Sunday Images

Tags

barnegat lighthouse state park, northern pintail, postaday, Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Following are some photos of Yellow-rumped Warblers and a couple of Northern Pintails I took on different days about two weeks ago Near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Northern Pintails, male in foreground.

Domineering and Stealing

Tags

barnegat lighthouse state park, great black-backed gull, herring gull, postaday

The 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.

Great Black-backed Gull in background, Herring Gull in front.

The Herring Gull protested to no avail.

The Great Black-backed Gull proceeded to consume the juicy piece of food (fish, shrimp, or crab) as the Herring Gull protested.

“Gobble, gobble …” – “Hey, it’s mine!”

“Done, bye!”

The thief then flew away, unconcerned, happy.

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.

Long-tailed Ducks

Tags

barnegat lighthouse, barnegat lighthouse state park, long-tailed duck, postaday

Last 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.

Long-tailed Ducks: two males with long tails, and three females.

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.

Long-tailed Ducks, with splashes showing those that have already dived into the ocean.

Long-tailed Ducks landing.

Long-tailed Ducks.

Two female Long-tailed Ducks.

Long-tailed Ducks, female on left, male on right.

Bird Eye Candies

Tags

barnegat lighthouse state park, house finch, northern cardinal, postaday, red-bellied woodpecker, ring-billed gull, rock pigeon

Some eye candies for this week-end. Enjoy!

House Finch.

Male Northern Cardinal.

House Finch.

Female Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Rock Pigeons.

Juvenile Ring-billed Gull.

Silent Sunday

Tags

barnegat lighthouse state park, harlequin duck, photography, postaday

Male Harlequin Duck.

Harlequin Ducks.

Non-breeding Male Harlequin Duck.

Harlequin Ducks.

Sanderlings and Cat

Tags

barnegat lighthouse state park, cat, photography, postaday, sanderlings, tabby cat

A few days ago, a flock of Sanderlings appeared to be still sleeping around 9 AM on several boulders near Barnegat Ligthouse.

Sanderlings.

Sanderlings.

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.

Tabby Cat near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Long-tailed Ducks

Tags

barnegat lighthouse, barnegat lighthouse state park, long-tailed duck, photography, postaday

Long-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.

Male Long-tailed Duck near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Female Long-tailed Duck near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Female and male Long-tailed Ducks near Barnegat Lighthouse.

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.

Male Long-tailed Duck flying and calling near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Male Long-tailed Duck flying and calling near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Male Long-tailed Duck flying and calling near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Male Long-tailed Duck flying and calling near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Brants

Tags

barnegat lighthouse, barnegat lighthouse state park, photography, postaday

A 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.

Atlantic Brant.

Atlantic Brants near Barnegat Lighthouse.

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.

Atlantic Brant near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Atlantic Brants near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Atlantic Brants near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Atlantic Brants landing on water near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Silent Sunday: Long-tailed Ducks et al.

Tags

barnegat lighthouse state park, brant, canada geese, colonial lake, great black-backed gull, long-tailed duck, photography, postaday, ring-billed gull

Male Long-tailed Duck.

Male Long-tailed Duck.

Male Long-tailed Duck.

Great Black-backed Gull.

Brants.

Canada Geese.

Ring-billed Gull.

Ring-billed Gull.

Ruddy Turnstone Scrape

Tags

barnegat lighthouse state park, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, photography, postaday, ruddy turnstone

Ruddy Turnstones are fairly common on the New Jersey shore. I have been seeing them since this Spring. Wearing their breeding colors, they are easy to spot on the jetty at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park.

Ruddy Turnstones. The one on the left was apparently resting.

Ruddy Turnstone.

Ruddy Turnstone.

In flight they look stunning.

Ruddy Turnstones in flight.

Last week at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, many birds covered a small island in the marshes. Scanning the island through my camera’s viewfinder, at one point I saw sand being thrown upward by tiny feet. After a few minutes, it turned out that it was a Ruddy Turnstone making a perfectly round scrape as a nest site.

Scrape made by Ruddy Turnstone.

Oystercatchers 2018

Tags

barnegat lighthouse state park, lady hamilton, oystercatcher, photography, postaday, t2

In May 2017, I posted photos of an Oystercatcher named T2 because he was banded and the band showed T2. He had been a regular of the beaches at Long Beach Island, and last year he and his mate, Lady Hamilton, had their first brood on the beach at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park after many unsuccessful tries. It was major news for birdwatchers. This year T2 has not been seen and some said he may have died, reason unknown.

Yesterday, I went to Barnegat Lighthouse to see if I could photograph the many birds that usually live there. To my surprise, I saw a couple of Oystercatchers, but there was no T2.

Oystercatcher at Barnegat Light State Park.

The very handsome pair walked back and forth across the sand. After a while one of them prepared to lay down.

Oystercatcher preparing to lay down.

It looked like it was sitting down to incubate. There was a rope and a keep off sign, and I did not want to disturb them so this is as close as I could get with a telephoto lens.

Oystercatcher incubating. Note that their nest was very near the water line at high tide.

The other one stood nearby and took a nap.

Oystercatcher napping.

So T2 and his mate may be gone, but another pair of Oystercatchers have taken their place at Barnegat Lighthouse.

Update 31-Jul-2018: I’ve added two more photos of these Oystercatchers.

Oystercatchers.

Oystercatcher.

Weekly Photyo Challenge: 2017 Favorites

Tags

barnegat lighthouse state park, northern cardinal, postaday, weekly photo challenge

The URL for this challenge is: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/2017-favorites/

In early May 2017, I went to Barnegat Lighthouse Park and walked the short (0.2 mi) Maritime Forest Trail looking for birds to photograph. Suddenly a red bird, a male Northern Cardinal flew by with a seed in his bill. He went to a branch on which a female was already perched and began to feed her in a gesture of love and courtship, as you can see in the following shots.

Northern Cardinals.

Northern Cardinals. Her eyes say it all.

Harlequin Ducks

Tags

barnegat lighthouse state park, harlequin duck, photography, postaday

Yesterday, despite high tide at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park I was able to come close enough to a band of Harlequin ducks to take the following series of photos. These ducks love fast moving water and dive in it with abandon to find food like small fish and crustaceans.

Harlequin Ducks braving the surf.

Diving Harlequin. They usually go down to the bottom to look for food and may be gone from sight for a minute or so.

Harlequin Ducks diving before a wave crashed on them. The one in the middle was probably a female.

Harlequin Ducks riding a wave.

Harlequin Ducks, female at right. The male ducks were not interested in her, so perhaps she flapped her wings to get their attention!

Harlequin Ducks. Female is second duck from right. Female Harlequins are brown with a white belly and a white circle behind their ears.