Hawk Migration

Most hawks, falcons, and eagles migrate south for the winter. Now, everyone's definition of "south" is different. For example, bald eagles and owls actually migrate to our area for the winter. (That's because where they are coming from is even colder.) But the majority of the raptors do make their way to the sunshine belt. The peak migration time is late Sept and early Oct, and during those times, if you place yourself in the right spot, you can see hundreds of hawks in a day, if not an hour. Most of the pictures below were taken in just such a spot, Hawk Mountain preserve in PA:

Broad-Winged Hawks:




Northern Harrier:

This is a female. Note how her face looks more like an owl's!

Another Northern Harrier:


Red-Tailed Hawk:

Some red-tailed hawks migrate south, while some remain year-round residents in their locations.

Merlin:

Merlin is a type of falcon.

Osprey flying through a flock of starlings:


Cooper's Hawk:

This guy tried to steal a bird from the bird feeder in my backyard. Was not successful, though. He hit a window and afterwards perched on a nearby tree, where I was able to take this picture.

What do you call a bunch of Broad-Winged Hawks migrating together? A "kettle". That's right, this is a kettle of broad-winged hawks:

Barnegat Light - Part 3

As I was standing on the jetty, I became aware of sleek white birds overflying it once in a while. Turned out those were Northern Gannets, which are normally a bit farther out to sea, but the wind was bringing them in. I have a nice silhouette shot of one here:


Did I mention there were a lot of fishers there?


As I was walking back, another turnstone peeked from under a crevice in the rock:


The two birds next to it were Red Knots, rare for this time of the year in New Jersey. Actually rare for this time of the year in the US, or for that matter anywhere in the northern hemisphere. These birds have the longest migration route of them all - all the way from Argentina in the winter to the Arctic in the summer. Why these two were not sunning themselves in South America I do not know.


Then another two strays showed up, these ones from Florida. Normally, brown pelicans don't go higher than Virginia even in the summer. These two were in New Jersey in December! Someone should check their GPS.


While the one above is an adult (white neck), the second one is an immature:


Harlequin Ducks showed up in force for a parting appearance:


The final shot is of the sunlight playing on the wet rocks of the jetty:

Barnegat Light - Part 2

As we were walking on the jetty, the fishing boats were passing in and out of the bay.



The other wintering sandpiper we found on the jetty was Purple Sandpiper:




They are able to stand on the most slippery rocks, leaning forward so much that they are almost upside down, to get at the algae or some insects at the puddle below. The male and female have different size bills, so that they can feed from the same territory without stealing each other's food:


From time to time, we would come across an interesting shell on the beach.


Then the sea gull (another Bonaparte's Gull) dived and caught a fish right next to the jetty:

At this point we got off the jetty and moved to the ocean-facing beach. That was a lot more unsettled, with larger waves that seemed capable of capsizing any bird venturing there.


Even when they weren't covered by the wave, the ducks had to work to get to the top of it.


There is a military base somewhere nearby, as evidenced by this helicopter that flew over us (or maybe it was involved with Hurricane Sandy restoration efforts on the neighboring Island Beach):


Nearby, a black scoter was swimming across the sun path:


While the group went back to the parking lot for lunch, I stayed back on the jetty. The birds were getting some lunch of their own. The first one was this Common Eider:


Then the Common Loon showed up again, with some sort of mini-flounder in it's bill:


By the end of the trip there were some more rarities (some visitors from Florida!) but that's in the next post.

Barnegat Light - Part 1

Barnegat Light is a lighthouse on the Jersey Shore, about half-way between Sandy Hook and Cape May. It's on a barrier island, which was affected by Hurricane Sandy, but not so gravely that it had to be closed. By Dec 1, which is when I had a trip planned there, there was still a lot of damage visible in the beach houses, and there was sand in driveways everywhere, but the state park that houses the actual lighthouse and the huge rock jetty next to it was open.

There have been lighthouses there since 1830's. The current tower is from 1856 and was active through 1944.

I got there a little bit early and did some recognizance before my group arrived. There is a clutch of pines around the parking lot, and there and in the bushes nearby I found a bunch of finches.






The lighthouse stands near a small channel connecting the open ocean with the inner bay. There were fishing boats everywhere, and also fishing fulls.



The guy above is Bonaparte's Gull, named not after Napoleon but after his nephew, Charles Lucien Bonaparte.

After my group gathered and we got to the jetty, the rarities started popping up. The first one was Red-Throated Loon, of which there were several, with one swimming so close to us that it almost didn't fit in my lens:


Then we got to see some wintering Ruddy Turnstones, a type of sandpiper. They are so used to birders and photographers there that it feels like they are actually posing for you:




As we walked on the jetty, we had to step around people fishing off of it. Once in a while they would actually catch something. I like the expression of the second guy in this picture:


Then the main attraction of the show showed up - Harlequin Ducks. These multi-colored ducks are hard to find, but Barnegat Light's jetty is one of the most reliable places to find them.




Another loon showed up nearby, this one a Common Loon:


More of Harlequin ducks and other pictures (birds and not) in the next post.

Northern Cardinals

For a splash of color, I've assembled some of the pictures of the cardinals (formally known as Northern Cardinals) that I took over the past year:
















The two pictures below are of females - they are more pale than the red males:




And, as a bonus, some Southern Cardinals as well: