Barnegat Light State Park
Leaders: Margeaux Maerz, Linda Mack, Richard Crossley, and Scott Barnes
Leaders: Margeaux Maerz, Linda Mack, Richard Crossley, and Scott Barnes
Have you ever had to go shopping and you end up getting all you wanted from just one store instead of visiting a few? Well that's exactly the way I felt when I went birding down on the Jersey Shore last weekend at a very special location called Barnegat Lighthouse State Park. This location is one of the top coastal birding locations in New Jersey and, being my first visit, this trip was sure to make me agree!
This club started with trips that only had a few people, but today showed the true mass of the modern club. On this trip we had around thirty birders show up, 19 of them being youth! Yet it was no surprise with the amount when you find out that one of our co-leaders was the one and only Richard Crossley (Author of the Crossley ID Guide)! So after everybody got the run down of what we were going to do, we were off towards the beach!
Here at Barnegat, the main attraction of birders across the state is for its incredibly long jetty that allows you to walk far out into the ocean allowing for close looks at birds that would normally be just dots from the beach. Since teleportation hasn't been invented yet, you have to walk the whole way out there, going part of the way on a pavement walk way and then going onto the actual jetty, hopping from boulder to boulder. Even though it was lengthy, the inlet was right next to us, allowing us to watch birds the whole way. In the inlet we all noticed a surprisingly wavy area that probably had a ton of fish due to the huge flocks of gulls flying over it and both species of loons diving in it. This was Richard's big moment to start teaching us the differences between adult and juvenile Red-throated Loons, which was really cool. We also looked among the gulls for possible Glaucous or Iceland Gull, but no luck.
At last our feet hit the jetty and began our hopping across the wide cracks between the rocks. Some of the adults and younger crew decided to get on the sand and sacrifice the view of the water, but I, along with a few others continued on the rocks. It was here we got our first close looks of Long-tailed Ducks, which are one of my favorite ducks of all. I may not have noticed it then, but we were going to see a ton more of these goofy sounding birds even closer than these. But if that wasn't great enough, we were surprised to see an amazingly close group of my number one favorite ducks: the Harlequin Duck. Looking as if an artist used a bird as a paint palette, this was one of the main birds I came here for, making it quite the memorable moment for all the birders there. Finally after a while we got on the beach, and all of us could agree that it was quite the work out!
Tripods jabbed into the sand, it was time to start scoping out birds from the beach before we do the treacherous walk towards the tip of the jetty. It was here that we got eyes on several Common Eiders, which was long-time nemesis bird for my life list, and really made up for my loss of the white-winged gulls. Suddenly a flock of shorebirds flew in and landed on an island. Using the scopes we found out that these were Dunlin and Purple Sandpipers. Now only if they got closer I can get a perfect shot... Oh! They moved to the tip of the jetty! Let's go!
As fast as we wanted to run on the rocks, going out on the tip was serious business. These rocks were either wet or covered in slippery algae. Poor choices on where to step could send our birding gear and lives into the frigid waves. We even heard a tale from our leader Scott Barnes of a birder that not long ago got himself stuck in a rocky crevasse on this jetty and was fortunately rescued before the tide got high. Us young birders aren't stupid with the outdoors, so getting out to the tip was pretty darn easy. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by a bird filled ocean! The loons, sea ducks, and sandpipers pretended like we didn't even exist and got super close, which made me have the photography experience of a lifetime! There were also some cool Great Cormorants that were perched on top of a pole across the inlet, which was another year bird I needed from this trip.
Suddenly some birders who had their eyes out on some rocks very far out noticed a weird light-brown bird that was floating on the surface. It was a female King Eider! At that point we all ran... I mean quickly walked back to the beach to share the find, but it turns out if you have Crossley in your little group that stayed behind, there's not a bird you can't find out on the ocean.
It was almost time to leave this wonderful jetty, but there was one other little nook in the rocks which had a big flock of Dunlin that I couldn't have resisted getting a close look. With all my experiences with shore birds, this was by-far the closest I've ever got. Even comparing these little fellas to the most common birds on the beach such as sanderlings, these guys were as tame as canaries posing for a camera full of photos that were just fantastic.
As I walked into the parking lot, it was hard to believe the trip was officially over. I mean, this was only one place we needed to explore and we got everything we could ever want! It was now time to get our books signed, and that just sealed the deal for an amazing trip with friends and awesome birds. Even though it was kind of odd not driving around to other spots, this was by far my favorite event with the NJ Young Birders Club and will be remembered throughout my birding life!
-Joe Hernandez
Check out Joe's nature blog here where Joe blogs about New Jersey Young birders club trips and more:
http://thenaturalistnook.weebly.com/
This club started with trips that only had a few people, but today showed the true mass of the modern club. On this trip we had around thirty birders show up, 19 of them being youth! Yet it was no surprise with the amount when you find out that one of our co-leaders was the one and only Richard Crossley (Author of the Crossley ID Guide)! So after everybody got the run down of what we were going to do, we were off towards the beach!
Here at Barnegat, the main attraction of birders across the state is for its incredibly long jetty that allows you to walk far out into the ocean allowing for close looks at birds that would normally be just dots from the beach. Since teleportation hasn't been invented yet, you have to walk the whole way out there, going part of the way on a pavement walk way and then going onto the actual jetty, hopping from boulder to boulder. Even though it was lengthy, the inlet was right next to us, allowing us to watch birds the whole way. In the inlet we all noticed a surprisingly wavy area that probably had a ton of fish due to the huge flocks of gulls flying over it and both species of loons diving in it. This was Richard's big moment to start teaching us the differences between adult and juvenile Red-throated Loons, which was really cool. We also looked among the gulls for possible Glaucous or Iceland Gull, but no luck.
At last our feet hit the jetty and began our hopping across the wide cracks between the rocks. Some of the adults and younger crew decided to get on the sand and sacrifice the view of the water, but I, along with a few others continued on the rocks. It was here we got our first close looks of Long-tailed Ducks, which are one of my favorite ducks of all. I may not have noticed it then, but we were going to see a ton more of these goofy sounding birds even closer than these. But if that wasn't great enough, we were surprised to see an amazingly close group of my number one favorite ducks: the Harlequin Duck. Looking as if an artist used a bird as a paint palette, this was one of the main birds I came here for, making it quite the memorable moment for all the birders there. Finally after a while we got on the beach, and all of us could agree that it was quite the work out!
Tripods jabbed into the sand, it was time to start scoping out birds from the beach before we do the treacherous walk towards the tip of the jetty. It was here that we got eyes on several Common Eiders, which was long-time nemesis bird for my life list, and really made up for my loss of the white-winged gulls. Suddenly a flock of shorebirds flew in and landed on an island. Using the scopes we found out that these were Dunlin and Purple Sandpipers. Now only if they got closer I can get a perfect shot... Oh! They moved to the tip of the jetty! Let's go!
As fast as we wanted to run on the rocks, going out on the tip was serious business. These rocks were either wet or covered in slippery algae. Poor choices on where to step could send our birding gear and lives into the frigid waves. We even heard a tale from our leader Scott Barnes of a birder that not long ago got himself stuck in a rocky crevasse on this jetty and was fortunately rescued before the tide got high. Us young birders aren't stupid with the outdoors, so getting out to the tip was pretty darn easy. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by a bird filled ocean! The loons, sea ducks, and sandpipers pretended like we didn't even exist and got super close, which made me have the photography experience of a lifetime! There were also some cool Great Cormorants that were perched on top of a pole across the inlet, which was another year bird I needed from this trip.
Suddenly some birders who had their eyes out on some rocks very far out noticed a weird light-brown bird that was floating on the surface. It was a female King Eider! At that point we all ran... I mean quickly walked back to the beach to share the find, but it turns out if you have Crossley in your little group that stayed behind, there's not a bird you can't find out on the ocean.
It was almost time to leave this wonderful jetty, but there was one other little nook in the rocks which had a big flock of Dunlin that I couldn't have resisted getting a close look. With all my experiences with shore birds, this was by-far the closest I've ever got. Even comparing these little fellas to the most common birds on the beach such as sanderlings, these guys were as tame as canaries posing for a camera full of photos that were just fantastic.
As I walked into the parking lot, it was hard to believe the trip was officially over. I mean, this was only one place we needed to explore and we got everything we could ever want! It was now time to get our books signed, and that just sealed the deal for an amazing trip with friends and awesome birds. Even though it was kind of odd not driving around to other spots, this was by far my favorite event with the NJ Young Birders Club and will be remembered throughout my birding life!
-Joe Hernandez
Check out Joe's nature blog here where Joe blogs about New Jersey Young birders club trips and more:
http://thenaturalistnook.weebly.com/