On Saturday, Linda Scrima, Maria Loukeris, and I went on our annual trip to the north Jersey Shore. It was a gorgeous day; mostly sunny with temperatures much warmer than the recent cold spell we’ve been going through. Our main target for the day was the Harlequin Ducks that had been seen at Shark River Inlet in recent days. We made it our first stop of the day; we did not have any luck with the Harlequin Ducks, but a sharp looking young Iceland Gull was a nice consolation.
Our next stop was Manasquan Inlet. We had mostly the usual suspects, but the beautiful weather combined with so many birds provided plenty of good photo ops. Loons were less prominent than we’ve experienced in years past, with just a few Common Loons and no Red-throated Loons at all. Black Scoters were everywhere, so were Long-tailed Ducks. The highlight at that location, however, was a sizeable flock of Purple Sandpipers that cooperated for some nice photo ops.
We decided to give the Harlequin Ducks another shot on our way home, and our persistence paid off. As soon as we arrived, a young birder got out of his car to inform us that they had recently been seen. We walked the beach, search near several jetties before finally finding (4) Harlequin Ducks. It was pretty much the icing on the cake for an already excellent day. We also added our first Common Eiders of the day to our list. The sea air and the great birds did wonders for my disposition; it really was a nice refreshing day at the beach with good friends and good birding.
