Birding spots · New Jersey

Best Birding Spots in Ocean County, New Jersey

Barnegat Lighthouse State Park leads Ocean County's birding spots with 260 species reported, best in spring. 112 spots in the county have enough data to rank.

Species counts are birds reported at least three times in that season at that spot, 2016–2025. Busy spots list more species simply because more people look, so compare the checklist counts. Spot names come from public map data and hotspot listings.

Spot	Species	Checklists	Winter	Spring	Summer	Fall
Barnegat Lighthouse State Park	260	6,257	152	208	138	196
Island Beach State Park	236	1,190	95	195	116	181
Cedar Bonnet	228	2,506	83	195	124	186
Manahawkin Wildlife Management Area	205	1,150	96	189	106	93
Great Bay Boulevard Wildlife Management Area	200	1,138	74	150	100	144
Island Beach State Park (north)	198	1,171	52	172	73	158
Island Beach State Park (Johnny Allens Cove)	197	895	65	159	96	148
Crossway Creek	190	1,802	79	147	104	136
Brigantine National Wilderness Area	186	903	92	91	82	131
Deep Hollow Branch	176	1,613	55	167	99	108
Manasquan River Wildlife Management Area	171	1,093	61	157	90	118
Log Creek Pond	168	688	75	123	91	68
Cloverdale Road Farm	161	1,924	72	140	93	109
Johnny Allens Cove	156	301	38	103	37	117
Colliers Lake	155	852	74	129	89	86
Lake Louise	151	3,020	104	98	65	69
Lake of the Lillies	151	2,803	90	111	52	109
Wells Mills Park	148	1,079	62	124	82	96
Island Beach State Park (south)	146	327	32	86	84	101
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (Lochiel Creek)	145	528	69	106	85	57
Island Beach State Park (north 2)	145	309	27	83	26	116
Lake Carasaljo	143	1,087	80	109	70	127
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (Meyers Pond)	143	688	80	99	82	65
Double Trouble State Park	143	572	69	125	85	90
Island Beach State Park (south)	140	502	75	69	73	88
Shelter Cove	130	724	68	109	42	47
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (north)	129	294	56	103	47	32
Pohatcong Lake	125	533	72	80	67	97
Brendan T. Byrne State Forest (northeast)	122	440	48	83	78	81
Shore Beach	120	385	46	85	72	70
Little Egg Inlet	113	196	45	63	58	71
Upper Barnegat Bay Wildlife Management Area	109	106	7	82	81	51
Enos Pond County Park	108	367	71	82	47	59
Island Beach State Park (Sedge Islands)	108	211	0	39	93	79
Lake Shenendoah	106	182	46	88	61	25
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (Nejecho Beach)	106	135	33	83	57	41
Bamber Lake Beach	103	338	60	72	53	38
Bass River State Forest	103	205	21	92	55	46
Island Beach State Park (north 3)	103	162	29	45	54	57
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (Westecunk Creek)	102	220	68	57	45	38
Gull Island (Wills Hole Thoroughfare)	101	351	47	64	54	38
Sands Point Harbor Preserve	99	248	53	63	64	43
Meadowedge Park	98	421	50	75	39	39
Horicon Lake (Lakehurst)	98	134	10	93	51	40
National Biodiversity Park	97	111	42	74	63	45
Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area	96	183	34	81	46	28
Horicon Lake	91	174	40	78	37	45
Harvey Cedars Recreation	90	534	68	47	26	30
Jakes Branch Park	88	251	30	75	51	35
North Bay Park	88	136	27	64	41	58