As often happens... I went from having virtually no usable images of a species to having more than I can sort through... this time the bird is the American Goldfinch. Just last weekend I had my first real encounter with flocks of these birds moving through the West End of Jones Beach and today I repeated that experience. The birds didn't seem to mind my close approach and were happy to feed away. Once again the hope was that some crossbills would show their face but I didn't come across any... I also struck out on the northern Shrike which was seen today (just not by me).
And let's throw in one more:
Prior to running into the Goldfinches I had to settle for some more common species, such as this Northern Mockingbird:
That was followed up by this American Crow which is a surprisingly difficult species to photograph (especially with proper exposure because of those black feathers)
The day was rounded out by a few species that aren't terribly exciting but I was happy to see anyway.... a red-breasted nuthatch that was often heard today but not seen...
After leaving Jones Beach I headed to Lake Orowoc in Islip (next to the McDonalds) hoping for some redheaded ducks which unfortunately did not come close to visit, so I had to settle for this. I'm sure I will get better chances this winter:
You got a very nice collection of images. Goldfinches are very common around my feeder; so it's a real treat to see them in a natural setting, picking seeds from pine cones.
ReplyDeleteJust Beautiful...Boom and Gary
ReplyDeleteHi Luke,
ReplyDeleteWow nice collection you got there and I would love to get all these pictures of these uncommon birds in my area. I love a lot the last shot....
Thanks to all for the encouraging words. It's been nice to have the goldfinches and siskins and such around in such good numbers... Jones Beach is an amazing place to photograph birds. I'm hoping I'll have great success with waterfowl this year which is one of my goals.
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