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: