GSBAS Tuesday Nature Walk Suffolk Cty. Farm 09/28/2021

 We managed to get our walk completed before the rains Came. We started our walk by chasing some birds reported from the previous day. Just past the buildings in the NW corns we encountered a flock of Palm Warblers working the grass edges of the road and bathing in puddles. Then we saw a flock of Savannah Sparrows also bathing and working the grass. The colors were beautiful. 

We then headed up the path to the fields of sunflowers. What a gorgeous view and as a bonus there were Bobolinks feeding on the sunflowers

As we were leaving the parking lot a Cooper's Hawk passed over us to help wrap up a great morning of birding

GSBAS Nature Walk 09/21/20 Oceanside Marine Nature Study Area

 A beautiful first day of fall walk in a beautiful location. The Oceanside MNSA is always a very nice walk and only gets better with the variety of wading birds to be seen there. We had Great and Snowy Egrets, Little Blue and Little Green Herons and one Yellow crowned Night Heron. Add a variety of shorebirds and it was a very enjoyable morning.

We followed up with a trip to Jones Beach West End to check on shore birds on the bar and saw a flock of American Oystercatchers.

GSBAS Nature Walk 09/07/2021 Connetquot & Heckscher SP

 Today was our kickoff for the fall season. Seven of us ventured forth to see what nature could give us today. The sun was shining with mild temps, making for a very enjoyable walk. We spent the first half of the walk at Connetquot SPP. we had 20 species of birds, some highlights were Common Night Hawks, Eastern Kingbirds, and lots of Cedar Waxwings. The picture is an Eastern Kingbird

Then we proceeded to Heckscher State SP to check out the reported shorebird spectacular in the parking lot puddles. Every year at this time, with rain cooperating and filling the parking lot puddles shorebirds stop on their migration and feed on invertebrates in the puddles. This makes for easy viewing. We had seven species of shorebirds 50 yards away. We had Stilt and Pectoral and Semi and Least Sandpipers, A Ruddy Turnstone dropped in, plus Killdeer and Semi-Palmated Plover to top off the morning