26 Wednesday Apr 2017
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Tags
cormorant, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, hellebore, photography, postaday, ring-billed gull, snowy egret
Insect on Hellebore petal.
Ring-billed Gull.
Cormorants.
Snowy Egret.
Snowy Egret.
19 Wednesday Apr 2017
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Sanderlings in flight.
18 Tuesday Apr 2017
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
I could not miss these Oystercatchers even from a distance. They are larger than most shore birds, and are quite colorful with red eyes and bills on a black head and a brown and white body. They use their pointed bills to kill partially opened shellfish. Their call can be a long series of “wheep” easily traced back to them.
Oystercatcher with both feet banded.
A pair of Oystercatchers.
A pair of Oystercatchers.
Oystercatchers are on the endangered list of birds, but I have seen them almost every year at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
17 Monday Apr 2017
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
A juvenile Tree Swallow was perched on top of a birdhouse, waiting for someone to come back with food. He kept turning left and right. Finally he saw his father!
Juvenile Tree Swallow.
Father on right brought an insect back to his son.
Son: “I am still hungry!” Father: “I’ll go get some more. You just have to wait!”
16 Sunday Apr 2017
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Tags
cormorant, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, peregrine falcon, photography, postaday, snowy egret
First a brown shape dove straight down from the sky, at a blazing speed. It was gone almost instantly. Then I saw a Snowy Egret floundering among a group of Cormorants swimming at the spot where the dive bombing occurred.
Snowy Egret floundering among Cormorants.
Snowy Egret trying to lift off.
Snowy Egret trying to fly.
Snowy Egret after falling back into water.
Then the Cormorants began fleeing the scene.
Cormorants.
Eventually the Snowy Egret managed to fly away and went hiding among the tall grasses of the marshes. Meanwhile, a Peregrine Falcon was perched on top of a nearby pole, watching. I wonder if it was the same one who had dive bombed and scared every bird away. Peregrine Falcons are super fast and capable of reaching 200 mph (320 km/h) on a dive. They are also known to attack mid-sized birds and ducks.
Peregrine Falcon.
Peregrine Falcon. Note band on right foot.
09 Sunday Apr 2017
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Two different kinds of birds, an American Robin and a Great Egret, with two different ways of finding food.
Male American Robin looking for worm.
He dove toward one.
Maybe not this time.
Great Egret diving after fish.
Caught one!
08 Saturday Apr 2017
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Ospreys stay at the refuge from Spring to Fall, making their nests on platforms built for them. Last week I saw a pair at one of the nests which can easily be seen from Wildlife Drive. She was eating half of a fish that he had brought to her. He observed her for a while, then took off flying. He flew around the nest before circling back to her.
Ospreys: male circling back to female still eating half of a fish. She turned to watch him.
Ospreys: he landed on her back.
Ospreys: she held on to her morsel.
Ospreys: almost over.
Ospreys: done, he jumped back on the nest.
All of this love making lasted just a few seconds. In about two months I may be able to have pictures of Osprey chicks at this same nest. Note that the female was banded on one leg.
At another nest, a pair of Ospreys had already finished their breakfast and were just enjoying some down time.
Ospreys.
05 Wednesday Apr 2017
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Geese form beautiful skeins when they fly, and capturing them in flight is irresistible to most photographers. A few days ago, I was fortunate enough to see both Snow Geese and Canada Geese in V formation heading along on their Spring migration paths.
Canada Geese skein.
Snow Geese skein. They covered a large portion of the sky, and this photo shows only a small group of them.
26 Sunday Mar 2017
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Northern Pintails are normally peaceful, relaxed as in the following photo.
Northern Pintails, female diving, male on right.
Last Sunday, two of them were … more agitated shall we say, as in the following series.
Northern Pintails, one cloudy Sunday morning.
Northern Pintails.
Northern Pintails, he bit her neck and held on.
Northern Pintails, churning the water.
Northern Pintails. She tried to escape.
Northern Pintails. She did escape from him.
25 Saturday Mar 2017
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
In the fall, Snow Geese migrate some 3,000 miles (4,800 km) from the northernmost reaches of Canada to as far South as Mexico. In the Spring they do it in reverse, and so we get to see them twice a year, in flocks of a few hundreds to as many as hundreds of thousands of them. In the latter case, they cover the ground like snow, and the sight of them lifting up to fly is a wonder of nature.
Snow Geese arriving in New Jersey in late February, flying high, hundreds or thousands at a time.
Snow Geese resting on a frozen reservoir. Note the Bald Eagle on lower left.
As the Bald Eagle began to fly toward them, the Snow Geese lifted up.
Snow Geese up in the air by the tens of thousands. Their flight and number confused the Bald Eagle, who gave up without catching and killing any Snow Goose, at least while I was watching.
The above photos were taken at Merrill Creek Reservoir on a bright sunny day three years ago. The following photos are more recent close ups of Snow Geese in flight. They were taken at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge on an overcast day.
Snow Geese in flight. The one on the right was a juvenile. It seemed to be saying: “Not so fast you guys, wait for me!”
Snow Geese.
Snow Geese.
Snow Geese.
Snow Geese.
Snow Geese.
23 Thursday Mar 2017
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
A picture is worth a thousand words. The following is one of thousands of Snow Geese at the Edwin B Forsythe Wildlife Refuge this past Sunday.
Snow Goose
12 Sunday Mar 2017
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
It has been below freezing for the past several days with up to a foot (30 cm) of snow to fall two days from now. I have not been outside, except to go see a performance of Verdi’s La Traviata, a live broadcast from the New York Metropolitan Opera at a local movie theater. The singing was outstanding, but the stage set was minimalist and truly disappointing.
In any case, I went back to some old photos taken about a year ago and found the following with pairs of flying birds as the common subject.
Snow Geese at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey.
Canada Geese at Conowingo Dam in Maryland.
Bald Eagles at Conowingo Dam.
05 Sunday Mar 2017
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
When I left the house this morning to go to the recently reopened Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, it was 17 °F (-8 °C), perhaps too cold for the birds to show up. Sure enough there were not many, and most of them were seagulls that live there throughout the year.
However, just as I was about to leave the refuge, I saw a Great Blue Heron catching a fish for lunch.
Great Blue Heron seeing a fish in the water.
A quick stab.
Great Blue Heron came up with a good-sized fish that it had pierced.
It turned toward me as if to show its catch.
A slightly different angle.
It began eating the fish, much faster than you can imagine.
Swallowing the fish, less than a minute after it had caught it.
Down the neck it went.
A final shake and swallow.
Ready for the next one.
All of the above, and some other intervening action, mostly shaking and turning (not displayed here), took less than a minute.
08 Sunday Jan 2017
Posted in barnegat, EBF Refuge, Photography
Tags
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.
Barnegat Lighthouse on January 1st, 2017.
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.
Common Loon, a large waterbird in its non-breeding colors.
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.
A pair of Mallards. They don’t dive and just dabble for food near the surface of the water.
02 Tuesday Aug 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
In January of 2015, I spent half an hour watching the sun set over the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, taking a photo every minute. The colors kept getting more vivid and the clouds more intricate. The scene became most intense in the last few minutes, after the sun had plunged below the horizon.
Sunset over Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
21 Thursday Apr 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
In a band of about several dozens of Snowy Egrets mixed with Great Egrets, some were showing beautiful frilly feathers under the morning sun. At first I thought perhaps the wind was messing up their feathers, but if so, many if not all of them would have displayed those frilly plumes. Or was it breeding hormones acting up on some and not on others? Or were they trying to attract potential mates? I will let you decide.
Snowy Egrets, with the one in the middle especially frilly.
Snowy Egret parading on a natural fashion runway?
Snowy Egret.
20 Wednesday Apr 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Tags
Bomaby Hook National Wildlife Refuge, canada geese, common tern, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great egret, photography, postaday, snowy egret
Northern Shovelers at Edwin B Sorsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
Canada Geese at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.
Common Tern at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
Snowy Egrets at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
Great Egret at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
18 Monday Apr 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Yesterday, near the beginning of Wildlife Drive at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, I saw Canada Geese and Snowy Egrets sharing a small area of the pond. I stopped for a few minutes to take pictures of the egrets.
Suddenly a cacophony of honking and water splashing rose up. I turned my camera in the geese direction and shot the following photos. What happened was that a gander was trying to invade the turf of another who had a female goose by his side. If you don’t like violence, don’t look at the following shots.
Male Canada Goose charging his rival!
Two ganders fighting while female looked on.
Male defender bent his neck backward to stab his attacker.
At this point attacker retreated.
Hard bumping!
Turning around to chase attacker.
Go away, you @#%!*!
Shoo!
Go away! Go!
When calm returned, he escorted her out of the area.
Honey, you come with me now, you hear?
Meanwhile the other gander put up some face-saving moves.
Showing off his pecs: I’ll get her next time!
Then he had to cool off his hot face.
Dipping his face to cool off.
What do you know? I almost got her, almost!
16 Saturday Apr 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Snowy Egrets are probably among the best egrets at catching fish. Here’s a series of photos I took at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge last week when there were many of them, together with Great Egrets, flying around and fishing.
Snowy Egret landing.
Snowy Egret jabbing at water.
Caught one!
Great Egret landing.
The Great Egrets were not so successful at finding fish. At least I did not see any of them catching anything while the Snowy Egrets were plucking fish now and then out of the same pond.
27 Sunday Mar 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Ospreys have been back at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge for at least two weeks already. Yesterday, I saw four nests that had been built up by them with twigs and branches. At one of them, the male Osprey was eating a fish on a perch not far from the nest where the female was incubating. By the time I got set up with my camera and tripod, he had finished eating the head and took the rest of the fish to her.
Male Osprey taking fish to female.
Male Osprey bringing fish to female in nest.
Female Osprey: “I’m going to eat this nice fish. Meanwhile you keep an eye on my eggs, won’t you?”
Female Osprey flying away with fish.
She made a wide loop, perhaps making sure that the guy with the camera was harmless enough.
She circled back to the same perch he used and started eating.
After a bite, she stopped to check on her mate:”Dear, are you watching those eggs?”
“Sure thing, honey!”
06 Sunday Mar 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Buffleheads fossils have been found going back as far as half a million to two million years ago, so they have been around a long time. They are ducks that are somewhat smaller than Hooded Mergansers, but they have a large head. Male heads are mostly white, making them visible at a distance.
A month ago, when I saw them, the sky was cloudy and lighting was below average at best. There was some commotion in one of the ponds at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. A male Bufflehead was mating with a female and was holding her under water for a few seconds at least. She finally came up for air.
Female Bufflehead getting out from under a male Bufflehead.
Female Bufflehead kicked the water to escape from the male.
Here are two shots of perhaps the same pair, taken two weeks later in the same pond. The weather had not changed: cloudy, no sun to speak of.
Male Bufflehead.
Female Bufflehead.
15 Monday Feb 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
What do you do when hundreds of Snow Geese descend from the sky and started landing around you? This happened to me at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge two weeks ago.
Snow Geese falling out of the sky.
I initially tried to capture everyone of them in one photo! But I quickly gave up that attempt and concentrated on two of them. Here are the results, with all the following photos taken in less than 2 seconds.
Two Snow Geese landing, photo 1.
Two Snow Geese landing, photo 2.
Two Snow Geese landing, photo 3.
Two Snow Geese landing, photo 4.
Two Snow Geese landing, photo 5.
09 Tuesday Feb 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Tags
Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, hooded merganser, northern pintail, photography, postaday
He was standing on a bank of the marshes, his back turned to me, his face to the water. I stopped to take his picture, and as I aimed my camera at him, he turned around, a severe look on his face.
Great Blue Heron: “You there, keep quiet. Don’t scare the fishes!”
So I drove on. The tide was falling, and water from the marshes was pouring out toward the ocean. At one of the outlets, I found a Hooded Merganser swimming by himself, coming very close to where I was, as if he had not noticed me. This was the closest I had ever been to these usually shy ducks.
Male Hooded Merganser.
Male Hooded Merganser.
Male Hooded Merganser, from the back.
Male Hooded Merganser stretching.
Male Hooded Merganser.
There were female Hooded Mergansers in the vicinity, but they were paired with other males. None paid any attention to our handsome bachelor!
I moved on to another pond and saw a pair of Northern Pintails busy in their favorite pursuit: dabbling in shallow water to find plants and crustaceans to eat.
Northern Pintails, male on left, female on right.
After a while, they paused and struck a classic pose, with water still dripping from the male’s bill.
Northern Pintails.
22 Friday Jan 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Before the coming monster snowstorm descends on us tonight, I am posting photos of Hooded Mergansers taken last week. There were quite a few of them searching for food and socializing among themselves. They were real dandies, at least among ducks.
Hooded Merganser: “I have the biggest hood!”
Hooded Merganser: “Leave me alone. I need some shut eye.”
Hooded Merganser: “Follow me, let’s go see the ladies!”
Hooded Merganser: “She’s only pretending to be asleep.”
Male Hooded Merganser with two females.
Hooded Merganser: “Oh no, not another bad hair day!”
21 Thursday Jan 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
I saw a small group of American Coots at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in mid December last year. They mingled with Mallards, but they are not ducks since their feet are not webbed. They are also called mud hens and are closely related to Moorhens or Common Gallinules.
American Coots at EBFG National Wildlife Refuge.
American Coots are mainly dark, almost black, with a white face and red eyes, with a patch of red on their forehead. They mainly eat plants. Since they are not an endangered species, they may be hunted but not as much as ducks since hunters disdain their meat!
American Coot at EBF National Wildlife Refuge.
American Coot at EBF National Wildlife Refuge.
19 Tuesday Jan 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
This past Sunday, some Snow Geese found a good place for food on the banks of the salt marshes at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
Snow Geese at EBF National Wildlife Refuge.
As I watched them, every minute or so more Snow Geese kept flying in. I only had to point my camera up to the sky to catch them landing at their new feeding spot.
Snow Geese coming in for a landing.
They made big splashes but that hardly bothered those who were busy eating.
Snow Goose landing on water.
10 Sunday Jan 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Yesterday was cloudy all day, but I went out anyway to the Edwin B Fortsythe National Wildlife Refuge near Brigantine, NJ to see what I could photograph. It turned out to be not much. Most of the photos turned out mediocre at best and had to be discarded. However, it was high tide and at two of the locations where sea water came into to the marshes I found Hooded Mergansers and Buffleheads merrily diving for food.
Buffleheads are small ducks, even smaller than Hooded Mergansers. They kept their distances, and I could only get one good shot at a pair.
Buffleheads, female on left, male on right. The male had a glossy green forehead, which would have been more colorful in better lighting.
The Hooded Mergansers were bolder, coming within 30 ft, seemingly undisturbed by the guy with a white car and a black camera.
Male Hooded Merganser. He had been diving so his crest or hood was tamped down.
There were several female Hooded Mergansers who looked quite coquettish even as they dived and resurfaced constantly.
Female Hooded Mergansers.
Female Hooded Merganser.
01 Friday Jan 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Cormorants: “She can swim, but I bet you she can’t fly that well.”
Cormorant: “You talking about me?”
Cormorants: “I told you, she’s just going to stand there.”
Cormorant: “Ha, ha… What are you saying now?”
18 Friday Dec 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Three days ago, Hooded Mergansers were still in abundance at Vogt Pool South, a freshwater pool at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. They swam and dove looking for food, ignoring the very strong wind that at times pushed my camera and its long lens sideways. I had to take most of the following shots from well inside the car.
A pair of Hooded Mergansers swimming together.
Waterfowl Kabuki: The lonely Hooded Merganser on the right protested his isolation.
Meanwhile, the wind caused another bad hair day for these ducks, again.
Hooded Mergansers with wind teasing their crests.
Bad hair: it got worse.
It got so bad that one female Hooded Merganser had to hide her head in the water.
17 Thursday Dec 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Tags
Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, greater snow goose, Nunavut, photography, postaday, snow goose
I reported my sighting of the Snow Goose with a collar, UP62, (see previous post https://neihtn.wordpress.com/2015/12/13/snow-goose-collar/) at the following link:
https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/bblretrv/
Yesterday, Dr. Gilles Gauthier, the bander of the Snow Goose, sent me a Certificate of Appreciation.
Certificate of Appreciation.
So UP62, a Greater Snow Goose, was hatched in 2014 in Nunavut, a vast expanse as large as Greenland at the northernmost part of Canada.
UP62: Yes!
15 Tuesday Dec 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
The record warm weather here has probably confused the Snow Geese which usually come down from the Artic tundras to winter in the Midlantic region. For two weeks in a row I have seen large flocks of them fly North. When winter finally gets here, will they again fly South?
In the meantime, it was a great opportunity for me to photograph them at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
One Snow Goose flying North.
Two Snow Geese flying North.
Three Snow Geese flying North.
Five Snow Geese flying North.
13 Sunday Dec 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Yesterday I saw a Snow Goose wearing a yellow neck collar with two letters and two numbers: UP and 62. Neck collars have been used to study the life and migration of these geese. A yellow collar means that it is a female. The letters and numbers probably mean something also, but only the researchers would know that.
Snow Geese couple at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge on 13-Dec-2015.
Right on cue, the female turned in my direction to allow me a better look at the collar.
UP62 clearly visible on collar.
Collar seen from the other side.
Suddenly, the male Snow Goose signaled they should take off.
Let’s fly!
UP 62 followed her mate.
Last photo before the pair became airborne.
10 Thursday Dec 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Hooded Mergansers are good-looking ducks with their crest, or hood, which is black and white for males and cinnamon for females. They are not as rare as Harlequin ducks, and I see them every year around this time of the year around many ponds and marshes in our area.
Last week there were several swimming around the Danzenbaker Pool at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
Hooded Mergansers, two males and one female.
Same trio of Hooded Mergansers.
Further East of the pool, a couple of these ducks had just emerged from a dive, their crest feathers matted down, making them look well coiffed..
Hooded Mergansers after diving.
However, as they turned, the strong wind gave them a bad crest, or bad hair, day.
Hooded Mergansers having a bad hair day.
06 Sunday Dec 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Ring-billed Seagulls are very common in our area, and probably in most other coastal areas as well. They are very friendly and their flight is graceful. I couldn’t help taking their pictures when they put on a display last week at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge around a spot where seawater pours into the marshes at high tide. All kinds of birds congregate at that spot to catch fish, clams, and other foodstuff that the ocean provides at least twice daily.
Juvenile Ring-billed Seagull.
Ring-billed Seagull.
Ring-billed Seagull.
Ring-billed Seagull.
27 Thursday Aug 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Eight weeks ago at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, the Osprey chicks were still small.
Osprey mother feeding chicks.
This past Monday, all three chicks have grown up. They appeared to be waiting for their parents who were out looking for fish.
Young Ospreys.
It was a hot day with lots of mosquitoes and flies attacking me constantly, so I didn’t stick around to wait for the parents to come back to their nest.
25 Tuesday Aug 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge
Tags
butterfly, edwin b forstythe national wildlife refuge, monarch, painted lady, photography, postaday, swallowtail
Milkweed was in bloom around the Visitor Center at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, and butterflies continually fluttered among its flowers and plants. Here are some photos of the three different kinds I saw yesterday.
Painted Lady
Swallowtail
Swallowtail
Monarch with hole in wing
I’ve read that it is quite possible to repair butterfly wings, either by gluing on parts of real broken wings or cellophane! There are even videos showing how to do it.
17 Monday Aug 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Last June, this Willet was standing in the marshes at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge and answering wake-up calls from its siblings, its eyes half closed.
Willet: What? Is it Monday again? Blah…
01 Saturday Aug 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge
Tags
daily post, edwin b forstythe national wildlife refuge, house finch, lotus, marsh mallow, nuthatch, photography, weekly photo challenge
These are my submissions for this challenge: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/inspiration/
The sources of my inspiration of course vary with the season and the location, but over time they tend to be mostly birds and flowers.
I took the following shot last month at my favorite location, the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. It was raining so I took the picture through the open car window and the rain.
Rainbow over the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
Nuthatch, the Cyrano bird
White Lotus
Marsh Mallow
29 Wednesday Jul 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
I took this picture two months ago. It shows a group of Forster’s Terns on a tiny island in the marshes at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
Tern Island
07 Tuesday Jul 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Yesterday I made a quick drive through the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge to check on the Ospreys. It was hot and thousand of sand flies, mosquitoes, and all sorts of insects conducted a relentless assault on our car. The sun was high, and so the light was not at its best, but I was able to get the following photos. The nest had three or four Osprey chicks which have grown considerably from about a month ago (see Osprey Chicks). Three chicks are readily recognizable, and the fourth one may be a small bird next to the one on the right, but I can’t tell for sure.
Osprey father, mother, and three or four chicks.
Osprey mother feeding chicks.
