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Sunny days, rain and wind help break up most of the ice on the river and bay in mid-February. Note the size of the swells and ice chunks smashing against the rocks. On calm days, you might catch sight of a seal resting on the ice flows. |
 Wind-blown ice crystals range from freshwater to salty, depending on how they were formed and at what temperature. |
 Typically, winds, waves and currents push the ice to the bayside of Sandy Hook. Much of it is piled high by the tides. |
 Looking among the ice patches, birdwatchers have their best chance of seeing an uncommon winter bird, the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) |
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Diving birds are a clue that there are still many fishes in the bay. Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola) also dive to feed on bottom creatures. |
 Robins (Turdus migratorius) are present at along the coast all winter long, but congregate at Sandy Hook to gulp down all of the fruit from plants like holly and poison ivy. A flock can clear most of the fruit off a tree in a few minutes. We call it a Valentines Day massacre. |
 Heavy snow cover and frozen ground prevent the robin from feeding on worms. |
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A survey of Sandy Hook's plantlife reveals that most of the trees here produce fruit, demonstrating that birds are responsible for spreading the seeds of many of the forest plants found here. "I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs." Joseph Addison |
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(Left) The cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) is sometimes one of our most common land birds in the winter. It too relies on berries from trees to sustain it in the cold weather. |
 It's hard to tell if there is a shadow for the groundhog to see in this image. |
 In nearby freshwater wetlands, the skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) is usually considered the first plant to blossom in the spring. |
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Like the swallows of Capistrano, the ospreys of Sandy Hook return around the first day of Spring (March 20) each year.  |