Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge is the place I go to most often to photograph nature in general and birds in particular. The refuge extends over 48,000 acres of land along the coast of New Jersey, but not all in the same place and some areas are not open to the general public. I actually go to the Southern end of the refuge near Galloway, NJ. It has a Wildlife Drive which extends for 8 miles. Driving on that road one can observe and photograph many kinds of birds on both sides of the road. There are sweet water and salt water marshes along the way, and the wild vegetation lining up the road is kept low enough for drivers to see almost everything from their cars.

This past Wednesday was the first time I went to the refuge after too many weeks of rainy weather. I arrived early and the usual crowds of Audubon groups had not yet made their appearance. I went to the Gull pond observation tower, found it deserted and climbed to the top to look around.

On this visit, there were many birds throughout the refuge. However, I noticed some pretty flowers as show below.