GSBAS Tuesday Walk 04/24/2018

Oh what a beautiful morning, it could make a great song title. It was just spectacular this morning on our walk at Norman Levy park in Merrick. Bette Davis said it, "What a dump". The park is a recovered landfill. Nicely laid out for a great walk with different habitats as you walk around the trails.

We were greeted by the resident Monk Parakeets as we gathered at the beginning of the trail.

We walked to the top and back down seeing 25 species of birds despite the trees not having leafed out yet. At the end of the walk we spotted a Little Blue heron to finish the day.

GSBAS Nature Walk April 21, 2018

We had our annual April walk at Connetquott State Park Preserve Saturday April 21. The weather was delightful. A warming feel to the air and bright sunshine and a crowd of 24 people made for a great walk.

We headed to the Mill hoping to see the resident Bald Eagle and were not disappointed. He dida flyover right on cue. We had a good raptor morning, we also saw a Cooper's Hawk, a Red-tailed Hawk, and a number of Ospreys flying around. We had two early warblers, Pine warbler and Palm warbler. After explaining to the group about our Bluebird trail we spotted a pair of Eastern Bluebirds approaching box 14 seeming to prepare to nest. We wound up with 39 species for the morning. One of the best April Trips I can remember

April 17, 2018 GSBAS Nature Walk

Wow, another less than stellar day for one of our spring walks. It will get better. The temps were in the forties with a brisk bone chilling wind. Eleven hardy souls ventured forth to see what we could see.

Apparently the birds also felt the impact of the weather and decided to sleep in. We did persist though and managed to squeak out some nice birds for the morning.Some highlights were Great Egrets and  Ospreys flying overhead. There were Robins and Red-winged Blackbirds galore. A few Cardinals and both American and Fish crow were around.

On the way back to the parking lot a Snowy Egret Joined us on the pathway

January 13, 2018 Breakfast & Birding

Thank goodness for a break in the weather. The rain stopped, the temperatures rose and we managed to have another successful Birding & Breakfast program. The program is presented by NYS Parks staff at Connetquot SPP, The Friends of Connetquot supply the breakfast and Great South Bay Audubon helps lead the field walks after the presentation

After the presentation by Pam Hunter of the Park Staff, we went outside to do our walk starting at the main lake. The walk leaders were Helga Merryman, Bob and Edith Wilson, Jack Carlson, and Ken Thompson with assistance from Dave Masone.

At the lake we saw a good sampling of ducks. There were, American Wigeon, Gadwall, Lesser Scaup, Greater Scaup, Hooded Merganser, Northern Pintail, Mute Swan, Bufflehead,  Canada Goose and as we were ready to leave there two Common Merganser flew in to top off the morning. We the walked in the park and managed to see a good sampling of winter landbirds

Again, another well received Birding and Breakfast, come and join us  May 13, 2018 for our next scheduled Birding and Breakfast. It's always a good time.

Photos by Bob Labuski

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