Jones Beach Migrants

This morning I arrived at the West End of Jones Beach just after sunrise anxious to shoot some birds. Due to weather and other factors beyond my control I have been able to do little shooting - and the birds that have been around haven't been terribly exciting. The winds today are not what drives good birds through migration but I figured there would be something around. I cruised around the West End for a few minutes and spotted this Merlin in a tree (one of only 3 I saw this morning).

I then met up with Richard Ettlinger (author of the visually stunning book  On Feathered Wings: Birds in Flight)
  and we headed into the Dunes to try and get some raptors.  The birds we were after were few and far between, but while we waited we were treated to several Osprey returning from the inlet with Fish in their talons, along with plenty of Northern Flickers.

Around 9 AM a Cooper's Hawk that had snuck up on us exploded out of the shrubs and gave us beautiful views and photographic opportunities.  I took my success as a cue to leave and headed to the Coast Guard Station in an effort to find some smaller birds - maybe even get a new species, and as luck would have it that's exactly what happened.

I didn't have to look long before spotting this Magnolia Warbler in beautiful fall plumage (I had originally thought Nashville Warbler until looking it up in the book - this bird certainly looks different than when it's in breeding plumage).

A couple other birds were around as seen below (Golden Crowned Kinglet, Song Sparrow, Palm Warbler, Northern Mockingbird, Juvenile Osprey) and I soon packed it in and headed home.  I'll be there tomorrow though so let's all pray for Northwest winds.

Birds along the Peconic River

This afternoon I stopped at EPCAL again after work and was underwhelemed with the severe lack of birds.  A few Eastern Meadowlarks and Kestrels, a Brown Thrasher, some Eastern Towhees, a Prairie Warbler in the distance (heard the unmistakeable call) a Turkey and a lot of ticks.  On my way home I was feeling a bit dejected and decided to stop at the Canoe launch/fishing spot along the Peconic River directly across the road from Snowflake Ice Cream in Riverhead (there is a small roadway on the South side of the road that leads to a LIPA substation.  A small parking lot is located here as well).  I remembered that last year an aggressive Yellow Warbler had been reported - pecking its reflection in the mirrors of cars - so I wanted to see if I could find any warblers.  I almost didn't bring my camera to the river but thought I should "just in case".  Not more than a minute later this Osprey appeared seemingly out of nowhere with a freshly caught herring (?) in its talons.  It saw me and made a quick U-turn and almost lost the fish in the process.

This is only the 3rd time photographed an Osprey with a whole fish (the first time had poor lighting, the second time I had the wrong lens on) and I was so thrilled!  My settings weren't perfect, so the images aren't as great as they could have been - but a wonderful surprise regardless.  This convinced me to stay a bit and I found the following birds:

Northern Rough-winged Swallow (a new species for me)

Yellow-Rumped Warbler (in full breeding plumage - a new feather set for me)

Yellow Warblers (at least 2)

Eastern Kingbirds (always happy to find them - especially with a pleasing background)

Baltimore Oriole (there were at least 2 males - possibly more - calling for females attention)

I also had a Pine Warbler that was not as cooperative as the others.

For help ID'ing birds (like the swallows) I used the following book:  National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America

Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge

I've been spending quite a bit of time at Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge lately because of a fox den that is located in an area of grasslands that's easily accessible.  I'd never photographed a fox until this week so it's quite exciting for me.  As an added bonus, I've been able to photograph some birds in a new setting (since this area is not a place I've frequented much in the past).  As you can see above, I was lucky enough to photograph a Peregrine Falcon this past thursday (a female, based on size) at the mouth of the Carmans river via boat.  Today I spent a little time waiting for the fox (only 1 kit showed) so I spent the rest of the time photographing the birds that were hanging around.  Enjoy.

Osprey (part of a nesting pair):

A Snowy Egret flew over against the overcast sky:

Lastly, a Tree Swallow sat patiently near a nesting box:

To learn more about the birds and mammals you can find on Long IslandI highly recommend John Turner's Exploring the Other Island: A seasonal guide to nature on Long Island

Early arrivals are fueling up

Nikon D300s 300 f4 + 1.7X TC, f/8, 1/1600s, ISO 400, -.33 EC

The early spring arrivals were busy today eating all the fish they could catch.  The Great Egret of course going for much smaller sized meals than the big osprey - but with talons like those it makes catching fish much easier!

NIkon D300s 300 f4 + 1.7X TC, f/8, 1/1600s, ISO 400, -.33 EC

There were about 5 Great Egrets along Dune Rd. stalking the marshes and I look forward to seeing more wading birds, including Snowy Egrets and Yellow-Crowned Night Herons in the months to come.

If you want to learn more about these birds or where to find them on Long Island, order a copy of John Turner's Exploring the Other Island: A seasonal guide to nature on Long Island

Pine Siskins and Goldfinches everywhere

A visit this morning to the West End of Jones Beach Produced massive amounts of Pine Siskins and American Goldfinches (well, massive in comparison to everything else which was virtually non-existant).  This was my first time seeing/photographing Pine Siskins so I was quite pleased with the results... it's amazing how they and the American Goldfinches pick seeds out of the pines and munch away... unfortunately I did not find either species of Crossbill which I was really looking forward to finding (they had been reported the previous day) but did come across an Osprey on Ocean Bay Parkway not long after sunrise... Enjoy.

In then above photo, I had to fudge the sharpness on the lower siskin a bit... the bird was just a touch out of the focal plane.

The golfinches varied in plumage, with only a handful still holding onto the nice bright yellow, which I wasn't too successful in finding.

And one more goldfinch that was quite patient for me:

And lastly, an early morning Osprey (which should really get going down to Florida!)

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.

Spring is here

I meant to do this blog post on Sunday but mother nature had other plans, knocking out my power for a few days, so here we are and it will be brief in words and heavy in photos.

Last week an acquaintance of mine photographed a Snowy Owl (2 days after I had photographed "mine") on the North Fork.  It wasn't too far away and the next morning was supposed to be gorgeous so I thought it would be worth a shot.  Well, no Snowy Owl, but I found a beautiful Sharp-Shinned Hawk along Pier Ave. in Jamesport and a Northern Mockingbird at a small pond:

When I arrived at work a Mockingbird was being loud as usual and posed for me:

Here is a Red-Winged Blackbird from last week which I didn't get around to posting.  They are quite difficult to expose, but I liked the X made by the 2 pieces of phragmites and the nice lighting/colors:

This evening after work yielded the first Osprey of the season.  It was the first Osprey that I spotted last season as well and was munching away on a fish.  I'm a bit concerned about the nesting platform as this weeks storm caused the metal base to curl up which certainly will inhibit building a nest.  These are big birds and it's amazing how large the platform is:

As the sun was setting I spotted some mergansers on the West side of Ponquogue Bridge and this one had an odd habit of scurrying across the surface instead of swimming or flying, the lighting made for a beautiful scene:

Almost immediately after this photo I turned around and saw 2 birds flying off the huge wireless tower at the Coast Guard Station in Hampton Bays and snapped some photos.  At first I thought Mourning Dove based on shape and popularity, but a quick look at the LCD showed me something far better:

The pair of Peregrine Falcons flew south toward the ocean and I briefly thought about going back to that side to locate them but the sun was getting low and I still needed to run over the bridge and back.  After I returned from my run, I got in my car and was about to pull onto the road when I saw a dark bird shoot down toward the water then loop back up and down again before flying right over my head and landing on the big tower next to me.  One of the peregrines had returned.  Hopefully this means it is a nesting pair and they will set up on the Tower or the Bridge which is oddly their preferred habitat.  I'm not sure on this - but I'm venturing it will be the first nesting pair in Southampton Town in a very very long time.  I hope I'm not getting ahead of myself.