New Welcome Banner

As the loyal readers will know "Birds of Long Island" has undergone a major visual overhaul in recent weeks which was long overdue.  One of the final pieces to be put in place was the "Birds of Long Island" banner you see at the top of this page.  It's something I've been meaning to do for a long time but for a while didn't have the skills to do it - and for a long time didn't have the motivation.  Well, I'm glad I finally got around to doing it (even if it took awhile).

This was Version #1

I asked for feedback from other photographers I know, as well as my family and my fantastic assistant/girlfriend.  Some of you may have briefly seen the first banner (directly above) I made that was up for about a day but which I decided needed to be changed based on the input of others.  I made a 2nd version (below) which never made it on the site and then a 3rd which you see at the top of the blog.

Version 2 was quickly scrapped

I have decided to update the banner approximately every 3 months to keep things fresh and cycle in new designs.  Any suggestions or input as to what you would like to see in the future is greatly appreciated.  My opinion matters just as much as the opinion of my readers (probably less!).  Thanks for the support and know that I'm always open to ideas from my audience on how to improve the look and function of Birds of Long Island.

Little Blue Heron

Little Blue:
The other day I took a drive not expecting to see much along Dune Rd. as things are still a bit slow as far as migration is concerned.  I was hoping to improve my Snowy Egret photos, which I was successful in, but the big surprise was finding my first Little Blue Heron which is a species typically found in the south (think Florida) but that has expanded its range over the last decade or so to begin breeding in New York and southern New England.  Little Blue Herons are about the same size as a Snowy Egret, and the juveniles are all white and easily confused with Snowy Egrets.  This bird was patient, and thanks to Mike Lotito for letting me use his beanbag as I shot from the ground to get the low angle:

After catching a good number of small killie fish, this heron found a big prize:

It wisely took the big prize to land in case it dropped it while trying to get it down:

Here's the heron stretching out a bit:

And a successful strike:

At one point a Snowy Egret came by in an effort to harass the Little Blue into giving up some food but to no avail:

Look big, bold, beautiful and (a little) intimidating in its full breeding plumage:

and a trip to Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge this weekend yielded this: