On our way up the Parkway to the Metropark train station, we detoured on Rt 36 and spent about 45 minutes birding Seven Presidents Park in Long Branch. (Seven presidents reputedly summered in Long Branch; let's see..
.Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Harrison, McKinley, and Wilson.) Birds were sparse in the trees, in the field, on the beach, and in the ocean. Except for gulls; plenty of gulls. I considered using Brant for Bird A Day, then Yellow-rumped Warbler, but settled on one of my favorites, the little wind-up toy-like Sanderlings, a few of which were scurrying along the edge of the water and were FOY. We were only able to garner 11 species; neither of us felt like standing too long in the cold waiting for ducks to fly by.
Brant 125
Canada Goose 25
Greater/Lesser Scaup 2
Bufflehead 12
Ruddy Duck 10
Sanderling 4
Ring-billed Gull 200
Herring Gull 50
American Crow 1 Heard
Northern Mockingbird 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 3
Song Sparrow 1
We drove up Rt 36 through some of the Sandy-damaged towns along that long spit of land that terminates in Sandy Hook of sainted memory. Speaking of saints:
We came across this boat atop a sand pile in Monmouth Beach. I make no speculations as to whether the grouping is deliberate or random.
From a different angle the scene becomes more dramatic.
Seeing these abandoned stuffed toys reminded me of a scene from a few weeks ago when I was on Long Beach Island:
Has anyone considered that there was so much debris spread around because we have so much junk to start out with?
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