Peregrine Falcon

It was a cold morning at Jones Beach and the birds were few and far between. The "hedgerow" at the Coast Guard Station was all but dead when the sun rose but after a while some birds moved in - though mostly junco's as seen below. I moved on to try and photograph raptors in this favorable wind though I only expected Sharpies and Cooper's Hawks because of how late in the season it is. A couple sharpies went by quickly but didn't hang around long enough for photos then out of nowhere (well, from the West anyway which is unexpected) this Peregrine Falcon came within feet of me. My reflexes weren't fast enough to get "the ultimate shot" but I came away with some good ones none-the-less.  (Note the blood that can be seen on the underside and the talon)

And here is the junco that a Peregrine would love to have as a snack:

If you like raptors as much as I do check out this book by Jerry Ligouri: Hawks from Every Angle: How to Identify Raptors In Flight

White-crowned Sparrow

Jones Beach was warm, sunny and full of birds this morning - but nothing terribly interesting.  The raptors were nearly non-existant (though two Peregrine Falcons made an appearance over the Robert Moses Causeway), there were a lot of sparrows and other song sparrows.  A little searching around yielded a White-Crowned Sparrow (a new species for me) along with a White-Throated Sparrow.

Other birds seen were Northern Flickers and Double Crested Cormorants.  

This Yellow Warbler picked a colorful spot to pose but unfortunately was the most exciting warbler spotted.

If you are interested in raptors and want to better identify them - pick up this amazing book entitled Hawks at a Distance: Identification of Migrant Raptors

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.

Cave Swallows

Sorry for the delay in posting these images but things obviously have been busy with the Holiday...  I was lucky enough to run into some knowledgable and friendly birders on Thanksgiving morning (Stella Miller in particular) who  pointed me in the right direction to find some cave swallows.  For those of you who don't know much about the cave swallow (as I didn't a week ago) it is a small swallow that lives in Mexico and the Caribbean with two races entering the US at the southern tip of Florida and South Texas.  Every fall, a scattering of these birds seem to get over-anxious and fly all the way North to our area.

After not seeing any for about 30 minutes I had 3 flying all around me... it was quite the scene.  With some patience I was able to photograph one that landed quite nearby... unfortunately the lighting was horrendous and it was more or less sleeting at the time (which I'm sure the cave swallow wasn't too excited about!) so the quality is less than stellar.  I was also "fortunate" enough to see a Common Redpoll which was originally spotted by others, but was unable to get it in a nice perch for a photograph.  The Northern Shrike once again eluded me and the Ash-throated flycatcher which originally drew me to Jones Beach was not re-found.  As evidenced immediately below, I obviously didn't do too well with the flight shots...

And one more on the ground (too bad about the blade of grass in the way!):

American Goldfinches

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:

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!)

Cold winds bring good birds

Kinglets are excellent gymnasts

 After a few unseasonably warm days that left many migratory songbirds grounded along the Northeast Coast, colder temperatures have once again prevailed leading to a big migration push.  And as the small birds move south, the big guys that feast on them are right behind.  While Merlin numbers were negligible at Jones Beach this morning, Sharp-shinned numbers were not.  In the hour or so I spent watching I witnessed about 40 sharp-shinned hawks in addition to a handful of Northern Harriers (including 1 male that continues to hangout along the West End).  Near the Coast Guard station I found (surprise) Golden-Crowned Kinglets and Yellow-rumped warblers to be rather abundant, and 1 Brown Creeper.  Unfortunately for me I couldn't get a shot of the Creeper (blame it on not being fully awake and my hands being cold I suppose) which would have been a new species.

Posing oh-so-still 

A juvenile Northern Harrier comes to check me out

A Coopers Hawk gives me a quizzical look

More Migrants

The last few days have been exceptionally windy, but today it calmed down quite a bit and has been relatively warm.  Jones Beach was once again productive (and apparently two short-eared owls were seen at nearby Robert Moses) with some patient merlins and plenty of smaller migrants.  Above: Merlin  Below: Yellow-rumped Warbler

Northern Flickers, like usual, proved difficult to get close to:

Along the southern fence of the Coast Guard station @ the West End of Jones Beach, a dozen or so Golden-crowned Kinglets were flitting about, eating insects off of the vegetation.  Unfortunately for me they utilized the fence which makes for an unattractive perch, but they still gave some nice poses and I got away with one or two fenceless shots.

 Gleaning insects:

"Perched" on some ragweed:

Lastly:

Now for the Merlins:

A different perch and a different bird:

And finally, a closeup: