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Tag Archives: horsehoe crab

Horseshoe Crab 2019

22 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by neihtn2012 in Photography

≈ 28 Comments

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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Monday Monochrome

29 Monday May 2017

Posted by neihtn2012 in Photography

≈ 4 Comments

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.

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Horseshoe Crabs 2017

20 Saturday May 2017

Posted by neihtn2012 in Photography

≈ 20 Comments

Tags

dunlin, horsehoe crab, photography, postaday, red knot

The shores of South Jersey bordering Delaware Bay are where Horseshoe Crabs come ashore every May to mate. The female crabs lay eggs in the sand and the male crabs fertilize them. The eggs are a favorite source of food for many birds, particularly for Red Knots, those long-distance migrators that travel more than 9,000 miles (15,000 km) from Tierra del Fuego at the very end of South America to the Artic in North America.

So at this time of the year. there are literally thousands and thousands of shore birds, including Red Knots, at the South Jersey shore. To protect the birds the beaches are off limits to people for one month, from May 7th to June 7th, which meant I could only take pictures from a good distance away.

Small island off Fortescue, NJ, a typical scene at this time of the year.

Even in the above photo, you can see several Horseshoe Crab that got upended, laying on their backs waiting for the tide to help them get back on their feet. Many will eventually die if that does not happen, becoming another source of food for seagulls and other birds.

Horseshoe Crab trying to turn itself over. They can’t, and they need help from the waves.

Horseshoe Crab dying. It was still trying to move its feet.

Dunlins looking for Horseschoe Crab eggs buried in sand.

Shore birds, among them a Red Knot, eating eggs around female Horseshoe Crab half buried in background.

Ruddy Turnstones eatings eggs next to two Horseshoe Crabs.

Red Knot, long-distance migrator.

Typical scene at South Jersey shore in May. No people, just birds.

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