Retired Nomads - Part 2 : Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge & Atlantic City

Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge & Atlantic City – NJ - September 13

Yesterday we had fantastic weather, but today was quite different. It didn’t get out of the mid 60’s and the wind was ferocious. Jeans and a fleece all day for me.

The Wildlife Refuge was beautiful and was an eight-mile unpaved Wildlife Drive that went through a salt-marsh with Atlantic City in the background. While we saw a lot of birds, I’m sure during the Spring and Fall migrations it would have been solid with them.

They also have a lot of hiking trails, but the weather wasn't exactly inviting, so we skipped that.

We saw Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Terns, Gulls, Red-winged Blackbirds, Glossy Ibis, Osprey, “peeps” that we haven't identified yet, White Swans, Mallard Ducks, Black Ducks, Black-belled Whistling Ducks, Blue-winged Teal and Yellow Warblers. I'm sure there will be more we ID later from the photos as we have more time.

There aren’t a lot of photos as the wind was so strong it was hard to hold the camera still. Plus, many of the birds were in the distance.

Leeds boardwalk and Eco Trail - Atlantic City in the background

Yellow Warbler - female

We stopped at the first place for a short walk on a boardwalk and then a half-mile trail in the woods. We stopped at another place and climbed the tower. The wind was unbearable up there. The rest of the drive we could do pretty much from the car. By the time we made it all the way around with stopping for lots of photos and me scanning with the binoculars, it was past lunch time.

Terrapin crossing the road

another Terrapin starting to cross the road

Black Skimmer

Great Blue Heron

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

We drove into nearby Smithville to have lunch at Greek Bites. They only had outdoor seating, but we were protected from the wind, so it wasn’t bad. The Gyros were good and the quaint historic village setting where the restaurant was located was also nice.

lunch at Greek Bites

Lamb Gyros

We decided since we were so close, we should visit Atlantic City. To say we were disappointed would be an understatement. We certainly didn’t expect Las Vegas, but the few nice casinos they had were few and far between and the “between” was in disrepair. I imagine those that go on the casino junket tours, check in and just stay at the casino resort and don’t go anywhere else. The boardwalk might be nice in nice weather, but the area isn’t great. I’m sure many still “go to the shore”. We really just drove around the area and then drove over an hour to get back to the hotel.