Today was the biweekly Sunday bird walk out of the Norman Bird Sanctuary, and we had a good one! We went down to Third Beach and the salt marsh behind it, and then over to Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge. We got some good sightings.
In the Third Beach salt marsh there was a lot of activity - Killdeer, Great Egrets, a Glossy Ibis, a mixed bag of Gulls including about 4 Laughing Gulls, and a Greater Yellowlegs Sandpiper. I only really got good shots of the Killdeer (top left) and the Great Egrets (top right and bottom).
In the Third Beach salt marsh there was a lot of activity - Killdeer, Great Egrets, a Glossy Ibis, a mixed bag of Gulls including about 4 Laughing Gulls, and a Greater Yellowlegs Sandpiper. I only really got good shots of the Killdeer (top left) and the Great Egrets (top right and bottom).
Over in the Sachuest Point NWR there was a lot of activity as well - lots of Gray Catbirds, Robins, Mockingbirds, Yellow Warblers, and Goldfinches. We found a baby Mocker (top) hopping on the trail with Mama on a branch overhead fretting away. And not much farther along the trail we found this Goldfinch willing to pose (bottom).
On the way out of Sachuest Point on the way back to town we found this young male Red-tailed Hawk perching on a telephone pole keeping an eye out for lunch. Naturally we stopped the car, and my buddy Bob and I got out to get some shots of him. I posted two here so you can get a view of those gorgeous red tail feathers!
Don't forget to come back tomorrow to see some uniquely Flycatcher acrobatics!
© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger
And back to town! Naturally I made a beeline for my favorite spot. I got more shots of the adult Great Crested Flycatchers feeding the nestlings, but you'll have to wait for tomorrow for that; the shots I got today have a theme to them and deserve a post of their own. Meantime, I got a shot of one of the Flycatchers' food sources, a Calico Pennant dragonfly in the Quarry Meadow.
And I'll leave you with this shot of a male Redwinged Blackbird chip, chip, chipping away at me from his perch on a reed stem along Hazard Rd. in the Gooseneck Cove salt marsh, not at all pleased that I was so close to his young'uns just learning to fly.
Don't forget to come back tomorrow to see some uniquely Flycatcher acrobatics!
© 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger
Oh, Roy.......your photos are awe-inspiring as usual only better, if such a thing is possible.
ReplyDeleteThank you again for your magnificent eye and timing.
Any luck yet at finding work?
Love 'ya.
....it was a wonderful day! Love the photo of the herons facing opposite directions. Those shots don't come along every day, and the baby mocker is adorable!! Loved the eyes on the Red-tailed Hawk. They are intense. I'll stayed tune for the upcoming flycatcher shots!
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures, as always. The symmetry in the first two shots is particularly striking - beautifully balanced.
ReplyDeleteI particularly like that dragonfly shot, but they're all excellent. Looks like a fun outing.
ReplyDeleteWow ! I love all of the photos in this essay. Echo what Alan said about the balance in the first two. And..what Kelly said about the intensity of the hawk's eyes. Excellent, Roy.
ReplyDelete