Some rare feathered visitors are at Forsythe

[Beach&Barrens]

I spent the day bird watching recently at Forsythe in Galloway and got to see a couple of birds who rarely come this far south: the Roseate Spoonbill and American Avocet. Beautiful! I also saw many Great and Snowy Egrets, some cormorants, a Glossy Ibis, and a Diamondback Terrapin. The green heads were awful, though. I drove the Wildlife Drive loop and had to keep my windows closed. They were bombarding my Jeep.

Here are some photos. There are more in my post on my Beach and Barrens blog.

 

[manumuskin]

I haven't seen a spoonbill since I lived in Florida! did you get any pics of it?

 

[Sue Gremlin]

Roseate spoonbill??! In NJ!?
And an avocet? These are amazeballs!

 

[Beach&Barrens]

I haven't seen a spoonbill since I lived in Florida! did you get any pics of it?

In the first shot in my post, it's the bird on the left. That's the closest picture I got. There's another shot of one in my blog that's a bit further away. And also got this one.

 

[Beach&Barrens]

Roseate spoonbill??! In NJ!?
And an avocet? These are amazeballs!

Apparently, the avocet is more frequently seen at times, but this is not its typical range. I've made quite a few visits to Forsythe this year and had some really cool encounters. My favorite so far was when a bald eagle I was photographing got curious about my camera and hovered over me. I also have a blog post about that with a link to a bunch of photos.

Here's one of my favorite shots from that day.

 

[Teegate]

Great photo. Thank you for posting it.

 

[manumuskin]

In the first shot in my post, it's the bird on the left. That's the closest picture I got. There's another shot of one in my blog that's a bit further away. And also got this one. View attachment 15960

I hadn't noticed the bill in the profile shot.yes now I can tell but the post you just put up shows it better