Barnegat Lighthouse & beach

Linking up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences  

Hubby and I enjoyed an ovenighter to the Jersey Shores.. We started out at Barnegat Lighthouse and beach and then worked our way back down to Atlantic City, New Jersey were we spent the night.

Barnegat Lighthouse and the beach are my go to spot to see the winter ducks..I was a little disappointed with the amount of Harlequin Ducks, usually we would see them all along the rock jetty. This visit we saw a few out in the ocean but nothing like the quantity we saw in past years.

When we checked the weather before leaving they were calling for sunny weather, I think someone goofed.. It was mostly cloudy at Barnegat..My sky and fence shots are of the Barnegat Lighthouse..

Another shot looking back at the lighthouse and a few Savannah Sparrows..also known as Ipswich Sparrow.. a lighter colored Savannah which is seen on the coast..The fences along the jetty wall are there to protect peeps from falling on the rocks and into the water..

Another distant shot of the lighthouse, a few male Harlequin Ducks and bottom right are some Common Eider..

Our cloudy sky at Barnegat Beach.. the wind picked up too. I think the weather arrived a day early.  At least it did not rain, I am looking on the positive side.. We missed seeing a lot of the usual ducks like the Long-tailed Duck and the Scoters.. We left Barnegat Beach and started our drive south again, we made a quick stop at Edwin Forsythe NWR which will be another post.. But, I have a sky shot from the wildlife refuge..

I hope you enjoyed the first part of our getaway and photos.. Thanks for stopping by and for the nice comments..I hope you enjoyed your visit.

To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and check for more fence shots at Tex's Good Fences

Thanks to Theresa @ The Run*A*Round Ranch for hosting Good Fences and thanks to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday.  I wish everyone a safe happy healthy NEW YEAR and a great weekend.

Birding the Jersey Shore

I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

January 19, 2014

I am linking up with Lydia of Where the Wild Things Were and the Favorite Fotos linky. Thanks Lydia for hosting the party.

On Thursday, hubby and I went on an overnight visit to the Jersey shore. We drove as far as Barnegat Lighthouse Beach, then we headed south to Edwin Forsythe NWR and our somewhat of a free night at Trump's Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.

At the Barnegat Lighthouse beach  we saw the Common Loon, Long-tailed Ducks and Harlequin Ducks. Lots of Scoters, Brants and Sanderlings and gulls.

Two Long-tailed Ducks with a Harlequin duck in the middle.. This was one of the only Harlequins I sighted at Barnegat this visit. In past years I have seen higher counts.  I wonder if something is happening to them?

 

At Barnegat the Mergansers were plentiful..

Snowy Owl on the roof of the Edwin Forsythe NWR visitor center.

This is this third Snowy Owl I have seen since late November. The first sighting was in Delaware, second sighting was in Maryland and this last Snowy Owl was in New Jersey.. They seem to be everywhere  this winter..

 

 Above is a view of the sunset from our room, a shot of the Trump tower and the almost full moon.

I am sure I will be doing more on our Jersey shore visit..Including some beautiful sunrise shots for Skywatch Friday..

Thanks for visiting my blog. I always appreciate your comments.
Join in on the fun and for more wonderful photos please visit  Mosaic Monday and more
 from  Our World Tuesday

 Thanks to our host: Mary our host of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer.  I wish everyone a happy week ahead!

Barnegat Brants

I am linking up my Barnegat Brants with Mosaic Monday   and Our World Tuesday

The Brant is a small goose with a short stubby bill. It's undertail is pure white and the tail is short and black. the Brant's head and neck are black but there is a small white patch on either side of the neck.

 

The Brant's above seemed to find a perfect spot on the Barnegat beach to eat their favorite seaweed.

 The Brant is a coastal bird in the winter and rarely leaves tidal estuaries. They feed on seaweed, sea lettuce and some grasses.



To see more wonderful mosaics and photos please visit Mosaic Monday  and Our World Tuesday


Thanks to Mary of Mosaic Monday and to the great hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Sylvia, Sandy, Lady Fi, Gattina and Arija. 

Also, thanks for stopping by to see my post, I always appreciate your visit.  Have a great week!

Jersey Shore Birding

I am linking up with Mosaic Monday  and  Our World Tuesday

Having off work Friday ( a mental health day) and a forecast of beautiful weather convinced hubby and I to head to the Jersey shores for some birding. Our first stop were the beaches at Avalon-Stone Harbor and then we headed north to Barnegat Lighthouse.

Here are some of the highlights from Friday the first day of our visit to New Jersey.

The first shot is of the sunrise at we headed across the Delaware Memorial bridge, in the second photo are hundreds of Sanderlings on the beach at Avalon, the last shot above.. a few Brants at Barnegat Lighthouse.

Sanderlings and seagulls a plenty on the Jersey beaches.

Purple Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones(orange legs) seen along the jetty.

Brants walking along the beach at Barnegat. Winter time is a great time for viewing the ducks along the coast. I do think this warm weather we have been having lately is having an affect on the numbers of ducks we are use to seeing in the winter. I am loving this warm weather and I hope it continues thru January.

In the mosaic above are shots of the Barnegat Lighthouse, A few Purple Sandpipers at the Stone Harbor jetty, a Common Loon and a group of Long-tailed ducks at Barnegat Lighthouse.

Above, a Harlequin couple seen at Barnegat.

The Long-tailed ducks seen at Barnegat. Barnegat Lighthouse beach is known as a great place for birders to see some great ducks like the Long-Tailed, Brants and the Harlequins. We also saw Common Eider, tons of Common Loons and Surf Scotors.

To see more wonderful mosaics and photos please visit Mary's Mosaic Monday and  Our World Tuesday.  Thanks to Mary of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World: Sylvia, Sandy, Lady Fi, Gattina and Arija.

Thank you for visiting my blog and post and for the lovely comments. I hope everyone has a great week ahead and Happy Birding.

Common Eider

For this weeks Watery Wednesday I am showing the Common Eiders I saw while at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park. We had some great views of the male which has white on its back and breast and looks like its has a long nose. The females are more rufous brown in color.

Click on the photos for a larger image.

Below the males white in color are really noticable while in flight.

To see more wonderful watery shots visit 2sweetnsaxy's  waterywednesday . Thanks to 2sweetnsaxy and thanks for stopping by my post. I hope the rest of your week is great.

Just ducky

First, I want to wish everyone a very Happy Valentine's Day!


This weekend hubby and I visited the Barnegat lighthouse and state park to see the ducks. Winter is the time to really see some great ducks like the Harlequin and the Long tailed Ducks.

Long Tailed Ducks...the male has a white head with a brown neck patch and dark wings. They breed in the northernmost Canadian and Alaskan tundra. It is great that some spend the winters on the Atlantic coast.

Harlequin Ducks....the male has white stripes on head and chest and a white spot at ear. They also breed in northeastern Canada and the Pacific northwest and winter around rocky areas on the coast.

Barnegat Lighthouse

I am link up my Just Ducky post with Mosaic Monday   and That's My World  Click on the links to visit these fun memes.

Barnegat Lighthouse and beach

Last weekend we enjoyed a trip to the Barnegat Lighthouse and beach. My main reason was to see the birds of course we did which is my Camera Critters post and the Lighthouse and beach is the scenic post for my Scenic Sunday

The beach is just lovely for a walk even in the winter.

The jetty along the pretty Barnegat beach is a perfect place to see the ducks in the winter months.


                        

Hubby and I counted 30-40  Harlequin ducks along the jetty.

These are Brants and there were many of them along the jetty.

Brant, Common Eider (lifer) and a Harlequin

There were numerous Ruddy Turnstones and Purple Sandpipers along the jetty.

Please click on my links to see more of Misty Dawns Camera Critters

and

To see more beautiful scenic shots click on my Scenic Sunday link.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks to Misty and the Holleys for hosting these fun memes.