CONNIE, BLESS HER HEART, WAS ON DECK at 4:30 AM when Venezia passed beneath the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and sailed by the Statue of Liberty so the photos from the Hudson were taken with her iPhone. We were packed and breakfasted by half-past eight and reversed our stroll down 8th Avenue to Port Authority Terminal where we caught the direct bus to Newark Airport and eventually to our waiting car.
Verrazano Narrows Bridge at Dawn
Sunrise on Statue of Liberty
Welcome to New Jersey!
'Nuff Said?
My roots may be in New Jersey but I couldn’t wait to leave. I breathed a sigh of relief when we paid the toll on the Delaware side of the I-95 bridge—NJ was a great place to grow up but I didn’t want to die there so “¡Adios, Joisey!”
Cedar Waxwing, Cape Henlopen State Park
Tufted Titmouse, Cape Henlopen State Park
We had been to Cape May for the fall bird migration years ago so we decided to give the other side of Delaware Bay a chance. Our AirBnB in Lewes DE was just up the road from Delaware Seashore State Park and President Biden’s Rehoboth Beach hide-a-way and even nearer to Cape Henlopen State Park, an autumn migration hotspot. Either we were late for the peak migration or Hurricane Helene messed up the timing. The birding was mediocre at best but I managed to photograph a few of our favorite passerines at the feeders.
Brown Pelicans, Delaware Seashore State Park
Galloping Sanderlings, Delaware Seashore State Park
Ruddy Turnstone with ID band, Delaware Seashore State Park
Delaware Seashore was—duh—on the seashore so it was mostly shorebirds. A squadron of brown pelicans glided by as a dozen ospreys patrolled the tidal rip for bluefish. Flocks of sanderlings played tag with the waves while a few dunlins and ruddy turnstones scoured the jetty for a meal. One turnstone was wearing an ID band and Connie reported his number to the folks at eBird. And I found this egg case from a skate on the beach. As kids on the Jersey Shore we used to find them often and called them “Devil’s pocketbooks.”
