A Winter Beach Takes Shape Along the Shore

Even though for most folks winter does not officially begin until December 21st, something else connected to winter weather occurred last Tuesday. The first day of December marked the beginning of what many weather folks call "Meteorological Winter." This is another kind of winter that is not related to astronomical winter, which is based on the position of the Earth in its orbit around the sun. Meteorological winter, on the other hand, is based on the three month period of December, January, and February. These three months are the coldest of the year and they have the highest probability of snow and ice falling in the northern hemisphere.

As though a switch was thrown, within the first week of meteorological winter, winter weather arrived to the Jersey Shore. Last weekend a winter weather advisory was issued for much of western New Jersey, including western Monmouth County, where many interior parts of the state received several inches of fresh snow.  Even the Jersey Shore saw a few flakes of snow towards sunset on Saturday, though it was mostly a rain event with any slushy snow or ice melting quickly.

(Not only is the duration of daylight at its shortest in December, but cloudiness is at its peak too along the Jersey Shore)

As the sun continues its decline  toward the southern horizon, winter seems to be settling in along the Jersey Shore. Bay water temperatures have started to cool significantly from an average of 70 degrees in the summer to about 47 degrees in early December.  Winter flounder populations are at their height, and inshore waters are gaining a quick accumulation of winter ducks, from Buffleheads to Red-breasted Mergansers.

Meanwhile, many sessile or stationary critters in the water, such as oysters and clams, are slowing down their feeding and the filtering of bay waters, while barnacles continue to take in food particles, albeit unhurriedly too, with their feather-like arms. Many Blue-claw crabs as well have been slowing down their feeding activities and finding places to burrow in the deep areas of the bay underneath mud and sand.

(The winter beach at times can be a lonely, bleak place to wander)

Up on land, another type of beach is starting to take shape. It is the winter beach.

When most people think of the beach at the Jersey Shore, they are thinking about the vast expanse of sandy shore that is full of surf, shells, sandcastles, suntan lotion, and of course shimmering waves of heat.  Yet, over a large part of the year, the Jersey Shore is a wild, lonely world that is visited only by the hardest of warm-blooded animals, such as birds and mammals, including people.

(Cordgrasses have completed their growing cycle for another year, and are now a brilliant golden-haired color)

Little by little the Jersey Shore is starting to take shape of the winter beach. There are bare trees, cold waters, and countless species of dune and marsh plants that have died, each species in its own way.  Many of the marsh plants and Seaside Goldenrod plants are perennials, so they will be back next year. The smooth cordgrass leaves are golden brown, and even the common reed is a dull brown. The winter rains, wind, snow, and ice, will slowly break down these plant materials into small pieces that will be recycled into the soil as nutrients or food for the next several generations of plants to grow.

(A songbird house stands alone amid the decaying vegetation on a winter beach at Sandy Hook)

Visiting the sandy shore in winter provides a new perspective on life and regeneration. The winter beach clearly portrays how harsh this sandy place can be for the plants and animals that must withstand the drying winds, salt spray, storms, freezing temperatures and constantly shifting sands. During the winter, except for the line of debris, seaweed and shells stranded at the high tide mark, the winter beach appears bleak and forbidding.

Yet, for me, I don't think I could get through a year happily without the seasons changing and the weather changing every day. The winter beach too makes one alive and lively. I love winter beaches. I love the wind blowing and waves crashing with a mug of hot chocolate in my hand while I wander the wild edge of the beach in search of hardy winter wildlife. Sun, wind, rain, snow, hot, cold - there's always something to appreciate along the Jersey Shore.