A day of hooky
Marty September 24th, 2007
On Friday, I really needed a mental health day to spend with my wife. I’ve been working a ton of hours, and haven’t been out to do any real photography or birding in weeks. So, on Friday, we headed down to Forsythe NWR @ Brigantine to do some birding. There have been a lot of ‘rarities’ there like the long-standing Roseate Spoonbill, Eared Grebe and an American White Pelican. With so many things down there, it seemed the perfect place to go. I know that sometimes I can get so caught up in the excitement that I get frustrated, so I made a vow to just relax and enjoy the trip with Shari – and it worked.
The place was packed with egrets (snowy and great), herons and shorebirds of various types, as well as a wide variety of other birds. We saw 50 species in total, including a good number of cool birds. The trip added 2 lifers (†) for me, as well as some additions to my photo lifelist (*), and some NJ firsts (^): 
- American White Pelican ^
- Roseate Spoonbill * ^
- Eared Grebe * ^
- American Avocet^
- Hudsonian Godwit † ^
- Merlin † * ^
- Semipalmated Sandpiper *
- Semipalmated Plover * ^
- Peregrine Falcon
- Northern Harrier
I might have also seen a Vesper Sparrow, but I’m still trying to confirm that ID. Another birder pointed out a Baird’s Sandpiper to me, but I couldn’t see it well enough to call it. All in all a good day. Now I just need to find the time to make it to Palmyra to see some warbler migration…
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- Comments(2)
Hooky days rock and I didn’t even see anything close to these guys today! Love your photos of the falcon!
A day of hooky sounds fantastic, and exactly what I would’ve liked today. It’s unbelievable how many different kinds of birds you saw. Great way to spend a day … sure beats work!