Late Friday afternoon, my son a nice travel down to Sachuest National Wildlife Refuge, hoping to see and possibly photograph the short-eared owls that have been seen over the marsh. Upon arriving, the skies were overcast and there was a very brisk wind blowing. Getting to the marsh that is located by third beach was a bit of a problem because of road closures, portion of Third Beach Road just before Third Beach was blocked off, so we had her turnaround and come in a different direction. Normally, the best viewing place for the short-eared owls was the parking lot in the sanctuary. However, the road up to the sanctuary is closed because of destruction from super storm Sandy and there is a controversy on who is going to repair the road.

Talking to one gentleman, who stated that the owls have been present for the previous three evenings we stayed till after sunset but no owls appeared. Even with the clouds there was an interesting sunset. Whitetail deer were grazing across the marsh, but because of the lighting and even using flash the pictures were only so-so.