Horseshoe Crab 2019

Tags

fortescue, horsehoe crab, nj, photography, postaday

Last week I went to Forstecue, NJ to see Horseshoe Crabs come ashore for their annual mating. The weather was cool and the tide high which may explain why there were not many Horseshoe Crabs to be seen. However, the birds were very busy feasting on the crabs’ eggs.

Shore birds eating eggs. A female Horseshoe Crab was surrounded by three males in photo center.

As usual some Horseshoe Crabs were upended and helpless on the beach.

Horseshoe Crab laying on his back.

Upended Horseshoe Crabs.

Birds eating Horseshoe Crab eggs at Fortescue, NJ.

Boat-tailed Grackle watching the feast.

Boat-tailed Grackle taking off.

Ruddy Turnstone flying away from beach.

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Barn Swallows

Tags

barn swallow, fortescue, photography, postaday

Barn Swallows live under a bridge at Fortescue, NJ. While observing the Horsehoe Crabs, I saw these birds darting around the bridge. They were too fast for me to catch them in flight. After a long time, two of them decided to rest on wood pilings and calmly posed for pictures.

Barn Swallow, female.

Barn Swallow, female.

Barn Swallows.

Barn Swallow, male.

Northern Mockingbird

Tags

fortescue, horseshoe crab, northern mockingbird, photography, postaday

While watching the Horseshoe Crab egg feast at Fortescue, I saw several other kinds of smaller birds flying around. One of them was a Northern Mockingbird that openly paraded on the road.

Northern Mockingbird crossing the road.

Northern Mockingbird looking at intruder.

The bird was very active flying in and out of some bushes by the road. Inside one of the bushes was a juvenile waiting to be fed.

Juvenile Northern Mockingbird.

The adult fed the youngster several times, but I could not see whether it was with a Horseshoe Crab egg or not.

Northern Mockingbird feeding juvenile.

The juvenile kept asking for more as the adult contemplated what to do next.

Northern Mockingbird.

Finally it flew up to an electric wire, surveying the landscape.

Northern Mockingbird on electric wire.

Horseshoe Crabs 2018

Tags

fortescue, horseshoe crab, laughing gull, photography, postaday, red knot, sandpiper

This year I had to go twice to the South Jersey shore at Fortescue, NJ to photograph Horseshoe Crabs as they come ashore to mate. It rained heavily last weekend, and I had to shoot from the car quickly before the camera got wet.

Upturned Horseshoe Crab, still alive.

Red-winged Blackbird eating Horseshoe Crab eggs.

The second time was yesterday, with plenty of sunshine. There were tens of thousands of birds of all kinds on a stretch of the beach no more than a quarter of a mile (0.4 km) long.

Sandpipers, Laughing Gulls at the mouth of Oyster Creek. The rocks in the water are Horseshoe Crabs.

Red Knots depend on Horseshoe Crab eggs to replenish their energy during their long migration flight of 9,300 miles (15,000 km) from the tip of South America to the Artic. This year there were many of them, and they appeared well fed and in good shape.

Red Knots (orange breasts) on beach at Fortescue, NJ.

Monday Monochrome

Tags

dunlin, fortescue, horsehoe crab, monochrome, photography, postaday, ruddy turnstone

Here are some monochrome photos to highlight this Horseshoe Crab season. Currently, the populations of Horseshoe Crabs, as well as of the birds that eat their eggs, Red Knots, Dunlins, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Ruddy Turnstone, are all supposed to be in decline. There is no single cause and probably many unknowns as well.

Female Horseshoe Crab, its outer shell encrusted with sea snails and other sea shells. She was trying to shelter under a bridge over Oyster Creek at Fortescue, NJ.

Dunlins eating Horseshoe Crab eggs. They must have found a food spot!

A good scratch: Ruddy Turnstone between feedings on Forstescue beach.

Peak Season

Tags

fortescue, horsehoe crabs, nj, photography, postaday, red knot, semipalmated sandpiper

Today was peak season for Horseshoe Crabs. I had never seen so many as evidenced by the following photos taken at Fortescue, NJ on the Delaware Bay.

Horseshoe Crabs coming ashore to mate.

Horseshoe Crabs on a bank of Oyster Creek that empties into Delaware Bay. Note Great Blue Heron at upper left.

The Great Blue Heron did not seem to join in the egg feast that other birds were indulging in.

Great Blue Heron on a bank of Oyster Creek at Fortescue, NJ.

A quarter mile of the beach was covered with Horsehoe Crabs and the birds eating their eggs.

A lady who was monitoring the beach to make sure people did not go near the birds told me that Horseshoe Crabs were late this year, probably because of cooler weather and abundant rain. However, migratory birds like the Red Knot landed in New Jersey at their regular time and could not find enough eggs to eat! They rely on the eggs to fuel themselves for their 9,000 mi journey (15,000 km), and alarms are going up about their fate this year. They are way underweight at the mid point of their migration.

Red Knot standing among Semipalmated Sandpipers.

Semipalmated Sandpipers eating Horseshoe Crab eggs.

Avian Research

Tags

fortescue, photography, postaday, semipalmated sandpiper

The Semipalmated Sandpiper is a small bird about 5 to 6 in (10 to 15 cm) or about the size of Piping Plovers. I found one among a band of Semipalmated Plovers near Barnegat Lighthouse two weeks ago.

Semipalmated Sandpiper.

Yesterday there were quite a few of them on the South Jersey shoreline.

Semipalmated Sandpiper. Note the partially webbed feet.

Semipalmated Sandpipers were among the subject of some research by a government agency in New Jersey. While they and other birds were feasting on Horseshoe Crab eggs, researchers captured some with nets. Then they were banded, measured, and blood samples were taken from them, among other indignities.

Semipalmated Sandpiper being banded.

Blood sample being tkane from Semipalmated Sandpiper.

Measurements.

Semipalmated Sandpiper being handled by researcher.

Shore Birds and Horseshoe Crabs

Tags

fortescue, photography, postaday, red knows, ruddy turnstones, semipalmated sandpiper

Yesterday I went with a friend back to Fortescue, NJ to see Red Knots and other shore birds feasting on the eggs that Horseshoe Crabs come ashore to lay in late May of each year. There seemed to be many more birds, and millions of mosquitoes, this time.

Horseshoe Crabs, Red Knots, with orange breast, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Ruddy Turnstones in the background. 

Horseshoe Crabs, Ruddy Turnstones, Semipalmated Sanpiper, Red Knots. Three male crabs were converging on one female. The males are usually smaller than the female crabs.

The following photo could be used as a wallpaper pattern.

Shore birds walking on the beach at Fortescue, NJ.

There was a group that was capturing Semipalmated Sandpiper with nets to later band them for help in studying their population and migration patterns. There are claims that Semipalmated Sandpipers are in decline and their population should be “of concern.” These birds, like the Red Knots, can fly nonstop 2,000 miles from South America to New Jersey where they rest and replenish their energy with the help of crab eggs.

Captured Semipalmated Sandpiper being transferred from one container to another.