Yesterday (Mon. 9-29) I did a shorebird survey at Great Bay Blvd. WMA, Tuckerton, NJ.

Cloudy w/ some sun, mid-up'r 70's, light N winds. Shooting Thorofare: HT: 8:39am, LT: 2:58pm. Shorebird survey from 1:00pm til 5pm. Note: Biting black flies & mosquitoes!!!



Note: tidal/marsh pools full of water despite out going & low tide. Less mudflats exposed out in the marshes than when I surveyed last, 10 days ago, w/ a higher tide. Shooting Thorofare beach sod banks were exposed today w/ the low tide & several shorebird species were present & feeding in that area (BBP, SPP, SPS & AO's).

Species seen:
Least Sandpipers (2)
Semipalmated Sandpipers (5)
Semipalmated Plovers (3)
Black-bellied Plovers (28)
Greater (3) & Lesser Yellowlegs (12)
American Oystercatchers (2)

Note: at the end of the outing I saw a Clapper rail chasing a GYL along the mud bank at the marsh grass edge, pretty amusing.

Other species of note:
Clapper Rail
Great Blue Herons
Little Blue Heron
Great Egrets
DC Cormorants
Northern Harrier
Belted Kingfisher
Brown Thrasher

Also saw several different butterflies/moths. Monarchs & the others I'll have to ID from my photos. I'll post photos soon.

Check back later for a slideshow of yesterday’s photos.

SH