Wanamassa Birds

I frequently stroll the streets of Wanamassa, NJ, with camera at the ready to take pictures of birds.

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Location: Ocean, New Jersey, United States

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Old Friends at Shark River Marina

On January 4th, I went down to Shark River hoping to see a variety of ducks.


And of course there were Ruddy Ducks, but not much else within  range.

However, on the water's edge there were both a Killdeer and a Black-bellied Plover (the latter in its mundane winter plumage; it would take a trip to the Arctic to see it at its summer best). These two pictures are scaled differently, the plover is noticeably larger than the Killdeer.



Unusually at the marina I was able to get a reasonably good shot of a Bufflehead. Most of these birds are usually too far out into the water or they immediately take fright and fly away.


Another Year, a New Camera, a Snowy Owl

My family treated me to a new K-3 as a combined birthday, Christmas and retirement present. It is a major step up from the Kx which was already a pretty impressive camera. The year started with a surprising visitor to Allenhurst on January 1st. I was at Ruby Tuesday's in Freehold Raceway Mall about to have lunch when I got a text message from Joy More letting me know that a Snowy Owl had been sighted on a rooftop by the ocean. It was four o'clock before I got there but the bird was still on the roof. It could be seen only from one angle that required I stand in the middle of the road to get these two shots.



This was my second sighting of a Snowy Owl having seen two on a recent visit to Brigantine. One of them was on the rocks by the Wildlife Drive. Here's one of the pictures I took then: