After helping me sort the beach trash from Sandy Hook, Tyler Sacks said he wanted to help with a beach clean-up. He also suggested going to Barnegat because on a recent trip he had seen a really trashy beach in the bay. I liked the idea of Barnegat because I had never been there at this time of year and I was told the birding was awesome. So for this post, Tyler and I set out to Barnegat to do some birding and take out some trash.
Our first stop was at the lighthouse for some birding. Walking along the jetty one of the first species we came across were Long-tailed Ducks. Most were swimming just off of the jetty, but some like the male on the right were just sitting in the sun on the rocks.
One of the most magnificent birds of the day were Harlequin Ducks. This male swimming above jumped right out of the water in front of us and is the same duck as the one in the photo below. It spent a short time on the rock out of the water, then jumped right back in.
The male Harlequin is on the left, the female on the right. It was amazing how close we were and that these birds didn't mind us being there.
This is a male Red-breasted Merganser. We saw a few of these, but they were not nearly as numerous as the Long-taileds or Harlequins.
Common Loons were diving and coming up with whole crabs. This one seemed to have a little trouble getting its catch down.
A Red-throated Loon. This is the same species I found dead in netting at Presque Isle. It is much better finding them happy and healthy swimming around.
There were a few Black Scoter swimming near the end of the jetty. This individual is a male.
On the Jetty itself there were many shorebirds, including this Ruddy Turnstone. Most of the Turnstones and Purple Sandpipers were picking food off of the rocks.
With such a close look I could see why this species is called a Purple Sandpiper. The feathers actually have a purple look to them. Every other time I have seen these they were too far away to see that.
This was a species I really wanted to see. It is a Common Eider and this was only the second time I had seen one. The first time up close. The Eiders were hanging out at the very end of the jetty. Recently a King Eider had been spotted at this location, but that was nowhere to be seen.
After the jetty we grabbed something to eat then it was off to the trashy beach. This beach in the bay was part of a park, but I can't recall the name of it. Barnegat Light was strait across the bay from it.
Tyler and I started filling our packs picking through the debris pile right away. We knew we weren't going to get everything so we were a little selective on what we were picking up.
I was trying to find as many plastic utensils as possible. It always surprises me the amount of these and plastic bottle caps that make it into our waterways.
No need to bring bags when you can find them. Tyler pulled this feed bag out of the sand. There were several others, but they were full of sand and even with the two of us weren't movable.
Then we found places like this. Broken down styrofoam and small plastics about a foot deep. How does one even remove stuff like this? All of these items break down into smaller pieces, but never really degrade completely. We tried to pick up as many of the larger pieces as possible, so they don't add to these tiny piece piles.
As we were walking down the beach this Ring-billed Gull caught a crab and was trying to break it open. It was just about the only bird on this section of beach. There were ducks out on the water, but nothing really close.
This was our haul for the day. A bag, pack and two planting buckets full of trash. There was still much, much more on the beach that we didn't have time to get to.
We didn't fill the back of my car, but I think we did a decent job. On your next trip to the beach, take a bag or find a bag, fill it and properly dispose of it. We all need to do more to help keep our oceans clean for wildlife and ourselves!
Tundra Swans were on my list of bird species wanted to see this year. I had never seen them before and really until this past year I didn't even know they existed. On our way out to Barnegat we made a quick stop at a cranberry bog in the pine barrens to try to find some other birds and there they were. Tundra Swans! Tyler had just seen some on Green Lane Park a week prior, but for me they were a life bird! It wasn't just one or two either there were about fifty of them.
This group flew from one pond to another joining a larger group. They are just magnificent birds. It is amazing what you find when you aren't looking for it.
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