Birding and Bonding and Beaching!

Haven't done much birding of late, but we were able to do some "gull spotting" as we chilled on the beach yesterday.  It was the last day of our three day heat wave and the ocean breeze felt good.

Saw the always present Herring Gull.  This photo is of a slightly immature one.  They are here all year long.

Immature Herring Gull

Surprisingly, the Ring-Billed Gull was ever present.  Surprising because according to the good, old Peterson's Field Guide, they only winter on Long Island.  Perhaps their range is changing.  If we find they are here year round, we will add them to our list.

Ring -Billed Gull

Another year round gull that is already on our list is the Great Black-Backed Gull.  Here he is below.

Great Black-Backed Gull

The fourth gull we saw is a summer resident on Long Island.  It's year round range is further south and in the Gulf of Mexico.  It is the Laughing Gull.  We saw adults and juveniles.  Below are some pictures.

Adult Laughing Gull

Adult and two juveniles

So while we mainly went to the beach to bond, we were able to get some birding in as well!  Until next time....

They Blend!

Here is another installment from "out the bathroom window." 

I never would have seen these youngster Mockingbirds if I hadn't seen the mom fly into the tree and begin feeding them.  They blended very well with the color of the Magnolia Tree.

They stayed in the same spot all day, crying for food.

The next day they were gone.  I'm sure they were somewhere.  Just not where I could view them from "the bathroom window!"

New Family at the Hall

Here are photos of our latest arrivals at the Kingdom Hall.  The new Robin family.  Here is mom with two babies.  There could be more.

65 shots later...

I've been keeping up with the goings-on at the Oriole nest at the Kingdom Hall.  I have tried countless times to get a good photo of mama or papa bird.  They are both taking turns feeding the brood.  Today I waited patiently for a good shot.  It took about 65 shots, but I finally got this one of the male Oriole above the nest. 

The very next shot I took was a reject for this Birds of a Feather blog, but I posted it on www.frabjousphoto.blogspot.com. Check it out!  You'll see why!

A Sturdy Dwelling

Watching some orioles one day, when Virgie spotted this nest about 15 feet above our heads.  The workmanship is amazing!  Orioles make nests that are suspended.  I was happy to be able to catch it at this angle because it really shows the workmanship.  Click on the picture for a larger view.  It shows some of the building materials used.  The nest is secured onto several branches.  The opening is at the top.  I believe the pair were still furnishing their nest, as opposed to feeding young.  I will continue to monitor the nest.  Hopefully, I can actually get some birds in the picture!  Perhaps mother and bablies!

Bill Richards Park

Our speaker today brought out that problems are like weeds -- they just keep popping up!  So after a long cold winter of weeds, it was beyond wonderful to get together for an afternoon of birding.  Our first real foray of the year.

The catalyst behind this afternoon's adventure was some inside information.  Our birding buddy, Louie, said we might see some Wood Ducks at the Bill Richards Park, known to many as Green Gates.  They often make use of the Wood Duck boxes at the park for breeding.  Of course Wood Ducks only summer on Long Island, so if we did see them we couldn't add them to our Long Island Year Round Bird list, but they are so colorful, we wanted to see them never-the-less.

It was a perfect day, high 60's.  The birds were abundant.  We saw all the usuals:  Cardinals, Blue Jays, Crows, Grackles, Black-Capped Chickadees, Catbirds, Red-Winged Blackbirds and Robins.  There was an Osprey that flew overhead.  We saw at least three different types of Warblers, but they were flitting about so quickly, we weren't able to identify, with any degree of certainty, even one!  We did come across a new bird that sat patiently as we checked the book to see what it was. A Great Crested Flycatcher!  A new bird for us, but not for the blog.  He also only summers on Long Island.  Below is a picture of one just like the one we saw.

Great Crested Flycatcher

We were also very happy to see a common bird that we are able to add to our Long Island Bird List.  That bird is a Brown Headed Cowbird.  A photo below shows what they look like.

Brown Headed Cowbird

As we made our way around the pond, enjoying the variety of birds, we met a friendly Mute Swan, who followed us for a while, perhaps thinking we had a tasty morsel to share.


Mute Swan


We also spotted several couples of Mallards.  Of course, Mallards are a dime a dozen and we didn't take a photo until we met up with this couple on the path.  Notice how the coloring of the male changes with the light.  Usually the head looks green but in the photo taken yesterday, the coloring is purple.

Well, we made it to the end of the pond.  No Wood Ducks!  Disappointed, but happy for all the birds we did see.  We kept scanning the pond on our way back, just in case we missed something.  Persistence paid off.  There on the other side of the pond - Wood Ducks!  We quickly circled around to get a better look.  Unlike Mallards, who could care less if you are there, Wood Ducks are a little on the skittish side.  By the time we got to where they were, they were high-tailing it to where we were not!  We did manage to get a few pictures before they disappeared under the brush at the other side of the pond.

Male and Female Wood Ducks

Yes, they were moving away from us as quickly as they could!  Click on photos for a better look.  As is the case with most species, the female is very drab colored in order to blend in with her surroundings while tending to her brood.  Now our day was complete.  We found what we came for.  Even so, we circled around to the other side of the pond to see if we could catch up with them.  Had a few brief views, but they were determined to be difficult! 

We did happen upon these three rather large turtles, sunning themselves on this log.  Look to the far right and see that they were sharing the log with a Mallard.

Three Turtles and a Mallard!

Had one other nice surprise as we headed back to the cars.  Found this Red-Bellied Woodpecker peeking out from his house!  The next time we go back, we will check to see if there are any babies being tended to there!

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Such was our jam-packed birding afternoon.  How much we love the variety Jehovah provided.  Hope you enjoyed our journey as well.  Keep on Birding!

Just asking for his picture to be taken!

Had my camera out is service yesterday because I was meeting Ar at 2:30 to do some birding.  This Robin was just begging to be photographed!