Quogue Wildlife Refuge

This evening I headed over to Quogue Wildlife Refuge in hopes of photographing some orchids and other flowers.  Well, the orchids weren't there and the rest of the flowers were in the shade so surprise surprise I ended up photographing birds - what a pity!  Eastern Towhees were abundant, including a juvenile (1st image below).  A juvenile Red-winged Blackbird (2nd image below) was also hanging around... While I got a nice look at a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, photography of this quick and tiny species proved impossible (yet again).

A surprise bird (for me) was a "young-of-the-year" American Redstart which unfortunately was quite a distance away from me.

Cedar Waxwings however stole the show - they were numerous and quite active hawking insects.  Unfortunately they too kept their distance, but they were a joy to watch.

For more on birds of Long Island and the types of things you can find at a place like Quogue Wildlife Refuge, check out this book:

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