RTY Photography Blog

My buddy Marco Crupi (Nada Mas Photography) and myself started out heading to the Barnegat Bay to photograph the sunset. A couple of hours later we had photographed a fox, a snowy owl, and finally the sunset. It was a pretty exciting day down at Island Beach State Park. The weather was quite mild walking down the beach looking for the snowy, but as the sun went down, it became windy and bitter cold on the way back. When we finally got to the bay in South Seaside Park, my hands and face were frozen. Still a pretty awesome day thanks to a red fox, an owl, and mother nature.

Where’s Waldo?

After a few weeks with no luck, I was able to locate the Snowy Owl at Island Beach State Park again. On the way home. I stopped at the Barnegat Bay for sunset.

I headed back to the Edwin B. Forsythe Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, NJ in search of the Snowy Owl. I had been there twice with no luck. Today I got lucky, not only did I see the Snowy, but also a Peregrine Falcon and several herons.

Snowy Owls in New Jersey are a rarity. But, this year several sightings have been reported along the Jersey Shore. Sandy Hook, Island Beach State Park, and Forsythe Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville are a few of the locations. On Monday morning, I headed to Forsythe to try to find one. I did locate two Snowy Owls there, but they where too far away to photograph. On my way home I decided to give Island Beach a shot. I was trekking through the sand heading to the inlet about two miles away where it was last spotted. Along the way I just happened to look over my right shoulder and sitting on a dune directly in the sunlight was the shadow of the Snowy Owl. I couldn’t believe how lucky I got. The rest was magic for me.  These moments in nature don’t come very often.

Several different species of ducks spend the winter on the estuary out back. The hooded mergansers with their white heads are the most prominent. They are very cautious and tough to photograph. The mallards, which stay all year round, are the most fun to watch especially once the water freezes.