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!