Day 218: August 5th – Around the jetty

Sunny, warm (90), and WINDY

       At S 31^st Street in Beach Haven, one of the many rock jetties extends out into the Atlantic and is visible during low tide.  I decided to concentrate my efforts today around the jetty and see what I could find at this structure throughout the course of the day.

       Early in the morning, my son and grandson tried our luck with rod and reel on the south side of the jetty.  The first sighting of interest was a set of small tracks….catlike, but deeper into the sand and very small.  I wondered what could have made these tracks and found out later today that Fed foxes in the area will venture out onto the beach in search of crabs to serve their young pups. 

       While the foxes will eat Ghost crabs, I did not find any reports of them eating the Asian Shore crabs, but we did find said crabs in the jetty right next to the fox tracks when the tide dropped, exposing the jetty and allowing grandson Jackson to hunt for the crustaceans in the voids between the rocks of the jetty as the waves washed over the structure.

  

Asian Shore Crab

     Later in the day, I photographed a Herring gull working hard at picking out the small crabs and other crustaceans from between the rocks as the surf washed in, over and between the boulders of the jetty.

       As the boys fished the surf, we caught an occasional Spot croaker (aka “spot”).  Whiel the crabs we were finding on the jetty were probably too large for these croakers to ingest, they do feed on smaller crustaceans and worms….our bait of choice for the day.

       Our final sighting of the day at the jetty was a pair of Willets that wandered by.  As my son and I stood on the beach, these two sandpipers just strolled right in front of us, oblivious to our presence or at least not concerned in the least.  While they walked past the jetty, they appeared to have no interest in the structure as a potential source of food.  They never even glanced at it as they walked by.

       Tomorrow, it’s back up to the lighthouse in the hopes of finding a mink…one of three reportedly in the vicinity of the inlet.  Small chance of finding this mammal, but worth another short trip north to see if we can find it.  Wish us luck.