"the mystery gull/ European Herring Gull"

 Back in March 2, 2022 I saw a few gull at Old Field Point Lighthouse that caused a stir - around the same time there was a Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull (did not see), and an odd/ mystery gull that no one could ID.  I got photos of it and photos of the gull were posted by me and other birders on different forums such as North American Gulls and Whats This Bird on FB.  It seemed that no one was willing to definitively ID the gull and put their name on the line in case they mis-identified it.  Now, the gull has returned to Old Point recently and one birder who got excellent photos of it is sure that it is indeed a European Gull after examining all the feathers etc (something beyond my expertise since I don't know feather names.)  The rest of the local birders are agreeing with that ID so I will also.  This will be my "first" life bird for 2025 even though I saw it years ago.  In the meantime, there was another gull I saw that had lighter wings and lighter yellow legs.  I can't help but think it could be a Yellow Legged Gull since they both have the same "ugly mustard" yellow looking legs.  At the time, it was dismissed as an "odd" gull of a common local type, but when I have the chance I might go looking on my older SD camera cards and see if I have any more photos of it and also of this likely European Herring Gull.  I should point out that since 2022, herring gulls were one species/ 2 subspecies but have now been separated into 2 species - Atlantic and European.

Yard Birds/ Bird Feeder

 This morning when I brought the garbage cans back from the curb I saw a Blue Jay and Cardinal sitting in my Crape Myrtles on the side of my yard - they didn't seem bothered by me even though I was less than 10 feet away - I assume they found a nice spot to warm up since it was cold out - maybe they recognize me as "that big thing that puts food in the feeder for us"?  Later on, I saw some birds at the feeder - the usual but first time I saw Starlings.

Bohemian Waxwing - no

 I had some time in the morning before work so I decided to try again for the Bohemian Waxwing that was near Jones West End.  It hadn't been seen again but I gave it a shot anyway.  I didn't find any flocks of Robins that it had been associating with.  I did see a couple of flocks of Horned Larks on the median but no Lapland Longspurs.  I saw a few Ravens here and there.  The biggest highlight was actually Yellow Rumped Warblers - there was a group of them together by the Coast Guard hedgerow which I thought was unusual.

Bird Feeder in the yard again

 I decided to put bird seed in the feeder again, hoping to attract and see something rare in my yard.  The birds took to it quickly and already have seen an assortment of birds including: Juncos (first to notice the feeder), Blue Jays (second to notice), good amounts (4-5) of White Throated Sparrows, Cardinals, Mourning Doves, Song Sparrow (assuming my resident), and House Sparrows.

Cardinals singing again

 I walked my son to the bus stop this morning and along the way heard 2 Cardinals singing in the neighborhood.  Nice to hear them - makes it seem like the start of the end of winter is here.

Yellow-breated Chat, Mill Pond, Bellmore

 There had been reports this past week of a Chat as well as an immature Red Shouldered Hawk continuing on the east side of Mill Pond in Bellmore.  It seemed rather cooperative for most birders so I tried my luck in the early morning to try to find it.  Other birders had reported it in the area of the east trail/ side of the lake near a house being renovated and had a blue tarp on it.  I found the house and did a thorough search of the area - no luck.  I think I was there for about 30 minutes when I decided to give up and leave.  Not to be totally defeated I walked slowly back and the Chat popped up but a while south of the area where everyone else was reporting it.  I got some good views of it as it was looking for food heading back north to where it had reported the day before.  I wanted to get totally unobstructed photos of it since I had seen other birders photos of it out in the open, but it was doing it's thing traveling through the shrubs so I didn't want to bother it too much and let it be.

I can't help but think other birders who tried and didn't find the chat like I did were relying too much on the observations of other birders.  I have seen several times where birders will just stick to one particular location where a bird was last seen - not making any other attempt to look around it and take some initiative.  I was sort of guilty of doing that with the chat but decided not to give up and it paid off eventually.

(I ran out of time for my morning outing so I did not attempt to find the Red Shouldered Hawk)

Happy New Year 2025

 For the last year or two, I've tried to go out birding on Jan 1st/ start of the new year - I know a lot of other birders do that so they can start their year list - I do it for good luck, hoping that I see a decent amount of life birds in the upcoming year.  The day started when I heard my "reisident" Song Sparrow singing a beautiful song in my backyard.  As I left the house, I saw gulls flying over - a nice start to the year/ day.  I started by going to Jones Field 10 and the Coast Guard Spit hoping to see a continuing Marbled Godwit, but the tide was high and didn't see either.  I did see some Cooper's Hawks, Raven, Kingfisher and lots of gulls.  When I got back closer to home, I checked out my "patch" at Massapequa Preserve and the Tackapausha spot by the firehouse.  Saw lots of Robins especially at the school yard grounds since it was warm out I guess they were looking for worms.  I also saw a Golden Crowned Kinglet and a female Ring Necked Duck which was a first for me at my "patch".  Later on, there was a report that the Marbled Godwit was seen at the Coast Guard Station so I drove over there, but wasn't there.  I checked Field 10 where it was sometimes reported by didn't see it either.  A family of birders noted that they also missed the Godwit.  They were looking at a continuing Black Headed Gull which I got to photograph - it was hanging out by a "tunnel" in the cove where also a Great Blue Heron was in.  When I got home, I saw that someone ebirded the Marbled Godwit at the Field 10 marsh area shortly before I arrived so I assume it was actually there, just hiding when I went looking for it.  I think Marbled Godwits are currrently my favorite birds - would have been nice to see one for the new year, but sometimes the best birding plans just don't always work out.  Better luck next time. (hopefully).....................