The girls I work with are good sports, for the most part. On a lark I invited them to a bird walk sponsored by Monmouth County Audubon out at Sandy Hook tonight. We’d been looking forward to it for a month or so. We arrived almost an hour late, but just in time for the *death march* out the Fisherman’s Trail to the very tip of the Hook. It’s not a terribly long walk, but the trail through the dunes is all soft sand, lined on both sides with poison ivy, beach plums (almost ripe!) and bayberry. The wind direction was good so that at least there weren’t any bugs biting to make the hike any more miserable.

We didn’t see a great number of birds, but enjoyed instead a beautiful sunset over the water. We did have nice looks at osprey, some southbound plovers, and many far away peeps. I was most impressed with the swarms of swallows going to roost as we made our way back through the dunes to the parking lot. This wasn’t the greatest trip for getting beginners interested in birds; I knew that would be the case, but I think Sandy Hook on a summer evening is one of the prettiest places to be and any birds are just a bonus. We ended our excursion with dinner at the Chinese place around the corner from my house and I think there might have been a stop for ice cream after they dropped me home.

The photo at right above shows the Three Birding Stooges – Debbie, Linda, and Debbie’s daughter (who must be one of the cutest kids ever! – she passed up going to the fireworks tonight to come along on our walk).