Sunken Meadow State Park

The time is finally here...we have been so looking forward to this day.  We were both so excited about our first sunny birding day.  We both had so many things to do before we met up today, but we forgot about all the running around as soon as we entered the gates into the park.  However, the sunny afternoon brought out a lot of nature lovers.  The boardwalk was a buzz with bike riders, joggers and lots of power walkers.  So we joined in and began our trek on the boardwalk heading into the sun.  The beach was not only crowded with folks taking advantage of the nice weather, but there were hundreds of gulls, so with our hats, earmuffs, gloves and warm jackets we went out onto the beach, and yes, it was cold.  Armed with our list of 52 birds (19 of which we've already seen) that had been spotted at Sunken Meadow since January 1, 2010, we had some very high hopes. 

We had no trouble spotting the Ring-Billed Gulls.  They were everywhere.  The only problem is that this is a bird that winters on Long Island.  In the summer it moves on to Canada.  So we are not allowed to count that one for the Long Island Native Species List.  We spotted some small ducks out on the Sound and spent, probably, too much time trying to identify them.  The result was that we never did identify them and got cold doing it!  We decided to walk up to the point where the sun went down behind the bluffs, after that we'd be walking in the shade, and it was too cold for that.  Happily were saw some Great Black-Backed Gulls.  That can be added to the list!

Since the beach was cold and windy we moved the car to Field 3.  There is a footbridge nearby over Sunken Meadow Creek.  We saw some additional ducks that we could not identify, try as we may.  So we moved on.  We followed a trail that we thought would lead us to the lagoon which empties into the Nissaquogue River.  We ended up high above the lagoon, with no way to get down.  We were forced to back track until we came to an opening in the fence where we were supposed to turn earlier.  Back on track, we quietly walked through the woods and along the creek.  Not hearing much and seeing less.  Then we heard a familiar sound.  The call of the Red-Winged Blackbird, always a sign that spring is coming.  Now if we could just find it, we'd be able to add it to our list!  We scanned the bank of the creek and there he was, on the other side, sitting happily on a branch, singing that spring song.

We finally made it to the lagoon, happy to find that there was no one on the one bench there.  We had been walking for about two hours and were looking forward to sitting a spell.  Not to much happening there either.  Then we spotted a bird sitting on a branch in the bushes by the water.  We were able to get within about six feet of this bird.  We had no idea what it was.  It was sort of beige with no markings.  Black beak, black legs.  We tried our best to find a bird that looked like him in our book.  The closest ones we could find were birds that were either here only in the summer or birds that are not ever here on Long Island!  Hmmm!  We took lots of photos of him.  We had to get closer.  Well, we got too close for his comfort.  He flew away.  And at that moment we knew we had been "punked"!  It turned out to be a Northern Mockingbird.  His grey color looked beige with the setting sun.  I am sure he was mocking us, this Mockingbird disguised as an Eastern Wood-Pewee!  Well, at least we can add him to our list!

By now it was getting much colder and more windy.  We headed back to the car.  Along the way, we heard a duck-like sound and saw something fly low across the creek.  Tried to find it, but to no avail.  There were many Grackles congregating in the trees above.  Another bird for the list.  Our last stop was on the road to the golf course.  We pulled the car over and got out, because we saw some ducks in the water, off in the distance.  We could not get a good look at them however, because the phragmites were in the way.  Oh well, we are able to add four birds to our list and we spent a wonderful afternoon together.  Next time the weather will be warmer and the days longer.  Until next time.  (Still haven't seen a Blue Jay together!)