Another Nice March Day @ GBB
March/30/2006 04:56 PM
Today I was @
GBB WMA from 11:45am until about 3:00pm. Sunny and
warm (70's). A strong breeze from the S-SW, coming
off Great Bay. Little Sheepshead Creek HT 8:43am, LT
3:10pm. Shooting Thorofare HT 8:29am, LT 2:48pm. A
beautiful day but not much to see today. Saw 4 Red
Breasted Mergansers (2 female & 2 male). The
Brant were fewer in numbers, saw mostly groups of 5-8
@ various sites throughout GBB WMA. Saw 1 Great Blue
Heron & 4 Great Egrets.
Now in the shorebird category I saw 2 Greater Yellow-Legs in the marsh grass/water by Rand's. 1 solo Greater Yellow-Legs half way between the 2 traffic light bridges on the east side of the road. I saw 2 American Oystercatchers (starting @ 12:46pm & were still there on my way out @ 2:30pm) along the waterway by the boat launch area that is across the road from the Rutgers' weather station. When first seen they were feeding in the water, on the way out they were sunning themselves from the now exposed mud-bank. When I got down to the bay beach @ the end of GBB I spotted 2 AO's out on the exposed grassy-mud-bank. I also saw 1 Black-Bellied Plover of which was too far away for the naked eye but when I reviewed some video, as the plover shaped bird took flight, the black axillary patches became evident and were the ID factor needed.
Pix from today can be viewed in "Recent Photo Albums".
Videos from today can be viewed in "Movies".
(My apologies for the wavering video as it was windy & I wasn't able to use a tripod at the time & had to go handheld)
Note: Marsh pools were full even with the outgoing tide & low tide. Marsh pools were also abundant with bait fish/ minnows.
Now in the shorebird category I saw 2 Greater Yellow-Legs in the marsh grass/water by Rand's. 1 solo Greater Yellow-Legs half way between the 2 traffic light bridges on the east side of the road. I saw 2 American Oystercatchers (starting @ 12:46pm & were still there on my way out @ 2:30pm) along the waterway by the boat launch area that is across the road from the Rutgers' weather station. When first seen they were feeding in the water, on the way out they were sunning themselves from the now exposed mud-bank. When I got down to the bay beach @ the end of GBB I spotted 2 AO's out on the exposed grassy-mud-bank. I also saw 1 Black-Bellied Plover of which was too far away for the naked eye but when I reviewed some video, as the plover shaped bird took flight, the black axillary patches became evident and were the ID factor needed.
Pix from today can be viewed in "Recent Photo Albums".
Videos from today can be viewed in "Movies".
(My apologies for the wavering video as it was windy & I wasn't able to use a tripod at the time & had to go handheld)
Note: Marsh pools were full even with the outgoing tide & low tide. Marsh pools were also abundant with bait fish/ minnows.