GSBAS Tuesday Nature Walk 11/07/2017

Today our walk was at Sunken Meadow State Park. Someone flipped a switch and it felt like winter this morning. Standing on the boardwalk facing into the north breeze was almost bone chilling. But, we persevered and had a good morning of birding.

We had thirty species of birds on our walk today. There were some sea ducks on the sound, both Black and White-winged Scoters plus a Common Loon. There were a few lingering Sanderlings on the beach at the base of the rock jetty.

At the end of our walk where the bridge crosses the inlet waters we had a nice finale. There were a flock of Cedar Waxwings feeding on the berries in the trees. This seems to have become a tradition on our wals here to finish with the Waxwings. Just around the corner from the bridge was a small flock of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a topping for our finale.

Tuesday October 31, 2017 GSBAS Nature walk at Blydenburgh County Park

What a nice fall day. It was clear, crisp and bright all morning for our walk at Blydenburgh County Park. There  were lots of ducks on the pond, mainly American Wigeon, Gadwall and Mallards. Not to be out done there were also a lot of Mute Swans. On the far side of the pond there were a number of Double Crested Cormorants

On our walk through the woods we encountered first a a small feeding flock of Chickadees, Titmice and Golden Crowned Kinglets. Later in the campground we hit a very active spot. We saw Cedar Waxwings, White-breasted Nuthatches, Red-bellied woodpeckers and Northern Flickers, plus a large group of House Finches. As a highlight we saw a Black-throated Green Warbler, usually long gone by now. All told we had 23 species for the morning, plus a very nice walk in the woods.

Great South Bay Audubon Tuesday walk 10/10/2017

Today's walk was at Robert Moses SP, with the intention of spending time at the hawk watch platform. The weather was spectacular, maybe a little hot, but a gorgeous day. The wind was mild out of the west northwest. Conditions should have been good but the hawks apparently didn't think so. We only saw a Peregrine , a Cooper's Hawk and a Merlin in our time on the platform.

Our quest along the boardwalk to the light house did get us a couple of nice birds. We saw a Brown Thrasher, a Cedar Waxwing, multiple Swamp Sparrows and a lot of Northern Mockingbirds. The Yellow-rumped Warblers are also starting to show now as well. One mockingbird posed for us to see it in it's splendor

Tuesday October 3, 2017 Nature Walk

 Today's birding was a little slow. We had 23 species of birds, moat of the usual suspects. A lot of  the birds were heard only. We had a good looks at Great Blue Heron and an Eastern Phoebe.

The walks are called nature walks for a reason. As we look for birds we also observe other facets of nature including plants animals, and insects. At the end of the walk we stumbled across what looked like a Praying Mantis. In looking it up in my insect book it looks like a Chinese Mantid. Both are introduced species. The Praying Mantis was accidentally introduced in 1899 on nursery stock from Europe. The Chinese Mantid was intentionally introduced in 1896

Tues. Sept 12 2017, Shinnecock Nature Walk

Another nice day for our walk, a little more summer like than fall but still a nice day. We met at the inlet and found a bunch of shorebirds hiding in the wrack line on the beach, There were fifteen or so Semi-palmated Plovers of different plumages, and some Sanderlings and Semi-palmated Sandpipers. Inside the bay on the sand bar were a group of American Oystercatchers.

We then started our caravan down Dune Rd. The high tide seemed to limit the number of birds. We did see lots of Egrets, both Snowy and Great with a few Great Blue Herons mixed in. We had a few shorebirds scattered among the different stops with a Clapper Rail heard at the last stop

GSBAS Tues Nature Walk 09/05/17 Heckscher SP

We mat in Field 5 of Heckscher State Park on a beautiful morning. It was somewhat warm but breezy enough to compensate. We tried to walk  the NW path from the field but the onslaught of mosquitoes drove us back. We then proceed to Field 7 to check the remaining puddles and bayside shore line for shorebirds  and what else we could see.

We did manage to see a couple of shorebirds, Black-bellied Plovers, Semi Palmated Plovers, Semi Palmated  Sandpipers and Killdeer. At the end of the walk there was an Osprey standing in the puddle.

GSBAS Tuesday Walk 05/09/2017

It was an Oriole. This  morning our walk was at the Massapequa Preserve. It was chilly with intermittent Cloudy skies,  we had  mostly sunshine though. We started our walk by seeing a couple of Chimney Swifts circling overhead, We then walked around the pond and saw Orioles. There were quite a few Orioles including an Orchard Oriole. There were plenty of Warbling Vireos as well. We also saw a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Our total was 33 species for the morning

It was a nice spring morning with a nice assortment of birds and a couple of birds sitting on nests. The trees are just opening and giving a variety of green to see. A good day to be in nature.

GSBAS Nature Walk 04/18/2017

Today our walk was at Gardiners Park, West Bayshore. Ten folks showed up on a nice spring day. Finally a break in the Tuesday weather with bright sunshine and clear cool skies.

Birding was a little quiet but we did see some of the usual suspects for this time of year. We saw Chickadees hollowing out a nest site and at the bay we saw a pair of American Oystercatchers. There were Red-wing Blackbirds everywhere

On the way back from the bay we spotted a Brown Thrasher gathering nesting Material