Northern Harrier

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, northern harrier, postaday

I took photos of a female Northern Harrier a year ago, and posted some of them last January. Today, while looking through the archive, I found another photo that outshines those. As you can see below, an eye of this raptor is clearly visible on its owlish face.

Female Northern Harrier.

Two Raptors

Tags

bald eagle, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, peregrine falcon, postaday

I arrived in the early morning at the refuge and saw a dramatic display of clouds over the marshes.

Early morning at the refuge, looking in the direction of Atlantic City.

In winter it is quite common to see juvenile raptors at the refuge. Last week I saw two kinds and got the following shots.

Juvenile Peregrine Falcon.

Juvenile Bald Eagle eating a fish.

Juvenile Bald Eagle perched on an Osprey nest.

Diving Bufflehead

Tags

bufflehead, canada goose, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, postaday

Yesterday at the refuge several Buffleheads were diving for food. If they catch anything, they eat that while still underwater, so I won’t be bragging about any photo of a Bufflehead with food in its bill. However, their dive can be quite dramatic.

Bufflehead diving.

Bufflehead diving.

Bufflehead diving.

Buffleheads are very small ducks, as you can see in the following shot.

Buffleheads and Canada Geese.

Geese, Junco, Cardinal

Tags

canada geese, dark-eyed junco, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, northern cardinal, postaday, snow geese

The weather has not been too nice lately. I went out to Barnegat Lighthouse, but it was very windy and cold, and there were no birds other than seagulls flying around. So I dug into my archives and came up with the following shots taken at the beginning of 2022.

Canada Geese.

Snow Geese.

Snow Geese.

I took these last two photos from our deck during and after a snowstorm.

Dark-eyed Junco.

Northern Cardinal.

Swans, Great Egret, Red Fox, Goldfinch

Tags

canada goose, goldfinch, great egret, mallard, mute swan, postaday, red fox, Tundra Swan

Mute Swans live year round at the refuge, but in the fall and winter Tundra Swans stop by on their way to warmer spots in the Mid Atlantic region.

Two weeks ago, I saw one immature Mute Swan, with a bill that was not fully orange yet.

Immature Mute Swan.

Not far from it there was a Tundra Swan swimming with a Canada Goose.

Tundra Swan and Canada Goose.

At another part of the refuge, three adult Mute Swans could be seen preening.

Three Mute Swans.

Three Mute Swans.

Not to be outdone, a Great Egret was also showing its preening skills.

Great Egret.

Closer to home, in our backyard, a Red Fox was sitting comfortably at the edge of the woods, watching us from a safe distance.

Red Fox.

Much closer than the Red Fox, a Goldfinch in its winter colors was visiting the birdfeeder.

Goldfinch.

Buffleheads

Tags

bufflehead, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, postaday

Buffleheads are the smallest ducks in North America. They have more often than not proved to be difficult for me to photograph. When they are close enough, lighting would not be coming from the right direction for a photo to show their eyes and faces. Buffleheads are also very shy and will fly away if one comes too close or makes any kind of noise.

A few weeks ago, I was lucky to see a group of Buffleheads at the refuge busy swimming around and diving for food. Somehow, they paid scant attention to me! So here are a few shots of them that day, taken from a good distance away.

Male Bufflehead.

Male Bufflehead chasing female Bufflehead.

Male and female Buffleheads.

Male Bufflehead.

Female Bufflehead.

Male Bufflehead.

Great Egret, Cormorant

Tags

cormorant, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great egret, postaday

Yesterday I went to the refuge to photograph some of the last birds that are still there before the onset of winter. I spotted a Great Egret that was looking for fish by a stream next to Wildlife Drive.

Great Egret fishing.

Suddenly I saw a Cormorant (I previously misidentified it as a Common Loon) emerge from the water with a fish in its bill.

Cormorant with fish.

Cormorant with struggling fish.

Cormorant with fish.

Cormorant with fish.

The Cormorant dove into the water with the fish. A couple of minutes later, it reemerged at another part of the stream, looking happy after having ingested its meal.

Vertical and Delivered

Tags

downy woodpecker, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, house finch, osprey, postaday, white-breasted nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatches are again coming to our birdfeeder, feeding themselves at their preferred angle, i.e. vertically and upside down. Sometimes I wonder how they manage to swallow those sunflower kernels, but they do.

Most birds eat like the female Downy Woodpecker and House Finch shown below.

Female Downy Woodpecker and House Finch at birdfeeder.

White-Breasted Nuthatch going toward the sunflower seeds.

White-Breasted Nuthatch got a sunflower seed.

White-Breasted Nuthatch: “It’s easy, just like this!”

White-Breasted Nuthatch on top of birdfeeder.

Other birds have their breakfast delivered.

Osprey male fly in fish to female Osprey.

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, mute swan, postaday, sandpiper

Mute Swans, Sandpiper.

Monday Monochrome

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, mute swan, postaday

Mute Swan.

(Not So) Silent Sunday

Tags

canada goose, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, house finch, postaday, red-winged blackbird, terrapin, white campion

Ten-Hut!

Male Red-winged Blackbird.

Female Red-winged Blackbird.

Terrapins.

White Campions.

White Campion.

Male House Finch.

Female House Finch.

Osprey Breakfast

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, osprey, postaday

Following are images of an Osprey couple sharing a fish around 8:24 AM yesterday. I saw the male Osprey fly in with a fish, but by the time I was ready to take pictures, he was already standing on a side of the nest where the female was incubating.

Male Osprey with fish, female incubating in nest.

Usually, he would have eaten the head of the fish, leaving the rest to her.

Male Osprey bringing fish breakfast to female.

Note headless fish in male’s talon.

She started eating. As usual, female Osprey was larger than the male.

She decided to take the fish with her to eat somewhere else.

After a brief flight, she landed not far from nest, scattering nearby birds.

Male Osprey took over incubating duties.

Weekend Variety

Tags

bald eagle, Black-crowned Night Heron, canada goose, Forster's Tern, great egret, postaday, purple martin, snowy egret, white ibis, yellow-crowned night heron

I have been saving photos of birds over the past several weeks, waiting for an opportunity to post them. Here are most of them, in no particular order.

Black-crowned Night Heron in deep sleep.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron slowly waking up.

Bald Eagle shielding Eaglet from a strong wind. Ten days ago there were two Eaglets in the nest, but only one is visible now.

Canada Geese goose-stepping practice.

Great Egret landing.

White Ibis landing with twigs to build its nest.

Forster’s Tern looking for fish.

Purple Martin.

Snowy Egret.

A New Gull, and the Usual Birds

Tags

canada goose, glossy ibis, great blue heron, hatchling, lesser yellow legs, postaday, red-winged blackbird, willet

The Black-headed Gull comes from Europe and, about fifty years ago, has begun appearing in North America in small numbers. I saw a group of about a dozen of them on Wildlife Drive for the first time last week. They did not seem too shy, like most gulls, and I was able to come close to them.

Black-headed Gull.

Other birds that I photographed are well known to most of us.

Male Red-winged Blackbird.

Female Red-winged Blackbird.

Great Blue Heron with a shrimp appetizer.

Lesser Yellow Legs.

Willet contemplating take off.

Glossy Ibis.

Canada Goose hatchling.

Bald Eagle Nest

Tags

bald eagle, eaglet, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, postaday

Last week, I went to the site of a Bald Eagle nest at the refuge. It was high on a pine tree, but a Bald Eagle mother and Eaglets were visible from the road.

Bald Eagle nest.

There were two Eaglets, but only one was visible in this photo. It was asking when lunch would be ready.

“We have to wait for Daddy to come back from fishing,” said the Bald Eagle mother.

Monochrome Monday +

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, postaday, snowy egret

Three Snowy Egrets.

Three Snowy Egrets.

Cormorant

Tags

cormorant, double-crested cormorant, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, postaday

This time of the year, birds are very busy building their nests. A male Cormorant at the refuge emerged from the water with a stick.

Cormorant just found a stick in the water.

Cormorant getting ready to take stick back to the nest.

Cormorant taking off.

Cormorant flying back to nest.

In nest building, the male Cormorant only gathers building materials. The female Cormorant is the one that arranges such materials into a nest.

Purple Martins

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, postaday, purple martin

The EBF refuge’s Visitor Center puts up Purple Martin houses every spring. Those birds take them over and create a busy intersection as they fly into and out of their chosen condo. A photographer only has to stand below and aim a camera up to photograph the birds. However, they fly very fast and one has to be quick on the shutter!

Purple Martins in front of their condos.

Male Purple Martin checking out humans.

Male and female Purple Martins having a conversation.

Female and male Purple Martins in front of their condo.

Late Spring

Tags

eastern mud turtle, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, mourning dove, osprey, postaday

Late Spring sounds like the name of a movie by Yasujirō Ozu, but it is very real for us this year. Almost a month after it was supposed to start, this year’s spring has been dragged kicking and screaming to make its entry, and it exacted extensive revenge on all sorts of plants and flowers. Our magnolia trees which normally bloom with thousands of vibrant flowers have had most of their buds killed by frost. I can count less than a dozen yellow flowers on our Butterfly Magnolia. It usually has several hundreds in April.

Butterfly Magnolia flower. The other flower in the background was killed by a late frost.

And here’s a view taken last week of the refuge.

Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, April 2022.

The Ospreys have arrived and became occupants of six platform nests along Wildlife Drive. Yesterday, I saw a male Osprey dining on the head of a fish.

Male Osprey eating head of a fish.

Meanwhile his mate seemed to be still sleeping.

Female Osprey in platform nest.

Further down the road, the Osprey couple that lost a fish to another Osprey a few days ago were waking up. He, on the right, did not appear to be in any hurry to go catch a fish.

Osprey couple on nest.

Rather than wait for them, I drove on to go see the night herons in Ocean City. On the way out, a very small turtle crossed my path.

Eastern Mud Turtle.

Finally a beautiful dove was standing by the side of the road.

Mourning Dove.

Mourning Dove.

Ospreys, Fish Crow

Tags

Fish Crow, osprey, postaday

As I arrived at my favorite Osprey nest site, I saw and heard the female Osprey whistling. Usually, a female Osprey whistles to clamor for food when she sees her mate come back with a fish that he has caught. Then as he lands somewhere within sight of the nest, he proceeds to eat the head of the fish and only brings what remains to her.

Female Osprey calling out loudly.

This time, the female was whistling loudly, almost belligerently. Then I saw not one but two male Ospreys fighting.

Male Ospreys fighting.

Male Osprey chasing away intruder.

Unfortunately, the one that fled had a fish in its talons. In the following photo, the fish is missing its head which was very likely eaten by the other male Osprey.

Osprey flying away with fish without head.

The Osprey that had its fish stolen flew after the thief. After a while I could not see either of them any longer. Meanwhile, at the nest, the female Osprey was facing a Fish Crow which came by to see whether it could steal anything from the nest.

Fish Crow approaching Osprey nest.

Fish Crow landing on nest.

Fish Crow flying away.

Fish Crow perched on nearby tree branch, waiting for an opportunity.

Female Osprey waiting for mate to return.

I also waited for the male Osprey to fly back to the nest with a new catch. But I had to leave after almost half an hour of waiting without seeing him. The female Osprey did not whistle once during that time.

Silent Sunday

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, mute swan, postaday

Mute Swan.

Mute Swans.

Mute Swans.

Mute Swans.

Red-breasted Merganser

Tags

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.

Female Red-breasted Merganser looking for fish.

Female Red-breasted Merganser and no fish.

Female Red-breasted Merganser with fish.

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.

Female Red-breasted Merganser.

Two males and one female Red-breasted Mergansers.

Female Red-breasted Merganser.

Winter Ducks

Tags

bufflehead, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, hooded merganser, Northern Shoveler, postaday

Winter would be very dull at the refuge if there were no duck. When most other birds and egrets have migrated, the ducks arrive and entertain us. Following are some images of them that I took yesterday. Duck hunting season will end in three days but I did not see or heard any hunter.

Male Hooded Merganser.

Female Hooded Merganser.

Male Bufflehead.

Northern Shovelers.

Northern Shovelers.

Sky and Ice

Tags

cirrus clouds, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, ice, mallard, mute swan, postaday, Tundra Swan

More photos of the beautiful blue sky from a few days ago.

High cirrus clouds.

Deep blue against white clouds.

Tundra Swan and Mallards.

Mute Swans.

In the above photo you can see the ice begin to form on the surface of the marsh. Down below is a closer look at the ice.

Ice in monochrome.

Sun and Wind

Tags

american robin, canada geese, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, northern harrier, northern pintail, Northern Shoveler, postaday, snow geese

It was a beautiful and cold three days ago at the refuge. After hiding for most of the week, the sun was out. The wind was blowing fairly strongly and lifted the clouds toward the heavens.

Cirrus clouds and a Canada Goose.

As I drove on Wildlife Drive, a Northern Harrier pair was hunting for food, such as voles and mice, among the low vegetation along the marshes. They cut in front of my car, disappeared in the grasses at times. I tried to follow them and only managed to get an occasional shot.

Female Northern Harrier hunting.

Male Northern Harrier hunting.

Meanwhile, ducks and geese took off in dramatic formations against the blue sky.

Northern Pintails landing.

Canada Geese taking off.

Snow Geese taking off.

Snow Geese taking off.

Snow Goose taking off: “Wait for me!”

American Robin foraging for worms on the ground.

Female Northern Shoveler preening.

2021 Images in Review – Part 4

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, egret, Fish Crow, great blue heron, great egret, postaday, red-winged blackbird, yellow-rumped warbler

I have looked many times at the following image of a Red-winged Blackbird chasing a much bigger Fish Crow away from the vicinity of its nest. It was actually chasing two Fish Crows, but only one was caught by the camera. Gumption and tenacity are words that apply well to the Red-winged Blackbird.

Red-winged Blackbird chasing Fish Crow.

This year, one big bird was everywhere around the refuge. I shot many pictures and even have one post dedicated to it, Great Blue Heron. However, the following monochrome shot was liked by many.

Great Blue Heron.

In November, I saw Yellow-rumped Warblers for the first time. They were eating Juniper berries and did not fly away allowing me to take many shots. Here are two more unpublished until today.

Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Hundreds of egrets stay at the refuge almost year round from the end of February until December. They spend their time fishing, and sometimes fighting each other, jumping up like ballet dancers.

Great Egret with a great catch.

Great Egrets fighting.

With so many egrets and other birds , I sometimes wondered whether there ever is enough fish for them. One day a few weeks ago, I looked down into a shallow part of the refuge and saw thousands and thousands of fish swimming around, with not a bird in sight.

Young fish swimming in shallow water.

This concludes this 2021 Images in Review series. I wish all of you a Great and Happy New Year in 2022!

2021 Images in Review- Part 3

Tags

Big Eyes Butterfly., Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, monarch butterfly, postaday, sayen Gardens, snowy egret, sunflower, wildlife drive

I planted small sunflower plants this year. The deer left them alone since they had so much else to eat. The one below adorned a side of our driveway.

Sunflower.

In the spring and early summer Sayen Gardens was the ideal place for photographing flowers. One day, their pond looked milky white (I don’t know why) and the few plants showing through the water got an unusual and striking background. The following shot is in monochrome.

Conifer in pond at Sayen Gardens.

My year-round favorite place is the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. In these days of coronavirus, it is the perfect place to find fresh air and solitude. Audubon groups of birdwatchers with their binoculars came there almost every day, but they tended to congregate at places near the entrance to the refuge. I prefer to drive on the 8-mile long Wildlife Drive.

Some of Edwin B. Forsythe NWR marshes as seen from Wildlife Drive.

In the summer familiar, and sometimes unusual, butterflies abound along Wildlife Drive.

Monarch butterfly with damaged wing.

Big Eyes, a butterfly I had never seen before.

Egrets were in abundance at the refuge and provided many photo opportunities.

Snowy Egret.

Snowy Egret in monochrome.

Saturday Miscellaneous

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, great egret, green-winged teal, Northern Shoveler, postaday, ruddy duck

I shot the following photos over the past several weeks. The birds and ducks shown are some of the usual visitors to the refuge during fall and winter.

Great Blue Heron waking up.

Green-winged Teal.

Ruddy Duck.

Northern Shovelers.

Female Northern Shoveler.

Ring-billed Gull.

Great Egret caught a fish.

Peregrine Falcon

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Peregine Falcon., postaday

Peregrine Falcons stay year-round along the ocean in New Jersey. I see them occasionally but usually they fly too fast for a good photo. In the fall they make a habit of perching themselves on nests that Ospreys abandon when they migrate to warmer climates. Two days ago I saw a Peregrine Falcon on Wildlife Drive at the refuge, surrounded by several cars like mine.

Peregine Falcon.

Like a fashion model, it knew how to pose and obligingly turned its head for another shot.

Peregine Falcon.

Finally too many cars had stopped, and it flew to another Osprey nest on the other side of the road and turned its back on all the humans.

Peregine Falcon.

Then it flew away very fast.

Peregine Falcon.

Great Blue Heron

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, postaday

Yesterday the refuge was mostly deserted. Only a few white egrets remained, the rest having migrated just before the cold arrived. However, there were many ducks which come and stay during the colder months, and Great Blue Herons which do not migrate. I found several of them as soon as I arrived and, when the light was right, got the following shots.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Herons. The heron in the foreground was about to take off.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron.

Tundra Swans, Ring-necked Ducks, and a Plane

Tags

postaday, ring-necked duck, Tundra Swan, ups

Last week, a flock of some twenty Tundra Swans could be heard whistling noisily as they fed on one of the refuge marshes. I did not see them until the last part of Wildlife Drive. They were swimming around near a similar number of Ring-necked Ducks. This was the first time I saw and recognized these ducks.

Tundra Swans.

Ring-necked Ducks.

Tundra Swans.

Tundra Swan.

High in the sky a UPS plane was heading toward Newark airport, probably bringing in all those Christmas gifts.

UPS plane.

Silent Sunday

Tags

bufflehead, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, postaday

Bufflehead turning.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, juniper berry, postaday, yellow-rumped warbler

Yesterday, driving along Wildlife Drive I saw several birds jumping in and out of a juniper tree on one side of the road. I stopped and took photos of Yellow-rumped Warblers, birds which are quite abundant in the fall as they eat the plentiful berries on the juniper. These birds normally eat insects but in the fall they love the juniper berries which are too bitter for human consumption.

Young Yellow-rumped Warbler eating juniper berries.

Yellow-rumped Warbler with a juniper berry.

Reaching up.

Make no mistake about it, it’s a yellow-rumped warbler.

Yellow-rumped Warbler.

I think they were female warblers. Some took time to look at the photographer.

“Make sure you tell them how pretty I am!”

Female Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, even if you are not in the US.

Monochrome Monday

Tags

lesser yellow legs, postaday

Migrating Lesser Yellowlegs.

Monochrome Monday

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great egret, postaday

A flying Great Egret seems to be a good subject for Monochrome Monday.

Great Egret.

Great Egret.

Great Egret.

Great Egret.

Great Egret.

Silent Sunday

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great egret, postaday

Great Egrets.

Great Egrets.

Great Egrets.

Taking Off

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great egret, postaday

A Great Egret was taking off at the refuge.

Silent Sunday

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, mute swan, postaday, ring-billed gull

A corner of Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

Mute Swan.

Great Blue Heron.

Ring-billed Gull.

Bald Eagle

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, postaday

This morning a Bald Eagle perched on an abandoned Osprey nest was surveying the marshes.

Bald Eagle on Osprey nest.

It looked directly at me as I got out of the car to take its picture.

Bald Eagle looking directly at photographer.

I took a few shots and turned away. At that instant it flew up in the air and I missed most of the flight shots, except for the following.

Bald Eagle preparing to dive.

It tried to catch something, but missed it.

It flew up.

Bald Eagle banking.

Bald Eagle flying away.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, lesser yellowlegs, postaday

The other day, when I arrived at the refuge a flock of several hundred birds flew up into the sky as if they were starting to migrate. They did not look like Canada Geese, and could have been Lesser Yellowlegs starting their migration to warmer places. Please let me know if you can identify them as another kind of bird.

Migrating Lesser Yellowlegs.

Migrating Lesser Yellowlegs.

A closer look at migrating Lesser Yellowlegs.