A Naturalist Along the Jersey Shore - by Joanna Burger (Paperback)

About the Book

Come for a journey along the Jersey shore with naturalist and ecologist Joanna Burger! In these deeply felt, closely observed personal essays, Burger invokes the intertwined lives of naturalist and wild creatures at the ever-changing edge of ocean and land. Discover with her the delicate mating dances of fiddler crabs, the dangers to piping plovers, the swarming of fish communities into the bays and estuaries, the trilling notes of Fowler's toads, and the subtle green-grays of salt marshes.

Book Synopsis

Come for a journey along the Jersey shore with naturalist and ecologist Joanna Burger! In these deeply felt, closely observed personal essays, Burger invokes the intertwined lives of naturalist and wild creatures at the ever-changing edge of ocean and land. Discover with her the delicate mating dances of fiddler crabs, the dangers to piping plovers, the swarming of fish communities into the bays and estuaries, the trilling notes of Fowler's toads, and the subtle green-grays of salt marshes.

Joanna Burger knows the shore through all its seasons--the first moment of spring when the herring gulls arrive on ice-gouged salt marshes, the end of spring when the great flocks of shorebirds come to feed on horseshoe crab eggs at Cape May, the summer when the peregrine hunts its prey, the fall when the migrations of hawks and monarch butterflies attract watchers from around the world, and the depths of winter when a lone snowy owl sweeps across snow-covered dunes and frozen bay.

This is a book that anyone who loves the Jersey shore will cherish! And because so many of these wonderful creatures live all along the Atlantic coast, it will be of equal interest to beach-lovers, naturalists, bird-watchers, fishermen, and coastal and marine scientists from North Carolina to Maine.

From the Back Cover

Come for a journey along the Jersey shore with naturalist and ecologist Joanna Burger! In these deeply felt, closely observed personal essays and field sketches, Burger invokes the intertwined lives of naturalist and wild creatures at the ever-changing edge of ocean and land. Discover with her the delicate mating dances of fiddler crabs, the dangers to piping plovers, the swarming of fish into the bays and estuaries, the trilling notes of Fowler's toads, and the subtle green-grays of salt marshes. Joanna Burger knows the shore through all its seasons - the first moment of spring when the herring gulls arrive on ice-gouged salt marshes, the end of spring when the great flocks of shorebirds come to feed on horseshoe crab eggs at Cape May, the summer when the peregrine hunts its prey, the fall when the migrations of hawks and monarch butterflies attract watchers from around the world, and the depths of winter when a lone snowy owl sweeps across snow-covered dunes and frozen bay.

Review Quotes

Having A Naturalist Along the Jersey Shore is as good as having Joanna Burger at your side--and that's as good as good gets.--Pete Dunne "author of The Wind Masters"

A tour de force. . . . All 'coasties' (not only New Jerseyans) will like this book; conservationists, naturalists, photographers, fishermen, birders, scientists, beach addicts; in short, lovers of the shore.--Richard Kane "Director of Conservation, New Jersey Audubon Society"

An indispensable book for anyone who sets foot in New Jersey and is interested in its flora and fauna. A wonderful addition to anyone's library--even a New Yorkers'!--George Plimpton

About the Author

Joanna Burger is a professor of biological sciences at Rutgers University. Her seven books include Before and After an Oil Spill: The Arthur Kill (Rutgers University Press). She lives in Somerset, New Jersey, with her family on their nature preserve.