Pink-footed Goose

Yesterday evening Derek Rogers whom I've known since College was driving home and saw a large flock of geese on the North side of the LIE and figured he would give it a scan since there was some light left. Before long he had plucked out a Pink-footed Goose, a proverbial needle in a haystack (or stack of goose down anyway). The Pink-footed Goose is the holy grail of Geese in the Northeast and there it was right in Holtsville. This morning a report of the bird being at Medford Athletic Complex was great news for me since my office is right down the road from there but by the time my lunch break came around the birds were gone - replaced by Soccer Players enjoying the warm February weather. So I rolled the dice that the bird would head to the Soccer fields in Holtsville again around dusk and sure enough - within 5 minutes of my arrival I watched the bird fly in from the North through my binoculars and land at the far north end of the field.

So while I'm happy to get this difficult bird in a place so close to home I'm woefully disappointed in the image quality (no thanks to the light and distance). Maybe I'll get lucky in the next few days.


If you are interested in 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

Snowy Owl and Snow Goose

This afternoon I had a little time to look for birds so I headed out east and started on Dune Rd. where a Snowy Owl has repeatedly been reported stationed on Warner Island just east of the Shinnecock Bridge and just West of the Shinnecock Fishing Station.  Sure enough, the bird was there - though it was probably the most underwhelming Snowy Owl experience given the significant distance and the average optics I had (Nikon Action Ex Extreme 8 X 40 mm All Terrain Binoculars).  Still, it's always nice to locate and see this powerful and beautiful bird and below is the best image I was able to ascertain with my camera at a distance of ~ 1/3 of a mile.

The Shinnecock Inlet held nothing of interest aside from a couple seals who popped their heads up and some loons.  Here's a photo of a Red-throated loon I took last weekend at Cupsogue Beach:

Hoping to get lucky and find some wood ducks or other bird of interest I stopped in at Quogue Wildlife Refuge where the first bird I noticed was a Snow Goose (that seems to have a broken wing).  The bird was able to get around ok and swim (and of course there's plenty of food at the refuge) but certainly won't be able to fly when the time comes.  I'm assuming that the staff there is aware of this and that it will be captured by the Hamptons rescue group soon enough and rehabbed.  This was my first encounter with this species - so it's too bad that the bird is injured but still nice to see it and glad to see it at a safe haven like Quogue Wildlife Refuge.

If you are interested in the binoculars I use - check out the link below:

Mountain Bluebird

This morning I set out to find the Mountain Bluebird that has been present in the Calverton area for approximately a week. There were a few other birders who were out there as well which helped because one of them located it along the fencing at the Haunted House on 25A and alerted me to it. While the bird didn't come nearly as close as I'd hoped, it was still a pleasure to photograph this rare visitor from the West.

Since I was out and about I figured I'd try and see if anything else of interest was around. Some time at EPCAL produced a flock of Eastern Meadowlarks and a handful of Savannah Sparrows - but there were some raptors as well. Two Red-tailed hawks were perched in a tree next to each other, Northern Harriers were hunting near the runways and a couple American Kestrels were seen including this one which was a bit more cooperative than usual.

In addition to the above mentioned birds were a couple male Eastern Bluebirds (which were far more attractive than the drab Mountain Bluebird).  Another Red-tailed hawk was spotted on a light pole in Aquebogue, and I had time for a brief visit to the new North Fork Preserve Suffolk County Park which yielded a Red-tailed hawk being chased by a Cooper's. All in all a nice cold winter day with some raptors and a species of bird that's new to me.

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