Saturday, January 11, 2020

Jones Beach, Patchogue, Bellport

Had a good birding day - started the day at the Jones Beach playground by the Gatsby area looking for a green Painted Bunting that had recently been there - no luck finding it.  Then went to the Coast Guard area looking for a continuing Black Headed Gull.  I honestly was just hoping to see Bonaparte Gulls just because I like them.  There was a small flock of about 10 Bonnie Gulls feeding by short beach along with a lot of Red Breasted Mergansers - after a while we were able to pick out the Black Headed Gull.  We went to the docks in Patchogue and Bellport looking for any uncommon gulls like Glaucous and Iceland.  We did not find those but saw a banded Herring Gull and a Ring Billed Gull that had a blueish tinge to it;s legs and beak.  We stopped at Swan Lake and Pond and got good looks at some Green Winged Teals.  We tried looking for a continuing Vesper Sparrow at Suffolk Co Education Farm but didn't find it.

We had some circumstantial evidence that the Painted Bunting had been at Jones the day before so we tried our luck again.  We met another birder who said it was flying around earlier so there was some hope.  Eventually I found it and was able to get some good looks at it.  Good way to end the day.

Black Scoter
Bonaparte Gull, not sure if front one is the BH
Herring Gull with band
Ring Billed Gull with some blue
Green Winged Teals
Painted Bunting



1 comment:

  1. We are hosting a free Masters Class on March 18th at 1PM at the Educational & Cultural Center in Stony Brook Village. National Audubon Society
    Senior Scientist, Dr. Brooke Bateman
    Discover Dr. Bateman’s story that began aboard the “Discovery” Wetlands
    Cruise in Stony Brook, leading her to develop the research tool
    Climate Watch which enables an understanding of how climate change
    affects birds in North America and what we can do to help them survive. We hope you share with your members and look forward to seeing you there!

    https://www.stonybrookvillage.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Master-Class-March-18.pdf

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