Say hello to spring.

As a kid I never really got all that excited about spring. To me it just meant that we still had three more months until summer. Looking at the world through a naturalist's eyes has certainly changed my opinion. It's hard not to notice all the beauty of spring when your commute to work is through a national park and the bay is right outside your office window.
After a long peaceful winter, Sandy Hook (Littoral Society headquarters) is bustling with excitement. While riding my bike to work today, I was truly able to appreciate the arrival of spring. In the blink of an eye, winter has left the Hook and made way for a blanket of green. Beach plums are in full bloom with a plethora of flowers that will hopefully bring a lot of plums! I also saw a pair of horseshoe crabs over the weekend, another sure sign of spring. The male (smaller of the pair) had clasped on to the female in anticipation that she would drag him (literally) the place that she had layed her eggs.

For me, nothing beats the return of all the spring residents of the Hook. The end of March was a waiting game for the first osprey to arrive. We had a pretty dreary March and I was itching for a sign of spring. I finally spotted him on March 26th at Horseshoe Cove, soaked to the bone from all of the rain. Now you can't drive through the Hook without seeing one. There's even a rumor that a pair is trying to nest on a crane towering over the Highlands bridge.

Sandy Hook is also a major stopover for spring migrants so we have to opportunity to get a good look at some really neat warblers. So far I've seen black and white warblers and a couple of pine warblers. Because we are so conveniently located right next to the Audubon Society building, we are lucky enough to get the inside scoop about any interesting sightings. Yesterday, Jeff got a call from Scott over at the Audubon Society. We deemed it necessary to unglue our eyes from our computer screens, grab our binoculars, and head on over. Waiting for us was a red headed woodpecker, a pretty rare find and a first for me!

Littorally Yours,
Stevie