Another beach Run

Lunch at the beach. After stopping at a deli for chicken soup and a turkey sandwich I went to Oak Beach rd  and ate my lunch. At the pullout the flock/raft of Scoter was in close to the shoreline

Birdwise again, the area was quiet. Not much happening. No Rough-leggeds today a, in fact very few birds at all. The sun did come out and warmed things up a little bit but not much. The forecast is for slightly warmer next week as we head to Arizona.

It's freezing

The temp was minus two when I got up this morning. Later in the morning I did a beach run. pretty quiet but very beautiful. It looks like the tundra in some spots. the bay is frozen over and the Captree marsh is solid ice. On Ocean Parkway I spotted a Rough-legge Hawk sitting on the top of a black pine tree. He continued to pose for me and I got a good picture.

The rest of the run was quiet as expected

Jones Beach West End Feb 2015

Today was the annual February field trip to Jones beach West End, led  by Mike Cooper. Ten folks showed up on a relatively mild day for this annual event. The temps were in the high twenties to low thirties, with a moderate wind. Don't get me wrong, it is still cold on the beach in winter with any wind, but a better day than most years.

I added three FOY birds to my list, A beautiful dark phase Rough Legged hawk, White-crowned Sparrow and Ruddy Turnstone. The Turnstones were on the pier pilings at field 10 as usual in the winter. There were a whole bunch, maybe thirty or more, of seals hauled out across the state channel marsh. Also there was a beautifully colored Lapland Longspur along with another in a flock of Horned Larks.

It turned out to be a good morning of winter birding with not so bad weather.

Sunny day but still cold

I headed to the beach for lunch and birding by car. The sun was shining and the temperatures were in the mid twenties with little wind. All the Cedar beach lots were closed, Oak beach and Captree Roads were open but with all that snow cover not much to see, The marsh is completely covered with snow and looks spectacular.

Lunch along Oak Beach rd was enjoyable. The brilliance of the sun reflecting off the inlet water  is something that is hard to describe, The glare off the ripples produces a shimmer that is hard to look into. Ther were not many sea birds or ducks in the water.

In Robert Moses SP there were bands of Horne Larks roadside, flying up at every car except the band in the marina, I pulled right up next to the and snapped a picture

Super Bowl Sunday

The temperatures managed to get near 40 degrees so I decided to take a walk in Heckscher. I parked in Field 6 as 7 is closed. Some how "Gimpy" found me in field 6 and got his snack bar. I headed along the bike path in the direction of field 7. Just in front of the pool there was a small group of sparrows, some Trees, a Song and a Swamp. This must be the same group that was working the median the other day.

The Swamp was willing to pose for a picture. I finished the walk without seeing any thing of further interest. The walk back to the car was into the wind and much harder and colder.