Here’s a question for all of you birders in the northeast USA who haven’t visited Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, New Jersey – What are you waiting for?!! With more than 47,000 acres of coastal habitats and wetlands, and at least 322 species of birds reported observed, Forsythe is a true mecca for serious birders and a wonderful place even for people with just a passing interest in nature. My wife Doreen and I have taken the eight-mile Wildlife Drive through the wetlands and woodlands with the convertible top down on two glorious Fall days in September and October. Both trips did not disappoint. Fall is a great time to visit, with spectacular concentrations of migratory waterfowl on view and comfortable weather to enjoy all Forsythe has to offer. Check it out! Here’s just some of the birds we saw on our visits:
Belted Kingfisher
Forster’s Tern
Common Tern
Herring Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Laughing Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Black Skimmer
Short-billed Dowitcher
Dunlin
Lesser Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Song Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Northern Mockingbird
Gray Catbird
European Starlings
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Mute Swan
Red-winged Blackbird
Double-crested Cormorant
Mallard
Canada Goose
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
Bald Eagle