Great Blue Heron

The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to Europe, with records from Spain, the Azores, England and the Netherlands. An all-white population found only in the Caribbean and southern Florida was once treated as a separate species and known as the Great White Heron.

For more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_blue_heron

Tags:   Ardea Herodias Ardeidae Birding Birds Birdwatching Great Blue Heron Heron Jersey Shore Mother Nature New Jersey Nikon AF-S 600mm f/4G ED VR Nikon D500 Ornithology US United States Wildlife Wildlife Photography © 2018 RGL Photography Explored

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"I was out shooting Shorebirds this morning, laying my stomach when I heard a faint sniffing sound. I spun my Skimmer Pod around and saw this lone Harbor Seal about 2 feet off the beach."

Harbor Seals at Sandy Hook

The Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina), also known as the Common Seal, is a true Seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of Pinniped (walruses, eared seals, and true seals), they are found in coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Baltic and North Seas.

For more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harbor_seal

Seal Watching on Sandy Hook

The following is a blog entry from naturalist Joe Reynolds:

The seals are back!

Each winter dozens of seals, mostly Atlantic Harbor Seals, arrive from their breeding areas on beaches in northern New England and Canada to tidal sandbars, rocky reefs, and remote beaches and islands in Lower New York Bay and Sandy Hook Bay.

The seals appear in the urban wilds of the New York metropolitan region, in the shadows of tall skyscrapers and near four-lane highways, to rest and feed after a busy season of raising young and molting.

But also to compensate for the limited winter habitat in ice-filled harbors and bays, and increased completion for food up north…

For more info: patch.com/new-jersey/rumson/seal-watching-on-sandy-hook

Tags:   Common Seal Gateway National Recreation Area Harbor Seal Jersey Shore Marine Mammals Monmouth County Navesink River New Jersey Nikon AF-S 600mm F4G ED VR Nikon D500 Phoca vitulina Pinniped Sandy Hook Seal US United States Wildlife Wildlife Photography © 2018 RGL Photography

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Bottlenose Dolphin

The bottlenose dolphin is a large, sleek, gray-colored dolphin. Compared to most other dolphins, it has a stubby beak, long flippers, and a moderately tall dorsal fin. There is a crease between their forehead and beak. Their coloration is gray with countershading (darker gray on their back, with lighter gray to white on their underside).

Male bottlenose dolphins grow to a size of 8 to 12 ½ feet and 1100 pounds. The slightly smaller females grow to 7 ½ to 12 feet in length and 570 pounds. Newborn calves are 3 to 4 ½ feet in length and weigh between 31-44 pounds.

For more information: www.conservewildlifenj.org/species/fieldguide/view/Tursio...

Tags:   Bottlenose Dolphin Delphinidae Dolphin Gateway National Recreation Area Jersey Shore Marine Mammals Monmouth County New Jersey Nikon AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Nikon D610 Sandy Hook Tursiops Tursiops truncatus US United States Wildlife Wildlife Photography © 2018 RGL Photography

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Cardinal

Cardinals, in the family Cardinalidae, are passerine birds found in North and South America. They are also known as cardinal-grosbeaks and cardinal-buntings. The South American cardinals in the genus Paroaria are placed in another family, the Thraupidae.

For more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_(bird)

Tags:   Birding Birds Birdwatching Cardinal Cardinal-buntings Cardinal-grosbeaks Cardinalidae Garden State Jersey Shore Monmouth County New Jersey Nikon AF-S 600mm f/4G ED VR Nikon D500 Passerine Birds US United States Wildlife Wildlife Photography © 2018 RGL Photography

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Harbor Seals at Sandy Hook

The Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina), also known as the Common Seal, is a true Seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of Pinniped (walruses, eared seals, and true seals), they are found in coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Baltic and North Seas.

For more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harbor_seal

Seal Watching on Sandy Hook

The following is a blog entry from naturalist Joe Reynolds:

The seals are back!

Each winter dozens of seals, mostly Atlantic Harbor Seals, arrive from their breeding areas on beaches in northern New England and Canada to tidal sandbars, rocky reefs, and remote beaches and islands in Lower New York Bay and Sandy Hook Bay.

The seals appear in the urban wilds of the New York metropolitan region, in the shadows of tall skyscrapers and near four-lane highways, to rest and feed after a busy season of raising young and molting.

But also to compensate for the limited winter habitat in ice-filled harbors and bays, and increased completion for food up north…

For more info: patch.com/new-jersey/rumson/seal-watching-on-sandy-hook

Tags:   Common Seal Gateway National Recreation Area Gateway National Park Harbor Seal Herd of Seals Haul Out Jersey Shore Marine Mammals Monmouth County Navesink River Nikon AF-S 600mm F4G ED VR Nikon D500 Phoca vitulina Pinniped Sandy Hook Seal Wildlife Wildlife Photography

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