BrigFoot

It seems like a long time ago now, but two weekends ago we were at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey, affectionately known as 'the Brig' (its old name was Brigantine NWR).

The Brig has an 8-mile auto tour route.  But this time we walked it.  Twice!  We have walked a portion of it before, two winters ago, when snow closed the roads and we REALLY wanted to see a Snowy Owl.  This time we hiked the auto route on Saturday, then came back Sunday and did it over with a few trail segments to up the mileage.

First up was a pair of white egrets:  a Great Egret and a Snowy Egret.  These guys actually look fairly similar, but the size differential is huge:

Another treat right at the start of Saturday's walk was a flock of 40+ Glossy Ibis.  In the right light, they are a surprisingly warm shade of cinnamon, for a bird that usually looks iridescent black.

Some other highlights from both days included a White Pelican.  This guy was faaaaar out in one of the pools, but was unmistakable.  They're huge!

We also saw 6 American Avocets, but they were even farther out and required a scope to even see them.  Even so, we were surprised to find both unusual species with so little heartache :)

Ospreys were everywhere.  Many couples were taking advantage of the nesting posts located near the drive.  This one has a fish, or at least, part of one.  

Near the end of the loop, or the salt marsh part of it, anyway, we found an American Oystercatcher.  This is a comically striking bird, and I can't remember seeing one up and out of the water like this before.  

Lastly, we found this directional sign that had a sticker attached.  It said, "I'd rather be birding."  It cracked me up because, geez, what else would you be doing mid-way through a big wildlife refuge like this!

Quality time at the Brig

How many times is the weekend you picked to go camping also the weekend with the most gorgeous weather?  We really lucked out!  We were at Bass River State Forest in New Jersey.

But of course we didn't stay in camp, we also went to Edwin B. Forsythe NWR ("the Brig") for a spin around the wildlife loop.  Saturday AND Sunday :)

At the Leeds Eco Trail, which is partly a boardwalk out over the marsh, you always see barn swallows in warm weather.  They nest underneath.  The top shot isn't super sharp, but I love the action.

Another denizen of the eco trail area - a willow flycatcher.  I saw one here last fall, and now this trip.  And that is the two times in my life I've seen willow flycatchers.  They look like a lot of other flycatchers, unless you pay sharp attention to detail.  But, man, once they open their mouths, their songs give them away.

Oddly enough, there was a report of a scissor-tailed flycatcher the evening before we arrived.  That's a bird that usually comes no farther north than Texas and Oklahoma, so way out of range.  But there was no sign of it Saturday morning!

It's snowing ... geese

It's February and snow geese are collecting in large groups in the mid-Atlantic, at staging areas where hundreds and thousands of geese collect and coordinate their migration further northward. 

Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge had somewhere between 1500-2000 snow geese this last weekend.  They were divided into two smaller groups, and one of these was on the ice right beside the wildlife drive.    

 A healthy number of Canadas were around, too, of course.  Here are some fresh tracks.

Some other excitement was at Steel Pier in Atlantic City.  Large rafts of ducks were present just off-shore.  Hundreds upon hundreds of what were probably black scoters and long-tailed ducks.  

Closer in to shore, I found a common loon, and a female long-tailed duck.

And on the pier itself, more tracks.  Although nowhere near as fresh as the goose tracks at Forsythe.   

Walking Forsythe

The snowy owl was a big attraction, don't get me wrong.  But, Forsythe is always a pleasure. I have birded it in every season and in nearly every type of weather, and it never fails to knock one's socks off.

Most would agree that it's the second best birding spot in New Jersey, which isn't bad considering Cape May is one of the best in the nation.  Forsythe is almost never crowded, but there's always a steady trickle of vehicles on the wildlife drive.  Cars speed the process of moving around the 8-mile drive, and keep the warm-weather bugs and cold-weather cold out.

On Friday, when I first heard that the drive was closed to vehicles for the weekend, I thought about cancelling our visit.  Then I realized it was an opportunity. 

And, our time there proved me right.  Walking was fantastic, despite meaning that we covered less than a quarter of what we normally would.  

Birdsong gets drowned out by engines.  Even moving at 15 mph means some birds are inevitably missed, details lost.  For example, this member of a trio of ruddy ducks  were too close to the edge of the dike to be seen while sitting down.    

Walking it this weekend increased my love for the place by leaps and bounds.  With the cars gone, it truly shined.  I could hear brant calling from the far side of the impoundments, snow geese from all over.  

Smaller birds didn't get lost in the mix.  Dunlin were squeaking by in small flocks.  They are in their drab winter plumage, but their slightly dropping bill makes them relatively easy to identify (of course, they are plunging this feature in the mud for this picture, and you can't see the curvature). 

Sparrows were foraging and quite tolerant of our presence.  Between the two days, I found white-throated, savannah, swamp, and song sparrows along the drive.  One swamp sparrow gave us quite the show at the entrance to the Leeds Eco-trail.  

Savannahs were all over the drive, flushing forward with every few steps we took.

I don't necessarily prefer to bird in extreme cold, and I'm fond of the comforts and convenience of a car as much as anyone else.  But I do find that it's getting out there in unusual times and conditions that provide the most wonderful experiences.  Right now I wouldn't trade my two hours on Saturday morning in bone-chilling temps for anything! 

On white wings

As you may have heard, this is an irruption winter for snowy owls.  A few northern birds range wide and far when their boreal food sources fail - crossbills, grosbeaks, even red-breasted nuthatches.  The 2012/2013 winter saw an irruption of all of these species. 

But the snowies this winter are different story.  To the experts' knowledge, their arrival here en masse is the result of an overabundance of lemmings, their favorite food, this summer.  Nesting owls were able to raise more chicks than usual, and now with winter in full swing, these younger birds are heading south to find food and shelter far from their normal range.

For me, I've been enjoying having at least 3 snowy owls in Lancaster County.  I was fortunate to see two of them at once, two weeks ago, on an Amish farm east of the city, with at least 30 other watchers.

This last weekend was a special treat, though.  We were heading to Atlantic City, NJ, and I was aware that 2-3 snowy owls were being seen regularly at the nearby Brigantine Unit of the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

The Atlantic City skyline, snow geese in flight, and the snowy owl just below and right of center.

This birding spot is a special one to me.  But this trip was wild - sunny, cloudy, freezing, cold, calm, windy, snowy - we had it all.

On Saturday morning, we arrived around 9 am, prepared for birding in 15 degree weather. That's officially the coldest I've ever birded.  Fortunately, it was sunny with no wind.  We also had to leave our car behind.

  
So we were on foot, and experienced so much that we wouldn't have from a car (including the temps!).  More on that later, but for now, just know that the owls were elusive.  That wasn't true on Sunday.  We returned to much warmer temperatures and the drive still closed to vehicles.  There were more people, but few bothered to walk out more than a mile, which is just about where we found "our" snowy.

The other snowy owls I have seen were resting and at most turning their heads occasionally.  This one was far more animated, and also came a bit nearer.  It flew three times, preened, watched the snow geese fly over, and bobbed its head quite a bit.

Snowies are as large as red-tailed hawks, lengthwise, but are heavier and have a wider wingspan.

A small pontoon plane was flying low patterns over the refuge, and stirred up two large flocks of snow geese as it passed.  The owl took keen interest in them.

After at least an hour and a half of viewing, the owl flew over the marshes to the southwest.  
     

I've also posted some videos (definitely not great quality, you've been warned) on youtube: here, here, and here.  The first is the best, the others were taken with digital zoom and are sasquatch-level work, but do show interesting behavior.

If you are interested in snowy owls in general, a good centralized spot to track owl sightings and catch up on news and research can be found on Nemesis Bird, just one page of an all-around excellent blog about all things bird.