New Jersey wildlife refuges winter birding Forsythe Holgate

I’m not a great bird photographer. I could be more patient, and with just an iPhone, the great shots are pretty limited.

But I love being at a wildlife refuge in winter. The unique winter birds. The solitude. The quiet.

Just the sound of a few birds and the dry brown grasses blowing in the wind.

Collecting sounds, not photos

What I do collect is bird sounds. I use the Merlin Bird ID app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. You hold up your phone, and it listens and tells you who’s singing.

Last winter at the Holgate end of Long Beach Island, Merlin picked up a brant. That’s a small, dark sea goose that winters along our coast.

It got me wondering: Was Brant Beach, just up the island, named after them? Or after somebody named Brant? I couldn’t find a clear answer. If you know, tell me.

🔗 Winter gems of the Jersey Shore: Quiet towns & off-season adventure

The Holgate unit of the Forsythe refuge is open to the public from Sept. 1 through March 31. (Eric “EJ” Johnson, Townsquare Media)

Holgate: Only open half the year

Holgate, at the southern tip of LBI, is part of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. It’s open to the public only from Sept. 1 to March 31, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The rest of the year it closes to protect nesting piping plovers. About a third of New Jersey’s plovers nest on the Forsythe refuge, according to the sign at the entrance.

So right now is your window. Walk out on a clear day and you can see the Atlantic City skyline across the inlet. Keep an eye out for seals hauled out on the beach, too, and give them plenty of room.

The Brigantine Wilderness of the Forsythe refuge, with the Atlantic City skyline in the distance. | Google Maps

New Jersey’s 5 national wildlife refuges

Edwin B. Forsythe, Galloway Township: The big one, at more than 48,000 acres. The 8-mile Wildlife Drive is open sunrise to sunset year-round and costs $4 a car, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. It includes the Holgate unit on LBI.
Cape May, Cape May County: Units along Delaware Bay, the Great Cedar Swamp and a barrier island, per NJ Spots. Cape May is one of the best birding spots in the country.
Great Swamp, Morris County: Trails and bird blinds through swamp and woods, just outside Basking Ridge, about 40 minutes from Manhattan.
Supawna Meadows, Salem County: Tidal marsh along the Delaware River, home to the Finn’s Point Rear Range Lighthouse.
Wallkill River, Sussex County: Four walking trails, including 2 miles of the Appalachian Trail, plus canoeing and kayaking.

Ducks and herons on a partly frozen creek at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware. (Linda Johnson)

Worth the drive: Bombay Hook, Delaware

My favorite might not even be in New Jersey.

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge sits along Delaware Bay near Smyrna, Delaware, about a half-hour south of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. It covers about 16,000 acres, mostly tidal salt marsh, with a 12-mile wildlife drive, seven walking trails and three observation towers, according to Visit Central Delaware. It’s known for huge flocks of snow geese in late fall and winter.

We walked a snow-covered boardwalk out into the marsh there last winter. My wife got the best bird photo of the day, so she gets the credit.