Road Trip!!!

Richard had recently read about a nice birding place located in Northern New Jersey .....

So today we went to Sandy Hook, New Jersey to check it out.  It took us about 2 hours to get there.  And other than it being very windy we had a great day!

We started by going to Sandy Hook lighthouse where we ate the lunch we packed.  Then stepped out into the wind to get some pictures. You can see the lighthouse in my collage ... upper center.  The lighthouse and keepers quarters were built in 1764 and is the oldest working lighthouse in the US. 

Near the lighthouse is Fort Hancock ... which is where we went next. The fort has an interesting history.  It is a former US Army fort with its first gun batteries operational in 1896. It was preceded by the Fort at Sandy Hook, built 1857–1867 and demolished beginning in 1885.  Whilst at the fort I took a pano with the new camera .... it has a built in effect for doing panorama pictures. 

After leaving the fort area we drove down to some of the beaches .... talk about being windy!!!  At one of these beaches we saw the seal in my extra photo at Horseshoe Cove.  Full disclosure ... R took this picture!  From one of the beaches on the East side of the island New York City can be seen .... lower right picture!  It was lovely!

One of the main reasons for going to Sandy Hook was for the birding.  Unfortunately, we didn't see a lot of birds other than the seagulls and a mockingbird enjoying the berries ... upper right picture.  We had fun feeding the seagulls and trying to get pictures of them in the air.  I had to use my Nikon to get the two photos that you see here. I didn't do well with the Panasonic!

We really had a wonderful day and will have to return someday when the weather is warmer!  On the way home we stopped at Costco to pick up dinner! 


Backblipped: Jan 11, 2019