Wildwood Crest ~ Sunset Lake, NJ

Drake Bufflehead 

Horned Grebe

Horned Grebes

Red-breasted Merganser

Cox Hall Creek WMA

Double-crested Cormorant

Redhead Ducks

Ring-necked Duck

Villas, NJ ~ Lake Champlain

Drake Hooded Merganser

Drake Mallard

Hen Mallard

Avalon 8th Street Jetty

Herring Gull with American Eel

Hen Scaup

 I am always excited to go up to see the birds at the Avalon Jetty especially the loons and ducks.  There were few of either species there.  The Purple Sandpipers never disappoint!

Purple Sandpiper

Purple Sandpipers

Fort Myers Beach, FL ~ Little Estero Critical Wildlife Area

Black Scoter Hen & Surf Scoter

Red-breasted Merganser

Osprey

Wordless Wednesday ~ Lake Champlain ~ Northern Shoveler

Wordless Wednesday ~ Cox Hall Creek WMA

Ruddy Ducks with Redhead

Nummy Island

 Another great place to visit in the winter is the free bridge along Nummy Island.  It is usually good for Horned Grebe's and Red-throated Loons with looks across the marsh of American Oystercatchers. There were a group of 7 AM's that I got good looks at while at the bridge.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Lake Champlain

Ruddy Duck

Wood Ducks

Cape May Point State Park

White Pelicans

The past few days there have been 2 White Pelicans hanging around one of the ponds with a Tundra Swan so I went over for a walk. It was great to see both of them along with a variety of ducks including American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Gadwall and of course, the ever present Mallards.

Tundra Swan

Drake Gadwall

Hen Gadwall

Hen & Drake (front) Mallards

Lake Champlain ~ Hooded Mergansers

Happy New Year! I am looking forward to another winter of seeing ducks and getting out and enjoying the wildlife that's around Cape May County in the winter.  Two favorite places to visit are Avalon 8th Street Jetty and Lake Champlain.  Today's visit was to Lake Champlain which is much closer to my home.  There were a group of Hooded Mergansers on the lake.  I just love how they look with the their hoods up.

Cape May Point State Park

American  Lady Butterfly ~ Will it be my last butterfly of 2015?

Downy Woodpecker looking for lunch

Downy Woodpecker ~ Still searching for the bugs

Carolina Chickadee

Northern Pintail (Drake)

On the Delaware Bay ~ Red-breasted Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Wordless Wednesday ~ Ross's Goose

Best looks ever at the Ross's Goose

Ross's Goose

Happy Mother's Day

Here's a collection of some of my favorite birds and their checks pictures.  Enjoy...

American Oystercatcher with days old chicks ~ South Cape Meadows, NJ

Piping Plover parent watching out for chick ~ South Cape Meadows, NJ

Piping Plover chick learning to feed at the water's edge ~ South Cape Meadows, NJ

Elegant Tern chick wanting to be feed ~ Potter's Marsh outside of Anchorage, Alaska

Clapper Rails learning to cross the water ~ Benny's landing Rd, NJ

Horned Grebe chicks take a ride on Mom's back ~ Potter's Marsh outside Anchorage, Alaska

Gainor's Visit

A friend and her hubby came over from Delaware to spend some time visiting me and go birding in Cape May County, NJ.  They got to see lots of new birds they'd never seen before plus we had a good time visiting.  Here are some pictures from our time together.