, I saw a pair of Mallards dabbling for food at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge which has been practically closed due to road repairs for at least half a year now.