The others may be done talking about our weekend in Cape May, but I’m only just getting around to sorting through my photos from the trip. Most are dreary and awful because, well, the weather was, but maybe I can salvage enough to offer up something that you haven’t already read about on their blogs.
I’d intended to get down to Cape May early in the morning on Friday, but decided instead to take my time and stop at a few places on the way south that might make the best of the stormy weather. I visited The Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor to dry out some around lunchtime, but mostly because I knew there’d be nice congregations of great and snowy egrets feeding in the salt marshes along the causeway. I took this pic from their parking lot; you can see through the gloom the type of development that is typical on the barrier islands of the Jersey Shore. The habitat loss has destroyed nesting sites fo
r birds and other critters. The Wetlands Institute does a lot of work to restore habitat for diamondback terrapins and it was this that interested me. Just out of sight in the foreground of the photo is an artificial nesting site created for them as an alternative to nesting on the embankments along the causeway.
About the time that Susan was making a wrong turn on the Atlantic City Expressway and heading for Camden of all places, I was at the Sea Watch in Avalon. Seawatching isn’t for everyone, especially in the pouring rain, but the scoter show was phenomenal on Friday – 158,000 birds passed the counter, most of them scoters! Of course I couldn’t really see them through the rain and the foggy windows of my car, but wave after wave of migrating seabirds is spectacular, no matter the weather, really. I also spotted some newly arrived brant; they’ve been here at Sandy Hook for two weeks or so, but I’m not ready to hear their wintry calls just yet.
It’s amazing to me that even a few spots along the Jersey Shore stayed relatively free of development. This one short strip (~100 miles) of shoreline had to satisfy the resort needs for two major cities and everyone in between. And most of that development was done before there was much concern for open space preservation.
Exactly, John. Sandy Hook is one (and is currently threatened with development, God help us) and there’s Island Beach. Some shore towns have been a bit more responsible, but the push of development is hard at the shore.
I kind of wish I had gone all the way into Camden. Just for a minute. It would give me street cred.
No, Susan. Stay away from street cred in Camden.
When we lived in DE for a few years, we had tri-state (Delaware Valley) news from Philly. Laura, we watched Action News with Monica Malpass? Do you?
Your photos are great, Laura, showing the stormy beaches. I wish you had more blue skies last week…
I’m looking forward to more of your photos and narratives.
Laura, I clicked on that picture to enlarge it and found that those are all houses in the background–holy crap!! Is that area continuing to develop or is it completely built-up now? It’s sad to see how much habitat is being lost to development all the time–we have the same problem around here.
Susan: Mary’s right. You might end up a victim of a random shooting or something. Hardly worth it.
Mary: No, I get my news from the local paper. Or channel 7 in NYC.
RuthieJ: It’s all built up but for the beach.
;-(
At least they’ve left the marshes alone, at least until they figure out how to build on them.
Aww, Mom! Ya never let me have any fun.
Now, Susan, don’t talk back to your mother or it’ll be no supper for you, young lady. And no TV either.
Besides, didn’t you get ya street cred running red lights in Cape May? You scofflaw, you.
Delia: She is!