May 11 - Brigantine re-opens !

After last October's Hurricane Sandy the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, a/k/a Brigantine, was heavily damaged and has now re-opened.

click to enlarge

credit:  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Effects_of_Hurricane_Sandy_at_Edwin_B._Forsythe_National_Wildlife_Refuge._%28NJ%29.jpg

The wildlife loop was breached in several sections and required months of work to be repaired.  On Thursday evening a breeding female Red Phalarope was found, and this bird was also seen on Friday morning.  So I made the drive down here on Saturday, however the bird was not seen again after Friday.

I did however enjoy seeing the many splendid breeding plumaged Dunlin, formerly known as the Red-Backed Sandpiper.

Credit: http://www.gpnc.org/images/jpegs/animals/dunlin.jpg


Other birds seen today were Wood Duck, Northern Shoveler, Common Loon, Great Egret, Snowy egret, Black-Crowned Night-Heron, Glossy Ibis, Osprey and Clapper Rail.
Shorebirds were Black-Bellied Plover, Semiplamated Plover, Oystercatcher, Spotted Sandpiper, Willet, both Yellowlegs species, Whimbrel, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Sandpiper, western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper and Short-Billed Dowitcher.
Terns seen were Gull-Billed, Caspian & Forsters, and Black Skimmer.  Swallows were Purple Martin, Tree and Barn Swallows.  Passerines were Eastern Kingbird and White-Eyed Vireo