Brigantine

Roseate Spoonbill

   The first weekend of August Laurie and I went on a three day getaway. Laurie was having a tough time and needed a trip. I needed to get away from work. We went to Philadelphia for two days and went to Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey on the last day of the trip.  I had been trying to figure out a way to go to Forsythe and was hoping to make a trip there
in August anyway. When Laurie and I came up with the Philly trip it was a no brainer to me to go to the wildlife refuge also. 

   Forsythe NWR used to be called Brigantine. I don't know when they changed it. I suspect they wanted to honor Edward Forsythe, but I haven't looked into it. Most of the locals still call it Brig. That is why the name of my post is Brigantine. I guess I feel like a "real birder" calling it by its old name.

   Laurie and I left for Brig very early, I had read it was about an hour from Philadelphia, but the GPS correctly estimated it was over 90 minutes. So, we got there later than I would have liked. As we all know birds are more active in the morning. However, shorebirds and wading birds are usually active all day so I probably overreacted to our late start. 

    Brig is a birders dream. Looking at ebird lists from August of 2020 showed I could possibly see thousands of birds. Some species of shorebirds would be in the hundreds. Even the number of species was amazing. Some of the lists would have upwards of eighty species. I really wasn't worried about the number of species or number of birds. I wanted birds to look at and I had a few targets. I was hoping to see Carolina Chickadee, Black Skimmer, Gull Billed Tern, and American Avocet. None of these were lifers and it was unlikely I'd get a lifer unless a rarity showed up. 

   Within a few minutes of going through the gate we had some good birds. I saw a flock of Pectoral Sandpipers that numbered about a dozen. I had never seen more than two together.  There were some other shorebirds in the mud. Across the street I watched Black Skimmers feeding in the drainage canal. While I was looking at the shorebirds someone told me a Roseate Spoonbill had been seen in the area in the early morning. Roseate Spoonbill is a southern swamp bird. One of the few species I missed in Florida and probably number one on species I most wanted to see! 

Caspain Tern

   A little further down the road I pulled up to a group of cars with people looking at gulls and shorebirds. Immediately I saw two Caspian Terns. Caspians are the largest terns. They are as big as a gull. My big camera lens was still away waiting for backordered  parts to arrive. So I was relegated to using my inadequately small 300 mm. This was a huge disappointment not having my big lens at one of the premier destinations in the country for wildlife. 

   As I was laser focused on Caspians I was talking to a guy also getting photos. He said how amazing it was right there and didn't even care about the people. I asked him if we were both looking at the Caspians. He said "no, the Roseate Spoonbill is right there". In my least impressive acts as a birder I had another birder point out a large pink wading bird in the middle of a mudflat to me. Still, there it was, I got to see a Roseate Spoonbill. It stuck around, mostly napping, for about twenty minutes before flying over to another mudflat. I did get some photos, but even while taking them, it was crushing to think what damage I could have done with my 600 mm lens.

   Brigantine has a wildlife loop drive about 6-8 miles. It does loop back to the visitor center. Most of the road goes through a huge marsh mixed with salt ponds and mudflats. We drove down the loop twice. We left the refuge to grab some sandwiches at a gas station in between passes.  Half way through the loop I came across some Gull Billed Terns. They were pretty far out but easily seen in my spotting scope. We also saw Boat Tailed Grackle. 

   There had been a Black Bellied Whistling Duck on the refuge for a couple weeks but it was not in view while I was there with a bunch of other birders looking for it. However, the next day while I was home there was a Black Bellied Whistling Duck in Rhode Island which I got to see after work. Which was a lifer and a Rhode Island State bird for me.

Juvenile Common Tern

 

   The other target bird I needed was a Carolina Chickadee. Brig is about the northern limit of Carolina Chickadee. They are found further south in the Appalachian mountains. I actually had to work pretty hard to find one. By midday the temp was well over nintey degrees and the Greenhead flies were borderline unbearable. I walked through the short woods trails for almost an hour looking for the chickadee while killing flies that were landing on my sweaty skin. Finally I saw one eating fruit from a choke cherry tree. 

   I never did see the Avocet. Unfortunately I had to work early on Sunday so I couldn't spend the whole day there.  There were also Snow Geese somewhere on the refuge, but I simply ran out of time. None the less I got an unexpected lifer in the Spoonbill. I saw Gull Billed and Caspian Terns and Skimmers. They are all birds I love seeing. Because of all my effort to find a Carolina Chickadee, I felt good that I actually worked for and found a bird I targeted. As opposed to pulling up to a group of birders and there is a bird right in front of you, it was actually rewarding to find the chickadee.

Diamondback Terrapin

   I would definitely go back to Brig again. I'd probably go the second week of August instead of the first week. The only reason would be to hope the Greenhead flies would be more scarce.  The wildlife loop is beautiful. I'd go for two days and stay at a motel in the area. I'd bird until it got hot and cool off at a motel. The refuge is directly across the bay from Atlantic City and I could see the skyline.  The refuge is simple to get to. It is four miles from the Garden State Parkway.

Again, I can't say enough how much I wish I had my lens. I would have taken a lot more photos.