End of the Doldrums

As we make our way through August, shorebirds are finding their way down south and things are picking up.  I set out to Cupsogue this morning in search of Marbled Godwits which have been reported but didn't find them.  I did, however, find a slew of other fun to photo species (Above/Below: Black Skimmer)

I had an awesome experience with some sharp-tailed sparrows (I believe these are the "saltmarsh" variety).  This species of Sparrow is very shy and I'd only seen it on one previous occasion but they put on a nice show this morning.

A habitat shot just as the sun was rising:

A Roseate Tern made a surprise fly by which I didn't realize until after I got home and looked at the files.  There's a good chance this breeding adult is from one of the two colonies about 2 miles to the West where I had done Tern restoration work in conjunction with the State and Federal Government.

Edit: After speaking with John Turner, it has been pointed out that this is almost certainly a Common Tern and not a Roseate - based mostly on the short tail as opposed to the Roseate's deeply forked tail.  What through me off was the bill coloration as Roseate's do get a black/red bill, but generally they are more black than this, so with that, thank you John for setting me straight (as usual).

And later on, another Roseate (possibly the same one) made a surprise appearance with a meal in its mouth:

As long as we are on the topic of Terns, here are some shots of a Common Tern:

Above: Adult.  Below: Juvenile.

I'll round things out with 2 species that are a bit more commonly seen, the Double-Crested Cormorant and the Osprey.

Here is an adult Osprey with a fish (a juvenile is also in the nest)