More Archives

Between the weather, work and the prospect of moving this week I haven't been able to get out and create any new images, so we are diving back into the archives.  Enjoy.  (Above/Below: Barn Swallow)

A Brown Thrasher was a few dozen feet away:

The end of June brought these images of a Belted Kingfisher and Great Egret at Weesuck Creek in East Quogue:

A meal the Kingfisher above would have loved to have gotten:

Mornings can often coincide with large numbers of egrets feeding along Dune Rd. in the marshlands after a long nights sleep.  Here is a Snowy that was quite difficult to properly expose but I'm thrilled the bill stands out against the dark background.

And lastly here is a Double Crested Cormorant in flight - which is not an easy task.  Taken at the Shinnecock Inlet.

Purple Martins, Waxwings and More

It's been awhile since I've done a real bona fide Long Island Birds post - so where we go.  Thanks to Mike Lotito for tipping me off to Wading River Ponds which is a most excellent location for photographing Cedar Waxwings, a species which I've seen on perhaps two or three other occasions.  Those photo ops left me wanting much more, which Wading River has fulfilled.  Also present were ducklings, a yellow warbler, a ruby throated hummingbird (no photos) and a belted kingfisher.  An excellent location, especially considering what an awful condition the ponds are in due to neglect and seeping septic systems.  The Town of Brookhaven, however, which "owns" about 90% of the ponds (the other 10% belongs to the Town of Riverhead) has a plan in place to replace the bulkheads and enhance the surrounding area to improve the quality of the pond for wildlife and residents.  (Above: Eastern Kingbird with prey)

Above/Below: Cedar Waxwing.  Notice how the beak is open - it was about 100* (at 5:00 PM no less) when these photos were taken, and as such the birds were a little hot.  They have their mouths open because they are "panting" similar to a dog when it gets overheated.

The bird in the photo below does not have its mouth open - this is somewhat of a guess, but based on it being quite wet, I'm guessing it is temporarily cooled by taking a brief bath in the pond:

Some ducklings to round things out from the Ponds:

There are two Purple Martin "houses" in East Quogue that I have been frequenting - they don't mind human presence (and in many ways depend on humans) and always seem to come back with awesome prey for their young ones.  Below: Male Purple Martin with a Red Admiral Butterfly

This female came back with a Red Admiral as well:

And here is a male with a big fat dragonfly:

A few fledgling barn Swallows made for cute subjects on Friday Morning:

These siblings weren't getting along well

Sunrise at EPCAL

Harriers and Meadowlarks:
I woke up ridiculously early this morning to get to EPCAL in hopes of seeing a good variety of birds in addition to a skunk that was seen recently.  Unfortunately the weather is going through a bit of a cold spell and it was about 25* this morning - likely spoiling my chances for seeing a skunk ambling around but it didn't prevent the birds from putting on quite a show.

The first thing I saw when I arrived was a Northern Harrier perched on some vegetation all the way on the South end of the runway.  Would have been nice to get closer but the lighting makes up for it a bit:

Back at the entrance to the taxiway on the northern end of the property was an Eastern Meadowlark which I found to be quite scarce today in contrast with my first visit:

Back to the South end and the Harrier was annoyed by a murder of American Crows that were hanging out - the Harrier (a juvenile) tried out several perches perhaps trying to figure out what to do about these annoying raucous birds:

It didn't take long for the Harrier to decide to give the Crows a run for their money and chase off the most annoying of the bunch:

... it wasn't long before the Crow tried to turn the tables:

Bluebirds and more:
After driving around a bit I noticed some movement to the West of the end of the tarmac and spotted an Eastern Bluebird checking out the many nesting boxes setup.  I went for a walk and was surprised to not only find a few handsome male Bluebirds but a cooperative American Robin, and even better, 2 Tree Swallows who were probably far to cold to think about wasting energy flying.

and the 2nd Swallow. . .

As I took a few more loops around the runway/taxiway I spotted a female Northern Harrier perched on the ground and thought for sure it would bolt as soon as I stopped but it surprisingly stayed still.  I got into a better position - assuring I could get catchlight if I got the proper head turn.  I wasn't worried about getting closer so it would fill the frame as I knew it would take off eventually (the wind seemed to be bothering it) and had to leave room for the wings to move around in the frame.  The results are the best Harrier shots I have taken (after about 2 years of frustrating "practice" along Dune Rd" but still lack the catchlight on the eye:

Ready....

Takeoff!

And soar...

An American Kestrel was hunting in its "usual" place but was quite a distance away.  The auto-focus was struggling to keep focus because of the small size of the subject so I had to rely on manual focus for this shot - which I must say I'm pretty proud of.  Too bad the background isn't more pleasing.

More Swallows:

I was just about to leave when I saw a flock of Tree Swallows flying above the pond at the entrance to EPCAL and thought I'd see what I could get.  To my surprise, 3 Barn Swallows were mixed in the flock.  The lighting was getting a bit harsh at this point and I couldn't get the angle I wanted for most shots but still the best ones I have of this species together.

One of the Tree Swallows was checking out the nesting box to see if it was suitable.  Tree Swallows and Eastern Bluebirds will nest adjacent to one another - but once a Tree Swallow has occupied a nesting box, it won't let another couple of the same species nest nearby, thus allowing the Eastern Bluebirds (who nest later in the spring than many birds) a chance to move in.  

Phragmites may be annoying and "ugly" but it creates a perfect perch for these light birds: