North Shore (NJ) Birds

[Ed Vatza]

Anyone out there hit the North Shore ponds (Belmar, Spring Lake, Sea Girt, Point Pleasant) yet this year? Anything interesting happening there yet? Anything in the inlets (Shark River, Manasquan)? Its probably just a touch early yet but I thought I'd ask.

 

[denise ippolito]

Ed, I am from that area. I was at Lake Como yesterday, Ruddy ducks,a few Mute Swans,some gulls and mallards-oh ya cormorrants. I don't go to the inlets .What do you usually find at the inlets?

 

[Ed Vatza]

Love those North Shore ponds. We usually start in Point Pleasant and Manasquan Inlet and work our way north to Belmar and Shark River Inlet with a stop for lunch at Rod's in Sea Girt or Who's on Third in Spring Lake.

Manasquan Inlet is good for wintering loons, some ducks, grebes, purple sandpipers and such. Shark River is a crap shoot. Sometimes there are loons, grebes and such in the inlet and other times, nothing. I will say that for the past two years there has been a small flock of snow buntings wintering in the dune grasses on the Belmar side of SRI.

But I love to hit Wreck Pond. Spring Lake, Lake Como. Silver Lake (my favorite) as well as the ponds in PP.

 

[denise ippolito]

I'll have to check out manasquan inlet. I usually go there for sunset shots.

 

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Denise and Ed,
Let me know if you are planning a trip down there..........mot to far from me (well, at least closer than Ed)......so I'll try and meet you down there for early am or late pm photography.

 

[denise ippolito]

Roman , I live close to Manasquan so if you or Ed want to go shoot around here let me know I'll meet you.

 

[Ed Vatza]

I was seriously thinking about stopping down this morning but we changed our mind and headed to Peace Valley here in PA. We are thinking of next weekend - weather permitting. The drill will probably be Manasquan Inlet to Lake Louise to Little Silver Lake to Lake of the Lilies all in Point Pleasant then to Sea Girt/Spring Lake for lunch before hitting Wreck Pond, Spring Lake, Lake Como and Silver Lake. We end up at Shark River Inlet. We have often hit all of them in one trip. Depends on what we find to shoot along the way. If all else fails, there's always Sea Girt Lighthouse.

Any updates from this week would be greatly appreciated.

 

[denise ippolito]

Ed, Went out yesterday to Spring Lake- Windy, alot of Mallards and Canadian Geese, some cormorrants 1 Mute Swan in back pond .Went to manasquan inlet this morning -Gulls and mallards. Lake Como- pond ducks, cormorrants another type of duck too far out to see ,Gulls and 3 Mute Swans. Smithville-Great White Fronted Geese ,Mallards and common pond ducks Hope this helps, suppose to get cold by end of week

 

[Ed Vatza]

Ed, Went out yesterday to Spring Lake- Windy, alot of Mallards and Canadian Geese, some cormorrants 1 Mute Swan in back pond .Went to manasquan inlet this morning -Gulls and mallards. Lake Como- pond ducks, cormorrants another type of duck too far out to see ,Gulls and 3 Mute Swans. Smithville-Great White Fronted Geese ,Mallards and common pond ducks Hope this helps, suppose to get cold by end of week

Thanks Denise. Doesn't sound like much going on yet. Still a day on the North Shore is better than a day stuck here in Pennsylvania. So we may still stop over on the weekend - weather permitting, of course. If not the North Shore, maybe Forsythe down in Brigantine.

Hey since you're a local maybe you can help us out. Since last winter, my wife and I have gone vegetarian. So I'm not sure Rod's in Sea Girt or Who's on Third in Spring Lake will continue to meet our lunchtime needs. Any places down that way that you are familiar with that are open during the off season and might be good for vegetarian repast?

 

[denise ippolito]

Ed, If you come on a Saturday-The Beanery in Point Pleasant serves some vegetarian dishes they are closed on Sundays and are located close to the intersection of Arnold Ave. and Bay Ave.I know that there are a few vegetarian restaurants in Red Bank. Downtown Manasquan has the Broadway Grill- They use to make a good Veggie burger. Slim pickins' around here.

 

[Dave Woeller]

Hi guys, My wife and I spent some time at Forsythe this past Saturday (before the monsoon hit ). The place was loaded with Brant. They were coming in in waves. Also saw hooded mergansers and bufflehead, and mallards. Also saw few cormorrant and just a couple herons. There were no terns to be seen on that day. Hope you all have good shooting this weekend. By the way Ed where in Barnegat are you finding the Harlequins? Barnegat is not that much farther up the road for me.

 

[Ed Vatza]

Ed, If you come on a Saturday-The Beanery in Point Pleasant serves some vegetarian dishes they are closed on Sundays and are located close to the intersection of Arnold Ave. and Bay Ave.I know that there are a few vegetarian restaurants in Red Bank. Downtown Manasquan has the Broadway Grill- They use to make a good Veggie burger. Slim pickins' around here.

Thanks for the tips. Somewhere along the line, we'll come on a Saturday and when we do, we'll try The Beanery.

 

[denise ippolito]

Dave, I saw Brants there last week. Did not see Hooded Mergansers-would love to get a shot of one of those. Where were they hanging out? Was it toward end of drive near bend?

 

[Ed Vatza]

By the way Ed where in Barnegat are you finding the Harlequins? Barnegat is not that much farther up the road for me.

Get on to LBI and hang a left. Follow the main road to the north until it ends at Barngat Lighthouse which is at the inlet. The jetty run out along the inlet from the lighthouse. Harlequins can be found anywhere along the jetty but most often farther out off of the rocks and past the nice paved walkway part of the jetty. But it is a little early in the season for the Harlequins. When you go there, be careful. The jetty can be very slippery particularly on cold damp mornings. I took a nasty fall there last year. Save the camera/lens/tripod but banged up my knees pretty good.

 

[Dave Woeller]

Denise, The brant were on the first leg of the drive not too far past the first observation tower. They were in the channel on the right hand (or passenger ) side of the drive. The mergansers were on the last leg of the drive as you head back toward the mainland. Again they were on the passenger side of the car or north side of the road. Hope you can get some good shots.

Ed, Thanks for the information, and I'm glad you were not injured or damaged your equipment. Boy some of the things we do to get these shots!!! Have you ever stopped by the Forsythe refuge walkway and deck on Bay Avenue in Barnegat? We stumbled onto it a while back. Not great for photography, and there was no activity the day we were there. Maybe we just hit a bad day.

 

[denise ippolito]

North Shore Ponds-( Lake Como) I was there yesterday I saw- 1 Belted Kingfisher,several Hooded Mergansers, loads of Canadian Geese, several Mallards & Ruddy Ducks and an asst. of Gulls and Cormorants
Manasquan Reservoir - I was there today and saw-Mallards,Canadian Geese, Ruddy Ducks,Hooded Mergansers, Bluejays, Northern Cardinals, Nuthatches and Woodpeckers, 2Hawks,1Belted Kingfisher and 2 Mute Swans along w/ an asst. of Gulls ,crows and pigeons!

 

[Ed Vatza]

Hey Denise,

I am assuming that those North Shore ponds are all pretty well frozen over. Are you aware of any open open spots where the ducks might congregate? I remember finding such on Como and one or two other lakes in years past. I am contemplating a trip on Saturday. That is if we decide on Longwood Gardens on Sunday.

 

[denise ippolito]

Ed, What do you see at Longwood Gardens this time of year? I've never been.

Lake Como had some clear spots last week,so did alot of the other ponds-but this week has been cold and windy at the shore and I haven't been out there since. I probably won't get out there myself till Sunday.

 

[Ed Vatza]

Ed, What do you see at Longwood Gardens this time of year? I've never been.

Lake Como had some clear spots last week,so did alot of the other ponds-but this week has been cold and windy at the shore and I haven't been out there since. I probably won't get out there myself till Sunday.

Thanks, Denise. Not sure what we'll do tomorrow. Sandy Hook is a possibility as is a trip down to Barnegat Light. I haven't had a chance to photograph the Harlequins yet this year. And I understand there are a number of Oldsquaw coming in pretty close to the jetty. With the bit of a warm up, I would hope the jetties won't be icy.

Longwood Gardens has an indoor conservatory that has flowers year around. Their spring orchid exhibit begins tomorrow and runs through March something, I think. Anita is the Longwood Gardens expert. She goes there regularly.

 

[denise ippolito]

Ed, Just took a ride over to Lake Como for you to check it out. Almost all frozen w/ a few open spots on N.E. side- I saw 100's of Gulls and Canadian Geese w/ a handful of Mallards-nothing else. Heard it's suppose to get very cold Sunday. Thanks for the tip on Longwood Gardens.