Island Beach SP 6/9--Piping Plover, Brown Pelican

Piping Plover

The lesson for today is: You've got the scope on your shoulder, put it down and use it--you might see something. I went to Island Beach today for the first time in months, hoping to find Brown Pelican and figuring I might get lucky and see my first Piping Plover of the year, though Barnegat Light or Holgate are more reliable spots. 

I was lucky first, but only because I set up the scope. About halfway to the inlet from A23 (which was closed to parking [pandemic restrictions]so I had to start my trek about an 1/8 of mile north from A22), I saw two American Oystercatchers at the edge of the surf through my binoculars. They were the first birds of interest I'd seen--everything else was a gull--and I saw them clearly enough with bins. Those big red beaks are hard to miss. But I spread out the legs of the scope and took a

American Oystercatchers

closer look and there, running around with them was the Piping Plover, the color of the sand and almost impossible to see without magnification. Long before my approach brought me near, the trio moved up into the sand, deftly avoiding the many vehicles speeding along the beach. 

There wasn't much else to see all the way to the inlet and nothing in the inlet itself. Not surprising considering the number of jet skis and power boats, not to mention two Coast Guard cutters practicing towing each other. My normal route is to walk to the back of the inlet. I passed a couple of Eastern Kingbirds that seemed out of place hunting in the sandy area and

Eastern Kingbird

perching on fence poles, but there still seemed to be no activity in the inlet. I was wondering if it was worth walking all the way back since it was high tide and the remnant of the old dike and all the little outcroppings were covered in water. Still, I though there might be something interesting in the pool at the very beginning of the jetty, so I kept walking. After a little turn I stood on a rock and very distantly saw a few birds perched out near one of the Sedge Islands. 

Again, looking through my binoculars they seemed to be cormorants and gulls. But scanning with the scope I found among the cormorants one pelican swimming along. Much too far for my

Brown Pelican with Double-crested Cormorant

camera, but I did manage a couple of digiscope pix. Again, the lesson is not to be so lazy. It's ridiculous. I carry the scope for a mile and half and yet I have to force myself to look through it. There's no rational explanation. 

The walk back seemed a lot longer than the walk out. The oystercatchers were still in place, but the plover was gone. I submitted a band report on the plover and got a report back almost immediately. His name is Pinto, he was was fledged & banded about 8 miles north along the shore in 2019 and those tracking him have yet to find him with a nest. 

21 species (+1 other taxa)

American Oystercatcher  2

Piping Plover  1

Laughing Gull  70

Ring-billed Gull  1    Back of inlet

Herring Gull  10

Great Black-backed Gull  8

Sterna sp.  1

Double-crested Cormorant  11

Brown Pelican  1

Great Egret  1

Snowy Egret  1

Glossy Ibis  1

Osprey  2

Eastern Kingbird  2

Fish Crow  5

Gray Catbird  1

Northern Mockingbird  1    Heard

Song Sparrow  3

Eastern Towhee  1    Heard

Common Grackle  1

Common Yellowthroat  2

Yellow Warbler  2