Marbled Godwits

This afternoon I took a trip to the Cupsogue flats which I have not visited since last year.  Marbled Godwits have been reported regularly there but I've never had the chance to photograph them at Cupsogue (or any other location they happen to be at on Long Island during the end of summer/beginning of fall).  It took a bit of searching to find birds (any birds that weren't gulls that is) and after scanning through the crowd all I had were a lot of Black-bellied plovers and some Skimmers.  A raptor must have flown over because all of the birds took off and settled down in different spots with the Skimmers heading to the north on the fringe of some exposed sand.  When I began heading toward them I noticed a few birds a little further off in the water and as luck would have it, they were the Godwits I was after.

Now the hard part was getting close - There was no cover aside from two small patches of saltmarsh cordgrass, so I employed patience and my "stealth" skills to get right up on the birds.

Other birds this afternoon included the Snowy Egret:

Laughing Gull:

Common Tern juvenile which was still dependent on its parent for food (seemingly getting a little late for that behavior):

What I believe to be a Forster's Tern:

A Royal Tern was in the mix as well:

After looking at the photos I noticed the leg band.  Here is a major crop showing the numbers.  If anyone can make sense out of this let me know please:

These Eastern Willets in non-breeding plumage (with Godwits in the background):

If you like birds as much as I do (or even a little bit) you will love this book by New York's own Luke Dempsey entitled: A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All

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)

Gyrfalcon and other oldies

Well considering it's been 3 weeks since I last made an update to my blog, you can guess that summertime is slow time when it comes to birds.  I've been off photographing rare flowers, toads and turtles (all of which can be seen on my sister blog: www.WildLongIsland.blogspot.com).  So in light of the lack of feathered subjects, I'm going to post some archival images for your viewing pleasure.  The theme here (incase you can't tell) is flight.  (Above/Below: Gyrfalcon from October, 2009)

Some Common Terns from "Tern Island":

A Black Crowned Night Heron made its way back to its roost a few months ago along Dune Rd. at sunset:

In April, this Osprey successfully harassed some gulls for a crab legs snack:

Recently, a Juvenile Osprey tested out its wings at Cupsogue County Park:

A few minutes later I was photographing this Black Skimmer that gracefully cut the water in search of food:

Lastly, November provided this Mallard gem... if only I hadn't clipped the wings.