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