February Waterfowl

A few scattered pictures of various ducks, grebes, and other waterfowl from Sandy Hook and Great Swamp:

Got Something!


What Are You Looking At? (Common Loon)


Lazy Afternoon


Family Outing (American Black Ducks)


Follow Me! (Common Goldeneye)


Great Swamp - Winter


Ring-Necked Duck


I Am Going That Way

Meadowlands, May 2010

I found some older pictures from the first time I visited the Meadowlands parks:

Liberty State Park, Jones Beach, and Robert Moses Beach

Here are some more interesting pictures from the trips to Liberty State Park and Jones and Robert Moses beaches:

The sun breaks through at Robert Moses State Park:


Searching for Snowy Owls at Jones Beach:


Gadwall duck:




Northern Mockingbird:


American Tree Sparrow:


Semipalmated Plover:






Ring-Billed Gull:

The Raptor Trust

A few weeks ago, we visited a really cool place called The Raptor Trust. It's located in the Great Swamp Wildlife Refuge. You can click the link above to read about the wildlife rehabilitation services it provides for various wild birds (not just raptors). Below are some pictures of the resident birds in their aviaries (all photos here are credited to Luke Cabading):

Red-Tailed Hawk (most common hawk around NJ and USA in general):


Peregrine Falcon:




Turkey Vulture (also very common especially during fall-winter-spring months):


Juvenile Turkey Vultures (these were not in the aviaries - they were wild birds that decided to come spend the night in the trees above):




American Kestrel (the smallest raptor!):


Broad-Winged Hawk:


Barred Owl:


Snowy Owl (Hedwig to Harry Potter readers):


Bald Eagle:

Long-Tailed Duck

Long-Tailed Duck is another one in the family of interesting-looking waterfowl. Until this winter, I didn't even know they existed. When I saw my first one a few weeks ago at Robert Moses State Park, I thought it must've been the rare of the rarities. But then I visited Sandy Hook, and they were there by the dozen! They like the ocean side better than the bay side, but there were quite a few in the calm waters on the bay side as well.





Can you see me?


Got something!


Do you think I'll make it?

Owls and Mergansers

I saw my first two wild owls this part weekend!

The first one was a Barred Owl in the Great Swamp Wildlife refuge:


And a close-up:


The second was a Long-Eared Owl at the Pelham Bay Park in NYC:


Also in the category of interesting-looking bird are the Red-Breasted Mergansers. I saw these near Sandy Hook recently:

Male:




Female:





And a whole family: