Tuesday GSBAS Nature Walk 10/25/2016

Today our walk was at Jones Beach west End, near the Coast Guard and Marina. The weather was once again spectacular. Brilliant sunshine and cool temperatures made for a nice walk. The winds were strong out of the north west making for a very clear sky with good visibility.

We started at the hedgerow near the Coast Guard Station and spent some time looking at a variety of sparrows, mixed in with some Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. We then headed over to the median and were almost overrun by Golden-crowned Kinglets. It seemed that every tree had at least two or three jumping around in it.

Then all of a sudden they all disappeared and we noticed over head a flight of Sharp-shinned Hawks patrolling the area hunting for a meal. No wonder they hid.Five Sharpies passed over head in less than a minute. Another benefit to birding at Jones Beach in the fall.

GSBAS Tuesday Nature Walk 10/18/2016

Today's walk was at Avalon Preserve in Stony Brook. It was a gorgeous day for our walk,even though we could use the rain we still enjoyed the morning.

Avalon gives us a mix of habitats, woods and fields and a pond. On starting our walk we spotted a Wood Duck in the main pond. Further up the path at a small man made pond we saw some green frogs and some warblers. There were a couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers drinking in the stream.

Midway through the walk we were led to a Praying Mantis

At the end of our walk we were told of a Ring-necked Pheasant being very cooperative, and he was.

We all got very good looks at a very pretty bird.

GSBAS Tuesday Nature Walk 10/04/2016

In previous years our fall walks at Massapequa Preserve have been less than stellar. Not today though. We had one of our best days there in a long time. Eight of us gathered for the walk at the entrance at Pittsburgh Avenue. As a group we had over thirty species for bird for the morning.

As headed up the path  we encountered groups of birds foraging. There were hundreds of American Robins and  Grey Catbirds everywhere. An isolated group had several Cedar Waxwings again foraging in the trees for berries. Furthee on two distinct groups contained warblers. We saw, Black-throated Green, Yellow-rumped, Northern Parula, Black and White, Blackpoll, and Common Yellowthroat. It also seemed like it was a good day for vireos. There were multiple Red-eyed Vireos all along the path, and we also saw a couple or Blue-headed and White-eyed Vireos.

The highlight was a Scarlet Tanager in a transitional plumage. We discussed that it might be a Summer Tanager but analysis after the trip confirmed it was a Scarlet Tanager. It was a good morning in spite of the sun not peeking out as predicted.