Mar 2006

More Videos Added

I just put up some videos from Nov. '05 @ Malibu Beach & 2 more videos from yesterday's outing to GBB.
"Movies"

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Another Nice March Day @ GBB

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.

A Nice March Day @ GBB

I took advantage of today's nice weather and headed out to Great Bay Blvd WMA. I was there from 11:15am until 2:00pm. It was overcast with sun breaking through later on. A strong wind from the South and temperatures ranged from 60's to 70's later on. During my time out @ GBB the tide was heading out (Shooting Thorofare HT 7:03am/ LT 1:27pm; Little Sheepshead Creek HT 7:17am/ LT 1:49pm).

Overall not many shorebirds to be seen. 1 Greater Yellow-Legs was walking about in a marsh pool (just south of the last bridge). Each time it flew from spot to spot it would call out. The only other shorebirds to be seen today was 1 American Oyster Catcher flying across the water by the bay beach (Shooting Thorofare) and 2 American Oystercatchers that were walking about on an exposed sandbar just south of the Rutgers' Marine Research Station along Shooting Thorofare.

Other notables for the day were 60 Greater Scaups that were feeding and mixed in with Brant out in Tuckerton Bay. Also 7 Long-Tailed Ducks were feeding in Shooting Thorofare. I don't normally get out to bird for ducks so it was nice to see something different. I only wish I had a telescopic lens to capture some shots of the Long-Tailed Ducks.

I hope everyone has been able to get out w/ the nice weather and enjoyed the outdoors!