I arrived just before 6:30 to find that Marc C. and Bob D. had already arrived and not found the bird. The pair walked north just outside the Piping Plover enclosure, as other birders of Bob A. and Peter K. also arrived to look for the Wilson's.
After 30 minutes or so Marc & Bob D. left, and shortly thereafter so did Bob A. The weather started clearing so I began walking north in hopes of spotting the Wilson's. After about 200 yards I scoped farther north on maximum zoom and saw what appeared to be a dark-backed plover laying in the sand. I walked another 100 yards north and scoped again, this time I could be certain the bird was indeed the Wilson's Plover. I turned around to alert the other birders yet they had all left already !
I continued walking another 150-200 yards north, stopping intermittently to scope the bird again and confirm it was the Wilson's.
The Wilson's Plover is NJ Bird # 393 for me.
click to enlarge
Other species seen here today were Piping Plovers, Sanderling, Oystercatchers, Willet, Spotted Sandpiper, Gannet, Common and Least Terns, and a Merlin that took a Barn Swallow while in flight !
