Warm day for some Spring Birds

One of the advantages  of my job is being able to get out "in the field" every now and then.  Today I had to walk a very large site which may potentially be developed as a solar farm as well as check out a piece of Open Space to ensure no dumping has occurred, check on the status of the vegetation and see if I could spot any new species for that location.  As a bonus, I was able to go visit the Bald Eagle nest at lunch - though it was probably 10 degrees cooler down by the water!


The first site wasn't too thrilling - very thick woods.  I wasn't expecting to see anything, especially this early in spring but there's always the potential for nesting owls or a fox den, however the habitat isn't quite right for fox (at least where I walked).  I did hear one distinct call - a very notable trill but couldn't figure it out.  As luck would have it, a friend of mine posted a video on facebook later in the day with audio of the same call, and with the help of others we determined it to be the aptly named Pine Warbler.  Reading this blurb from Cornell's website certainly confirms this is the bird I was hearing:

The best way to find Pine Warblers is to narrow them down by habitat and voice. Head for a pine forest in the eastern United States (check a range map for specifics), and then listen for a clear, steady, trilling song. Chipping Sparrows and 

Dark-eyed Juncos sound very similar and can occur in the same habitats, so be aware you might find these birds instead. Pine Warblers tend to stay high in pines and can be obscured by tufts of needles, but a bit of patience is likely to be rewarded.

When I got to the second site (AKA lunch spot) I enjoyed a sandwich waterside while observing the osprey on their still shabby looking nest.  One of the birds brought some nesting material before disappearing and I could see an Eagle on the nest in the distance.  After lunch I observed the Osprey fiddling with some twigs in the nest, adjusting their position.  It's really incredible to look at the construction of these things and imagine them being put together by talons and beaks.  I spent quite a bit of time scanning the surroundings my new Nikon binoculars - but couldn't locate the "Adult" Eagle anywhere.  It was confirmed that it wasn't anywhere near me when another pair of osprey (I believe nesting to the west of the Eagles) soared high in the sky chirping very loudly.  If the Adult BE was around it probably would have made its presence known.

Since the tide was low, I was able to take advantage of a spit of sand that juts out into the creek which was covered with just a couple inches of water.  My new waterproof Salamon hiking shoes (which I bought for an upcoming trip) worked as advertised - submerged in about 3 inches of water and not a drop on the inside.  So much better than lugging some overshoes or wading boots around... As I scanned the marsh again (where I saw the Eagle on Friday) I watched as 4 Great Blue Herons landed.  I thought this to be odd, because aside from maybe seeing two together in a marsh, I'd never seen these birds together (especially not flying together).  A quick check of Cornell's website shows that
these birds are solitary except when on migration - so there you have it!

I re-located the two Osprey - busy preening on a snag across the creek, near the Eagle nest.  Not sure if this was intentional or not, but likely making their continual presence and "ownership" of the area known.  With my lunch break over, I headed out to a property known as "Pheasant Meadow" which Brookhaven Town purchased in conjunction with Suffolk County and preserves as a meadow habitat. The property has a wide variety of wildlife (I'll include the list I've made later if I can remember to find it) and is a unique habitat worth talking a walk through if you're in the area.  I wouldn't be surprised if Eagle's began nesting on the southern tip (known as Haven's Estate) within the next 5 years due to the habitat and location.  While wildlife wasn't terribly abundant here - I did see one raptor though couldn't ID it and spent a few minutes photographing the very active Tree Swallows, including 1 who was very curious about a nest box that the Eastern Long Island Audubon Society (ELIAS) had erected.

I love when an opportunity like this presents itself.  With more time and my tripod I could have gotten the "perfect shot" but I'll take what I got considering.  Whenever a bird returns to a perch consistently, and you have good lighting behind you - you pre-focus your camera and wait until the bird approaches before firing off shots.  Sure, 9 out of 10 will be terrible, but sometimes you get lucky!  With at tripod and a remote trigger, this is really easy because you don't have to hold the camera and have both eyes available to see when the bird comes back to the perch.  I hope to try this again sometime soon with even better results.

As my time int he field would down I got two new birds for the property on my way out - a Northern Flicker and a Purple Finch.  And lastly I heard a rustling that I knew I wasn't responsible for and looked down to find this little guy:

Signs of Spring

Just a quick update here - signs of spring are all around us and I've been lucky to photograph a few things that I don't get a lot of opportunities to see.  Last weekend I happily re-located a great-horned owlet sitting in the nest which has historically been occupied by Osprey.  I'm hoping that next time I visit the bird will be in the "branching" phase and will be found on some of the tree snags that are near the nest.

I also went to check out a fox den that I photographed last year at Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge.  I found the den but the kits weren't outside - one of the adults (almost certainly the male) was out in the field hunting though.  Eventually it decided it was time for a nap and it curled up to go to sleep which I viewed from my car via my binoculars.  I took the chance to sneak up and around the bend behind a brush pile where I was able to get a shot or two of the fox before retreating.

While I had been waiting for the fox in the car - this Bluebird landed on a tree branch next to my car which made for an easy photo.  Hopefully this weekend will give me some good weather and let me find a few more treats.

Calverton and North Fork Preserve

Over the weekend I visited a site I'd never been to before in Calverton. Despite it's close proximity to EPCAL which I have gone to regularly for years, I'd never noticed it before. It's just off the road and contains several small, shallow wetlands. My guess is that in the late spring and early summer it will be teeming with interesting wetland plants, frogs, tadpoles and dragonflies. On Friday morning during my brief visit, there was a good flock of Ruby Crowned Kinglets, plenty of Red-winged Blackbirds (who certainly will be nesting there) and a handful of colorful Pine Warblers as seen below.

EPCAL featured lots of the good stuff - Northern Harriers, a couple dozen American Kestrels, Wild Turkeys, herds of White-tailed Deer and plenty of Eastern Meadowlarks who were actively calling. A lone groundhog was seen looking around on the North side of the property (across Route 25).

A trip to North Fork Preserve didn't yield many photos but showed how much potential the site has. I saw Green-winged Teal, 7 Snipe, a Great Blue Heron, 2 red fox, lots of Wild Turkey, several hawk species and heard some warblers and kinglets. I'm really looking forward to the full migration push when Warblers will be coming through as the small pockets of wetlands at the North Fork Preserve are prime habitat for many of these species.

Tree Swallows taking up residence in a Wood Duck box

Nice lighting on "home pond"

I visited another East End location where I'd heard about an Owl nest and sure enough there it was... I stayed for a couple of minutes and then was on my way. I'd like to get back in the early morning for better lighting - but I'm headed on vacation later this week to Florida so not sure when I'll have the opportunity.

This nest has produced at least 1 Owlet

For more on birds that can be found around Long Island - check out this book by John Turner: Exploring the Other Island: A seasonal guide to nature on Long Island

Nesting Least Terns

Least Terns are one of the most aggressive birds when it comes to defending their nesting sites from humans and other predators.  They will dive bomb you, they will crap on you, they will screech at you and they will even run into you.  But when I visited a nearby Least Tern colony via kayak this evening I didn't experience any of that.  I attribute that mostly to my knowledge of these birds after years of being around them and a few summers monitoring them.  However, I was also able to tuck in behind some vegetation which made me less visible and I think the fact that these birds are in a remote location they don't necessarily perceive man as a threat like their friends who nest at popular ocean and bay front beaches.  Either way, it was a real treat for me to photograph them so close.  In the above image, the least tern was trying to evade the other which had "goosed" it in a dispute over territory.

Above: The Least Tern after it was not so nicely told to get away.
Below: A Least Tern doing a little yoga. . .

Least Terns are very hard to catch in flight, but sometimes they hover which makes it slightly easier.

And one more flight shot for good measure. . .

If you are like me and have an affinity for birds, check out this guide book to birds on the east coast: National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America (National Geographic Field Guide to Birds)

American Kestrel @ EPCAL

This bird eventually got tired of my vehicles presence

American Kestrels are notoriously skittish (and it doesn't help that they are so small).  They regularly line the runways of EPCAL and thus present a fun challenge for the photographer.  Every now and then I get a bird that's a little more cooperative than the rest and today was such a day.

Politely Posing

In addition to the above Kestrel above, there were 4 Turkey Vultures riding the thermals searching for carrion and an active Eastern Bluebird singing his heart out.  As expected, Eastern Meadowlarks and Northern Harriers were also present.

1 of 4 Turkey Vultures at EPCAL

And while Herring Gulls are not the most interesting bird, I thought some of you would be interested in seeing this portrait taken the other day at the Shinnecock Inlet along the jetty.  This was at just about the limit of my lenses focusing abilities and is full frame.

Full Frame - as close as you can get!

Be sure to view the post below featuring an image of the 'Supermoon' and also be sure to check out Theodore Cross's life's work in his book entitled Waterbirds

Lots of Raptors @ EPCAL

Cropped to about 50% off the original - this Roughie is soaring high

On Wednesday the sun was shining and it was the start of a few warm and blue-sky days.  On my way home from work I visited EPCAL and was happy to see so many Kestrels.  In just 20 minutes I observed 7 including what appears to be a pair (see below).  Additionally, 2 light-morph Rough-Legged Hawks, several Northern Harriers and a Red-tailed Hawk were present.

American Kestrel "hovering".  Cropped to just 20% of the original

Perching on the ugly but useful Common Mullein:

I'm including this shot even though the quality isn't great because it was just about full frame:

For more about birds and wildlife on Long Island I highly recommend John Turner's Exploring the Other Island: A seasonal guide to nature on Long Island which features a dozen of my photos including a photo of a Snowy Owl found last year on the beach in Hampton Bays.  This is a must read for bird lovers on Long Island

Mating Red-tailed Hawks

The Landing

Once again I took a drive along the runways at EPCAL.  A light morph Rough-legged Hawk and and couple Harriers were spotted (as expected) and right as I was about to leave I saw a hawk sitting on a nest book.  I looked through my camera to confirm my belief that it was a Red-tailed Hawk perched atop the box (just as one was on March 1st of this year), but this time there was another Hawk in the immediate area.  I had my camera ready as I expected one hawk to scare off the other - but instead it landed on top of the bird and appeared to copulate.  I apologize for the poor quality of the images, but the birds were approximately 650 feet away!  Either way it was cool to see as it happened in just a few seconds and then the male took off to the woods.  Hopefully there will be young red-tailed hawks (and other raptor species) in the near future.

Finishing the Act

And lastly. . . 

See-ya!

For those interested, here is a story from NPR about the California Audubon Society attempting to attract younger members.  An amusing and quick little story (or podcast if you prefer).  It can be accessed here: Birding is exactly what it used to be

And for those looking for an excellent book to read to pass the next few weeks until Spring has truly arrived, pick up Carl Safina's latest title: The View from Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World which starts on Long Island and takes him around the world.  Highly recommended!

Book Review: The View from Lazy Point, by Carl Safina

Montauk Lighthouse - a mere stone's throw from Lazy Point

The View from Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World is Carl Safina's latest book which I recently received in the mail.  While I've known of Dr. Safina for some time (he is the President and Co-Founder of the Blue Ocean Institute) and had the privilege of listening to some of his guest lectures while I was a student at SUNY Stony Brook University, The View from Lazy Point made me feel like I have met him many times before.  Dr. Safina's inviting prose and carefree candor lets the reader experience the far flung trips and lazy local fishing jaunts with ease.  This book reads like an in-depth, year long journal, following the author as he struggles to grasp the perils of this unnatural world and balance them with the familiarities of his aptly named home.

A dovekie - the Penguin of the North

In today's scientific and ecological world, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the bad - the scary end-of-the-world scenarios that Al Gore and the like brought into our living rooms.  How does one escape the ill effects of the never ending CO2 smokestack, the bleached white coral reefs of the Caribbean or the melted glaciers of our polar regions?  Even the most optimistic scientist struggles with this task, but Dr. Safina makes it a point to see the natural good left in the world and appreciate it.  He may not stop to smell the roses - but he does pause to pursue the bass and bluefish that remain abundant in his backyard.  While each new month in this book brings with it a reminder of what has been lost, it also brings reminders of what remains, or in those rare instances, what has come back.

An Endangered Roseate Tern forages on Long Island

Thanks to the dedication of a former federal biologist (Rachel Carlson and her 1962 book Silent Spring) and the non-profit environmental advocacy group the Environmental Defense Fund (founded on Long Island by the likes of former SUNY Stony Brook professor Charles Wurster and former BNL Scientist Dennis Puleston) birds like the Osprey and Peregrine Falcon got a second lease on life and are now common visitors to Lazy Point and the rest of Long Island.  Even after a long and cold trip to Antartica, where Dr. Safina sees first hand the raw chain reaction effects of climate change, he can return home and witness the abundance nature continues to offer, like harbor seals loafing yards from his bedroom window.  The Ruddy Turnstone - that small and unmistakable multi-colored shorebird - is a metaphor throughout the book.  It seems to follow the author nearly wherever he goes and suggests that while things are bad, not all is lost.  There is hope.  Things can change.  Beauty and natural wonder, they surround us.

A Ruddy Turnstone during migration

The View from Lazy Point is an eye opening adventure and scientific endeavor.  By book's end, the title takes on a literal meaning.  The View is not simply the picture that mother nature paints outside Dr. Safina's beachfront cottage.  The entire world truly can be seen from Lazy Point - every link in the food chain - every side effect of man kind's gluttonous and wanton ways.  The author analyzes the ravenous desires of man and points out the political and economic hurdles that pit us against a natural world in harmony.  This book is not to be speed read to discover the ending - for there is no "ending" to the problems that face us.  It is a glimpse in time, a mere fraction of a second on planet Earth's clock that shows us where we are and how we got here.  Dr. Safina does not have every answer for every problem facing us - but he gives us guidelines to right the ship before we discard our miraculous gifts like so many others we have swept under the proverbial carpet.  If we stop being selfish, stop justifying our wasteful ways because we are the "Have's" and therefore can exploit the shares of the "Have Not's" - then we can get back on the proper heading.  The modern world is used to throwing the used and spent in the garbage - but there is no landfill to toss nature into - only a cold and dark grave.  Writes Dr. Safina, "To advance compassion and yet survive in a world of appetites - that is our challenge".

Please click on the image below to purchase this book from Amazon.com.  It is easily the most thought provoking environmental book I've had the pleasure to read and it will both entertain you and influence how you see the world.  And if you're living on the Island, a trip to Montauk is in order once you have finished this journey.

New Welcome Banner

As the loyal readers will know "Birds of Long Island" has undergone a major visual overhaul in recent weeks which was long overdue.  One of the final pieces to be put in place was the "Birds of Long Island" banner you see at the top of this page.  It's something I've been meaning to do for a long time but for a while didn't have the skills to do it - and for a long time didn't have the motivation.  Well, I'm glad I finally got around to doing it (even if it took awhile).

This was Version #1

I asked for feedback from other photographers I know, as well as my family and my fantastic assistant/girlfriend.  Some of you may have briefly seen the first banner (directly above) I made that was up for about a day but which I decided needed to be changed based on the input of others.  I made a 2nd version (below) which never made it on the site and then a 3rd which you see at the top of the blog.

Version 2 was quickly scrapped

I have decided to update the banner approximately every 3 months to keep things fresh and cycle in new designs.  Any suggestions or input as to what you would like to see in the future is greatly appreciated.  My opinion matters just as much as the opinion of my readers (probably less!).  Thanks for the support and know that I'm always open to ideas from my audience on how to improve the look and function of Birds of Long Island.