Saturday, April 20, 2024

Saturday Critters #540

More from The Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge

The drive looks primarily like this...

"This refuge center is about an hours drive from home and one of the best I have ever visited.
It protects more than 48,000 acres of southern New Jerseys coastal habitats and wetlands.
There are several hiking trails and one 8 mile wildlife drive, 
where you can stay in your car and observe the wildlife from the comfort of your vehicle.
You are permitted to leave your car to take pictures.
There were so many reeds and so much vegetation growing along the shoreline,
it was difficult, at times, to get good, if any, pictures of certain species.
They have a recorded bird list with over 360 species sighted.
I took over 400 pictures when we visited on Easter Sunday, 
so I have a lot to share and will be sharing them over a period of time."


Northern Shovelers
I usually see this duck at Lake of the Lilies but did not this year.
Only present at the Jersey Shore during the winter, 
they are easy to identify due to its long, flattened bill, like a shovel.
The male has a shiny green head, white breast and chestnut on its flanks and belly.

 
Northern Shoveler


Greater Yellow Legs
A robust, elegant wading bird with extremely long, orange-yellow legs.
They have a long, thick bill turned slightly upward which you can see in this picture.
This bird has a beautiful wing pattern, and my bird book says it is here only in winter.
They have frenetic feeding habits.



Greater Yellow Legs


As I was photographing the Yellowlegs, I saw this...

Great Blue Heron out of the corner of my eye.
It seems he bit off more than he could chew and threw the fish back.

Sharing today's images with Eileen at 
Viewing Nature With Eileen 
for Saturday Critters

9 comments:

Breathtaking said...

Hello Debbie :=)
The Northern Shoveler is a lovely duck, and the Greater Yellow Legs has beautiful patterned feathers. I'm wondering if it's feet are yellow too! It looks to either have black feet or have something stuck to at least one of it's feet!! You took an amazing action shot of the Great Blue Heron, but the fish had a lucky day.I hope you are completely better now.
All the best
Sonjia.

Debbie said...

sonjia, it's feet and part of it's legs are covered in mud!! i will comment on your blog and let you know!!

The Furry Gnome said...

A Shoveller would be unusual to see around here, but we do see Yellowlegs as they're passing through.

RedPat said...

I have never seen a Northern Shoveler before.

Lowcarb team member said...

I did enjoy your photographs especially the Great Blue Heron with that fish!

Have a lovely weekend.

All the best Jan

Anonymous said...

I did enjoy your photographs especially the Great Blue Heron with that fish!

Have a lovely weekend.

All the best Jan
https://thelowcarbdiabetic.blogspot.com/

Marie Smith said...

Great capture of the heron. Love the Northern Shovelers.

Conniecrafter said...

Nice that they have a drive for those of us that can't walk far :) It looks like the bottom is a little thick mud. Wow he did catch a big fish, that would have kept him full for awhile!

eileeninmd said...

Hello Debbie,
I am not sure if my comments are going thru or my memory is bad.
I thought I left a comment on this post.
I enjoyed your visit to the wildlife refuge, one of my favorite places.
Love the ducks, Yellowlegs and the Heron, great photos.
Thanks so much for linking up and sharing your post.
Take care, enjoy your day and have a great week ahead.
PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.