Barnegat Light, NJ
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Barnegat Light, NJ
is a great birding spot during the winter months. Harlequin Ducks, Purple Sandpipers
and Snow Buntings are fairly common. Many other goodies such as Snowy Owls, Common Redpolls and Lapland Longspurs
make every visit an exciting one.
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The Harlequins are more than cooperative to say the least. I have been able to get very close to them (10-20 ft.) as they stay close to the jetty.
I time their dives (20-30 secs), move up 20 feet, setup and wait and bingo. They have been present every time I made it up there (a little over 20 of them, mostly males).
They are used to the presence of humans and do not seem to be too concerned about me. Bird #268 is one of my favorites!
Click here to see some of my favorite pictures of them. |
The Purple Sandpipers (#237) are also a joy to photograph. There were anywere from 1 to 100+ present the different I went there.
They let me get very close to them as they seem to pay no attention to me and other birders. During low tide, beds of small clams are exposed and I am able to get some
great shots of the Sandpipers feeding. One time, and as I was taking pictures of Harlequins, a flock of 30 flew within a few feet of where I was, and decided to take
a little nap. A few off these guys showed off their brilliant Purple feathers.
Click here to see some of my favorite pictures of the Purple Sandpipers. |
Well, how lucky can you get!! In December 2003, I was following a flock of Horned Larks, trying to
get close enough to get some good pictures, when 3 Lapland Longspurs decided to join in.
These birds are rare in this part of the world, so when they started to come closer to me,
I was salivating. I crouched down and stayed behind my tripod all the time. As they were foraging, one of
them kept coming closer and closer to me. I had already filled up my flash card with 150 images,
so I started deleting images on my camera to make room. I kept on taking pictures, the Longspur
kept on coming closer, and I kept on going back to make room in my flash card...At one point,
I noticed some 4-5 scopes pointing at my direction. The bird was now 6 feet away from me!!
I was so happy that I gave a thumbs up signal to the fellow birders. Aside from running out of room
in my Flash card, I was also running out of time, as my wife and kids were waiting for me to go out to lunch.
I hesitated for a moment as I did not want to scare this bird away. But, I had to leave so I slowly got up,
picked up my tripod and walked away. The bird was so used to my presence by now, that it did not fly away but just kept
feeding only a few feet away. This was one of the more memorable wildlife photo moments for me yet.
Click here to see some of my favorite pictures of the Lapland Longspur. |
Rudy Turnstones are also common in the winter months although I have not seen as many of them as I have seen of the Purple Sandpipers. They tend to gather in small groups which
sometimes include Purple Sandpipers. Here are some images I took in the last day of 2004. A visit in February of 2005 resulted in some close up images of Dunlin
while Sanderling have been present more often than not.
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In one of my visits, I spotted a pair of Oystercatchers at the beach. I took a few shots, as I followed them along. They kept their distance from me, but one of them gave me some nice poses.
Unfortunately, one of the birds was banded which make these shots less attractive. To date, I have taken more pictures of the American Oystercatcher (#162) than most of the other bird species.
Click here to see some more pictures of the American Oystercatchers. |
My search for the Common Redpoll (#273) resulted in two very distant images. A flock of 20 of these birds circled the area I was at for 10-15 minutes and landed 50 feet away. They started feeding right away.
As I took two quick pictures, they took off again, thanks to a Sharp-shinned Hawk who was looking for breakfast. Unfortunately, they did not return. I had more luck with Snow Buntings,
Horned Larks, Surf Scoters, Common Loons and Long-tailed Ducks.
Click here to see some other Barnegat Light bird pictures. |
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