A Naturalist Along the Jersey Shore by Joanna Burger. Go on a personal journey with a naturalist along the Jersey shore as she describes the lives of the common species, from Horseshoe Crabs to Herons; from the trilling Fowler's Toads to nesting Skimmers, terns, and Piping Plovers. Although set in New Jersey, the species whose lives are intertwined in a story of nature, personal exploration, and high adventure occur along the Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to Maine. You will travel through the seasons from the first tinges of spring when Herring Gulls arrive to snow-covered salt marshes and shorebirds flock in droves to feed on Horseshoe Crab egggs at Cape May, to the Peregrins that haunt the shore in search of summer prey, to the fall Hawk migration in Cape May, and finally to the deepest cold that rolls over the snow-covered dunes and a lone Snowy Owl to sweep across the frozen bay. Discover the delicate mating dances of Fiddler Crabs on vast mudflats in the spring, the everchanging fish communities that swarm into the bays and estuaries, and the hordes of Monarch Butterflies that descend on Cape May each fall. Written by a naturalist who sees beauty and subtleties in the vast greens of endless saltmarshes as well as in the teaming colonies of nesting birds, breeding terrapins, and migrating birds, this book will provide glimpses into how a scientist can also love the Jersey shore.