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:

More from Jones Beach

Here are some more images from last weekend at Jones Beach.  Hopefully the weather will be good at some point this weekend and I can improve on my flight shots.  Above: Merlin in flight

 Above: A merlin feasts on a small bird for breakfast.  Below: Merlin stooping

 Adjusting its angle:

 Sharp-Shinned Hawk pursuing the Merlin:

 Done chasing and heading toward the ocean:

summer shots

I've been going through some folders organizing my images and came across a few that have never been posted here on the blog so I wanted to share them with all of you.  The theme (incase you didn't notice) is shorebirds.  Enjoy.

Above: Eastern Willet with what I believe to be a long-clawed hermit crab.  Below: Oystercatcher flying over Shinnecock Bay:

This Ruddy Turnstone stopped in the Hamptons for a layover during migration:

A Short-billed dowitcher appears lonely @ Cupsogue, but its friends were just out of frame.