Fighting Turkeys

A visit to EPCAL (where  I have not been in awhile) produced over a dozen Turkeys on the runway with the Males displaying.  They scattered as my vehicle approached but two of the Toms stood there ground and began fighting with each other - quite interesting!  I also found an Eastern Kingbird at the property near the Turkeys.

When I visited the North end of EPCAL (where the RADAR station is) I found a Grasshopper Sparrow with a mouthful of bugs... I missed getting an incredible closeup shot as I didn't have my camera in hand when it popped up next to me but got a shot from an OK distance.

In addition to the bird life - there were 3 foxes spotted at the Radar Station, hanging out on the paved area.  The first 2 darted as soon as my vehicle approached but the 3rd hungout a little longer before retreating into the thick vegetation.

If you like birds check out this awesome book by National Geographic: National Geographic Complete Birds of the World

Patience Pays

This afternoon I once again visited the "Lower Peconic Fishing Station" in Riverhead across from Snowflake Ice Cream on Main St.  I thought I'd try and focus on getting shots of Eastern Kingbirds landing because they routinely use the same perch and I had an access point that allowed for good lighting.  I was in the same spot for about an hour and it afforded me two opportunities to photograph warblers that stopped nearby.  While the Yellow Warbler was nice - it didn't have the same thrill that the Black and White Warbler who landed 20 feet from me did as this is a species I've never photographed (or seen) before.  Check out the image below:

Photographing the Kingbirds was fun if not a little frustrating.  Since the birds use basically the same perch (there was a little variation but 90% of the time it was the same spot) I was able to manually focus at a set distance (about 50 feet) and when the bird took off I waited a few seconds then started shooting (my camera is capable of 8 frames per second) knowing that the bird would be returning soon.  Well, either said than done but the best (ok, only successful shots) are on this blog post.

Getting back to that Yellow Warbler that was so kind to perch about 25 feet from me - here it is:

And to round things out - a Baltimore Oriole:

If you're looking to learn more about the types of migratory birds you can find on Long Island (and can't get enough of my photos!) pick up a copy of this book by John Turner: Exploring the Other Island: A seasonal guide to nature on Long Island

New birds for me @ EPCAL

Had a wonderful vacation down in Florida - not too much on the bird photography front though I did find some Mottled Ducks (which happened to be waiting) so it was a new species for me.  Also had a wonderful experience with a family of Barred Owls and Limpkins - but only had the iPhone camera handy for those!  Photos to come.  In the meantime - enjoy these shots from EPCAL today.

When I first got to the site I was looking down while driving the runway (at a slow - safe speed) adjusting my camera settings and when I looked up this Red-tailed Hawk had exploded out of the grasses (I think it had been eating when I inadvertently disturbed it) with a snake in it's talons.  I've never noticed a snake @ EPCAL and never seen a RTH with one so that was pretty cool.  As it approached the treeline a Kestrel came to harass it for a bit and the hawk then disappeared behind the tall pines.

Shortly after that I came across this Eastern Kingbird - the first time I've seen this grasslands species at this site.  It was having a grand time hawking dragonflies and other insects (see the top of this post).

While leaving the site through the maine south entrance, two grackles flushed this Baltimore Oriole out of the trees adjacent to the pond and I was able to snap off a quick photo which appears to show some bit of food in the Orioles beak (a caterpillar perhaps?).

Other birds seen at the site were tons of Barn Swallows, a murder of Crows, about 12 American Kestrels (way down in number from right before easter when I had at least 30 on just the Western runway), plenty of deer, some Eastern Bluebirds and a few marmots (groundhogs) on the northern radar parcel.

Also, as I was leaving the runway a Riverhead police officer pulled up to me (I guess he had seen me while he was driving through) and asked me if I had a reason to be on the runway.  I told him that I was doing photography of wildlife (and had my camera on the seat next to me).  He said that "they dont' really want people on the runway - I guess because it's an emergency landing strip - so just keep that in mind, ok?"  The officer was very nice and it was clear he didn't have a problem with me there, but that it's not the most favorable use of the site. So just keep that in mind!

If you are interested in learning more about hawks, I recommend picking up this book - Hawks at a Distance: Identification of Migrant Raptors - which has everything you need to know about ID'ing these birds when they are far off - like the Red-tailed hawk was when I spotted it today.

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