GSBAS Tuesday Nature Walk 10/08/2019

A cloudy overcast dreary day greeted us at Robert Moses SP. As we gathered in the parking lot a pair of skirmishing merlins passed over us to start our morning.  Seven of us made our way along the boardwalk to the Hawk Watch platform. The wind was out of the north east which should have been good for seeing hawks migrate past the platform. The morning flight did not occur. We then made our way to the light house and back to look for land birds. The land birds were also not cooperating. We managed 18 species for the morning. The highlight was a very cooperative palm warbler. Photo by Bob Glasser

It is always a pleasure to walk the board walk at Robert Moses State Park and the Fire Island National Seashore, the scenery is spectacular and the the different plants that can be observed make it a nice morning

GSBAS Tuesday Nature Walk 09/24/2019

What a beautiful day for a walk. An overnight cold front and a brief shower cleared the humidity and lowered the temperatures.Eight people showed up for the walk at The Suffolk County farm in Yaphank. We spent the first half hour watching Merlins and Kestrels patrolling the fields and interacting with each other. There were three Merlins and two Kestrels. They put on a fine show.

We continued our walk past fields of corn and potatoes and passed a large field of sunflowers, which was lit up by the bright sun. We the headed into the barnyard past the livestock and headed to the butterfly garden. It was a nice day with some wonderful nature to absorb and enjoy

GSBAS Tuesday Nature Walk 09/17/2019

Today our walk was at the Oceanside Marine Nature Study Area. The weather was spectacular. Brilliant sunshine and mild winds across the spartina gave a  beautiful waving color to marsh. The area has boardwalks through the marsh which lets you get up close to the wildlife.

We were initially greeted by a Little Green Heron, viewable from the parking lot. We had 16 species of birds for our efforts for the morning. We had both Great and Snowy egrets, Glossy Ibis and lots of Yellowlegs. Oystercatchers and Black-bellied Plovers added to the morning.

A couple of us stopped at The Jones beach Coast Guard Station and found a Caspian Tern. Another good morning with some good birds

GSBAS Tuesday Nature Walk September 10, 2019

Today's walk was at Shinnecock Inlet and Dune Rd. We mat at the inlet and then drove Dune rd stopping at different pullouts. The shorebirds were scattered on the distant islands. There were Common Eider hanging around still. Of note were over 50 Royal Terns scattered at each of the stops we made. We managed to see 22 species of birds on the walk. That is slow for that location at this time of the year.

Along Dune Rd at multiple locations were large flocks of migrating Tree Swallows. At this time of the year they gather in large flocks and migrate along the barrier beaches. The flocks contain thousands of swallows and create a spectacular shoe as the sweep and swirl along the beaches staying low to feed on the insects. It is spectacular to see the masses of bird moving in unison

GSBAS Tuesday Nature Walk 09/03/2019

Today our walk was at Connetquot State Park Preserve. The weather was spectacular, I take full credit for that. Temperatures in the 70's  and light wind made for a nice walk in a great park. Birding was a little slow. We did manage to see an Eastern Kingbird sitting over the lake. On the green Trail we had good looks at an Eastern Phoebe as it was flycatching along the edge of the trail. After the walk was over we went to Heckscher SP  to try to see a reported rarity. There has bee a Baird's Sandpiper there for the last couple of days and it was still here for our visit. A really nice finish to a nice day.

Eastern Phoebe

GSBAS Tuesday Nature Walk 06/04/2019

Tuesday's Nature Walk was at the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank. It was a beautiful morning with cool temperatures and bright sunshine. We walked the perimeter of the fields and managed to see a few birds. We had a total of 17 species Highlighted by soaring a Soaring Red-tailed Hawk and a couple of fly over Glossy Ibis. 

The sightings of note were Ground Hogs (Woodchucks). They seemed to be everywhere on our walk. I counted at least six. One almost ran under our feet.

Photo by Jack Carlson

This was our last Tuesday walk of the season. We will resume again in September. Check our website and newsletter for dates and times

GSBAS Tuesday Nature Walk 05/28/2019

Our walk today was at Shinnecock Inlet and Dune Rd. We start at the inlet observing the sea birds and ducks and shorebirds . There was a large flock of Common Eider just outside the inlet. This is unusaual as they should have left by now. Still nice to see though.

The we proceeded on our caravan to the multiple stops along Dune rd. We had a very nice mix of shorebirds and some nice surprises as well. Still nesting Ospreys were all along the road. We had a nice flyby Black Skimmer and some Least Terns. Overall we had ten species of shorebirds. Our total species count for the day was 34, a nice morning of birding

GSBAS Tuesday Nature Walk 04/30/2019

We had a really nice walk today despite the cloudy and damp conditions. Right at the beginning path we were surrounded by Yellow Warblers. Warblers to the left and warblers to the right, We wound up with a three warbler day. Yellow, Black & White, and Northern Parula Warblers were seen. Another highlight was  a Warbling Vireo. We had a total of 30 species for the morning. The smaller northern pond had a pair of Forsters Terns flying over.

All in all, not a bad morning of birding for a cold damp day. A Eastern Cottontail didn't mind us walking past as it was eating.

Nature Walk Feb 2, 2019 Jones Beach West End

With a break in the frigid weather nine hardy birders showed up at Jone Beach for our February weekend walk. The walk was led by Bob Grover. We started at the Coast Guard boat basin with temperatures in the teens and ended at the Nature center with thirty degrees. We had 28 species of birds for the morning.

The channel was still partly frozen and the bar mostly ice covered but still held a some shorebirds and gulls. In the marina itself we saw , common loon, red-breasted merganser, common goldeneye, greater scaup Surf scoter, white-winged scoter and bufflehead. A nice mix for the morning. Land birds were a bit scarce as we only saw a few of the usual suspects. Our walk to the beach did not produce the hoped for snowy owl. On returning from the beach we saw a peregrine falcon eating a surf scoter in the parking lot

It was a nice day with mild temperature and bright sunshine, great day for a nice walk on the beach

Breakfast & Birding January 12, 2019

With below freezing temperatures, twenty seven hardy birders showed up at Connetquot State Park Preserve for our winter Breakfast and Birding. The event is a partnership between  Environmental Education Office of NYS parks and Great South Bay Audubon Society(GSBAS).

Te program started with a breakfast in the main building. That was funded by GSBAS and supported by the  Melville Deli with a donation of bagels and spreads.. The park staff made coffee and set up the room for the event. While participants were enjoying the continental breakfast  park staff. member Pam Hunters showed an discussed the possible birds that might be seen on our walk following the indoor activities.

We split into two groups for our walk, each group led by folks from Great South Bay Audubon. Initially we went to the lake by the mill to scan for ducks. There were not many ducks as the pond had skim ice on the surface, though we did manage to see a few species. One of the groups on the way back from viewing the lakeon the east side discovered the stars of the day. In the river, across from the mill a Wilson's Snipe and a Rusty Blackbird were found. In total we had 26 species, not bad for a cold winter day.

This is one of our most popular programs, and today was another good day for getting together to enjoy the outdoors and share knowledge off birds. Photos By Lisa Nasta