Day 237: August 24th – Back to the Brig

Sunny, low 80s, calm winds

        We’ve had many a fine view of the comical Reddish egret down in our Florida haunts.  The bird is so easy to pick out even at a considerable distance because he acts like he has had far too many cups of espresso earlier in the day.   The bird will bounce around like he is on a trampoline as he folds his wings up into the hooding position hunting for small bait fish which swarm to the shadow of his wings.  This week, one of the few sightings of this bird in New Jersey has brought a good number of birders down to the Brig to be able to see this southern specialty in a location far too north for the field guides.

       This bird is a juvenile and lacks the plumage from which he gets his name.  But the gestures of the bird in the shallows of the refuge don’t lie.  This is a Reddish…..not doubts about it.

       It didn’t take us long to find the bird.  Just look for the cars amassed along the wildlife drive and you have a pretty good idea of where you might find this New Jersey oddity.  Well worth the time and effort to get down here to the Brig…..not that you ever really need a reason to come down to this birding mecca.

       We checked out a few more places where we wanted to follow up observations that we had made the previous trip down.  One area we really wanted to check out was a Marsh wren nest that was being constructed in pretty good view of the “Eco-trail” Boardwalk.  Our good friends who have a summer place neat the refuge had been down just this week and had seen the parent bird feeding its young in the nest.  With eager anticipation of capturing a few great parenting images, we drove over to the site after getting our Reddish shots.  Alas, the nest was empty.  Obviously the  little guys had fledged.  Good for them!  Not so good for us!

 

       Directly across from the nest, an American goldfinch busied itself stripping the seeds from one of the marsh bushes.  Just as I prepared to shoot, the bird took flight and bid me adieu.

       We still found the terns here.  Why should they leave after all?  The weather is still fine.  The bait fish are still visible from the roiling water in the flats.  The old saying of “birds of a feather” didn’t exactly hold true, however as we found Black skimmers, Forster’s terns, gulls of the Laughing, Greater Black-backed, and Ring-billed varieties all hanging out together on the same sand bars.

       In all, we tallied just shy of 40 species today.  You never really get disappointed when you visit the Brig.  It’s one of those magical spots you never say no to when the opportunity to bird here arises.  If you love birds and have the opportunity (and don’t mind nasty little biting flies in summer) make it a point to visit the Brig.