This is what low tide looks like in winter

My favorite beach for walking, as my frequent readers probably know, is the Delaware Bay Beach in North Cape May, NJ. (I've been coming here all of my life and even before, I suspect!) Summer on this beach is great for sunning and relaxing, but fall, winter, and spring are for walking, making Gladys chase her special beach toy, and shooting pictures. A few weeks ago, Fred and Gladys and I managed to fit in a cold and windy beachwalk on the bay. As luck would have it, we wandered down at low tide. This means a wider beach for toy-chasing and more oddities washed up from the depths of the bay.

Fred and Gladys wait for me as I shoot photos from the street.

I mentioned it was a windy day. Gladys was wearing her new snowman kerchief, and experienced many wardrobe malfunctions.

The best birding is in spring and fall, when so many species fly by on their migrations north and south. Some live here with us and even hang out on the beach in winter. (By the way, if you are interested in birding in Cape May County and beyond, check out Don Freiday's blog: http://freidaybird.blogspot.com)

Some gulls stay for the winter.

A plump little sandpiper/plover/sanderling--I'm never quite sure which. They're all in Cape May.

This fall we New Jersey beach lovers (avian and human alike) experienced anxiety during the approach of Hurricane (or Superstorm) Sandy. Some of us received gut-wrenching bad news, but others of us were spared. A few days before it hit, all eyes were on Cape May as the storms were expected to converge there. As we all know now, Sandy brought her devastation ashore a little further north. Cape May was, for the most part, spared, but I suspect most from the Cape May region watched the news with horror as the images from Seaside and Staten Island, Brick and Brooklyn, appeared in the media: "Man, that could have been us."

Fred and Gladys head for the beach.

There were some issues at my favorite beach as a result of the enormous storm. For the first time I can remember, the trail from the street to the beach was purposely moved over a few feet. Bulldozers did this after the storm, and I suspect the move has something to do with the new storm drain visible in the first photo above. There was a dinky drain there before, but this gargantuan seems to mean business. But anyway, I'm still getting used to the new trail, as silly as that may seem.

There was some beach erosion , too. These cliffs have always been here, but used to be much smaller. I remember when I was younger my parents could drive along Beach Drive and see me and my dog Bambi from the car. That's nowhere near possible now as those cliffs are taller than I am.

The dune cliffs, post-Sandy

Nonetheless, the beauty of the beach in winter remains. I think this is a pretty cool close-up of one of the jetties. Low-tide allowed me to get in close to the moss-covered rocks. The green moss and the charcoal-colored rocks were the most exciting color palette of the morning, I think.

At high-tide sometimes, these rocks are completely covered. P.S. The green parts are very slippery.

I mentioned that weird things wash up on the bay. Here's an oyster-encrusted tire:

Those oysters will cling to anything.

It was cold and windy that day, the moist kind of wind that you find at the beach. This is the kind of wind that will cause actual pain to ungloved hands shooting photos or flying kites, for instance. Little Sheltie dogs chasing toys don't seem to be bothered by it.

 

Dog Friendly Cape May

Hello everyone, I'm Gladys, the Sheltie dog who goes to the beach a lot. Last year, I guest-blogged about Dog Beach, also known as the Bay Beach in North Cape May. Today I'm writing about the ocean beach in Cape May City. Let me assure you this is perfectly legal:

This is where Mom sits when she goes to the beach without me in the summer. I may sound bitter, but I think mom is right that I wouldn't like it. I wear a thick fur coat all year long and I don't really like the hot weather.

I also don't like the water and these ocean waves are a lot bigger than the waves at Dog Beach. (Mom says to call them breakers because it's more descriptive.) On Sunday we walked from the Perry Street Beach up to the Cove. I have never seen so much sand. There's another dog with its people on the jetty in silhouette.

Here's me posing for the camera by the drift fence: This is Sunset Pavilion next to Cove Beach where all the brides go to get married or to have their pictures taken.

And this is Cove Beach See the lighthouse?

After Las Vegas and Disney World, Cape May is the most popular U.S. municipality for weddings.

On the way back to the car, Mom stopped to shoot some pretty Victorian architecture.

What I do not like about Cape May even in the cooler weather are the flagstone sidewalks. I cannot get traction on them. And this: But I really like that beach!

Dog Beach, A Guest Post by Gladys

This is what low tide looks like:

Low tide means there's more room to run around without getting our feet wet. This is Dog Beach, but Mom says it's known to humans as the Delaware Bay beach in North Cape May, NJ, USA. Dogs are allowed on this beach all year 'round which is very unsual. We always see lots of dogs and their owners here.Some dogs like to play in the water, but I don't! I'll maybe get my feet wet like Mom does, but that is all. I prefer the sand.

Our walk is about two miles: from home we walk on a sidewalk for four blocks, then along Dog Beach up to the canal, and back home. Last year, when I was a pup, I walked behind Mom. Now that I'm grown, I walk ahead to show her where to go. There are big rocks by the canal called the getty. People and their dogs gather here to watch the ferries go in and out and to watch the sunset. This me on the rocks:

The Cape May-Lewes Ferry parks near here, and tonight it went right past us. It's huge! People on the ferry wave at me as they go by. People here seem to really like Shelties. This is me watching the ferry pull into its dock:

Dogs are allowed on the ferry as long as they don't go inside where the food is. Mom says we have a trip planned soon: we'll go on the ferry to Delaware, USA, where we'll stay at a hotel that welcomes dogs! While we're in Delaware, we'll go to Cape Henlopen Park and play in the dog run at the hotel. There is a dog boutique in Lewes, Delaware, USA, that Mom says we'll visit if I manage to keep the hotel room clean. Please tell Mom that you want me to guest blog again about our vacation!!