Back bays and beaches

I was right -- it is hard to come back to the cold after a balmy week in Mexico. But a sunny morning beckoned, so we bundled up and went out anyway. Our target was a reported Smith's Longspur, a bird normally found far to the west of New Jersey. We didn't find it, despite much tromping around, but there were plenty of other things to enjoy.

At this time of year, the dunes are studies in tawny browns. On breezy days like today, the vegetation flaps like tattered flags. 

An "Ipswich Sparrow" pauses in its efforts to pry tiny Seaside Goldenrod seeds from their cases. This pale bird belongs to the subspecies "princeps" of the Savannah Sparrow. It breeds only on Sable Island, a tiny, narrow crescent of land located more than 100 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. As its world population numbers fewer than 6000 birds, it is considered to be a subspecies of "Special Concern".

This bizarre cloud formation is a "fallstreak hole"; the trailing tail is made up of falling ice crystals.

We finished the day at the Avalon seawatch, where thousands of sea ducks floated just offshore. The eerie, high-pitched whistling calls of the courting male Black Scoters -- and the distinctive "A ha lek" calls of the courting Long-tailed Ducks -- filled the air.