Shark River Inlet 6/20

Brown Pelicans FOY USA
(click any photo to enlarge)

I had a dental appointment this morning in Sea Girt (or Sea Grit, as Shari likes to mispronounce it), which isn't far from the Shark River Inlet so I drove up there just for the fun of looking at the Least Tern breeding colony, while at the same time hoping I'd come up with something new for the year--I was thinking Royal Tern, hoping Roseate Tern, dreaming Sandwich Tern. There is a season, tern tern tern, but this was not the season.

However, there were other rewards. In amongst the 75 to 100 terns sitting on their ridiculously rudimentary nests were a few oystercatchers and large group

Semipalmated Plover

Piping Plover

of Black Skimmers, along with one Semipalmated Plover, a rarity, it seems, this time of year in Monmouth County. There was also a more exciting Piping Plover which, since they breed in NJ, aren't considered rare. Endangered yes, but you can find them if you look in the right places. This Piping Plover was probably immature, judging from both its coloration and its fearlessness around beachgoers. I'm sure none of the other people on the beach knew there was an endangered species right under their feet. Since the bird is the color of sand, I bet half of them didn't even see it.

I also had the pleasure of running into a birder I know and she and I spent a pleasant time watching the Least Terns fly in and out, some birds bring food to the nest sitters.

Least Tern delivering food to mama and chick

The highlight there was the two birds sitting very close to the edge of the colony that had chicks. I had never seen tern chicks before (juveniles of course, but not chicks) and these were adorable. Least Terns are feisty birds and they have to be to protect their young in such open, vulnerable conditions. Nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide and I'm sure the chicks are a tasty morsel for any of the 3 species of gulls commonly found on the beach this time of year, along with crows and who know what other random predators.

I happened to glance up and look north over the jetty which is when I spotted the 3 Brown Pelicans flying over the inlet. This is early for pelicans and I was excited to see them, not remembering that I'd already seen plenty of them when we were in Mexico in April. However: country bird, state bird, county lifer bird, month bird. Plus: fun bird. How can you not love seeing these "flying boats?"

I spent a little over an hour walking around the fenced off area. I don't know who maintains this area each year, but they do a good job and I'm thankful the birds are protected. Obviously, a bird that nests in such precarious circumstances (the skimmers and oystercatchers are in the same predicament) needs all the help and isolation it can get.

My list:
16 species
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Brown Pelican 3
American Oystercatcher 4
Semipalmated Plover 1
Piping Plover 1
Laughing Gull 6
Least Tern 75
Common Tern 2
Black Skimmer 42
Rock Pigeon 1
Northern Mockingbird 2 Chasing grackle
Song Sparrow 1 Heard
Northern Cardinal 1 Flying parallel with boardwalk
Red-winged Blackbird 1 In tree at entrance
Common Grackle 10
House Sparrow 5 On jetty and beach

Least Tern & chick