Massapequa Lake

I tried looking for new waterfowl arrivals at the lake - saw Ruddy Ducks, Mallards, Coots, Hooded Mergansers, Swans and Northern Shovelers.  A single Lesser Scaup was along the west side of the lake - most of the Scaup were due north of the island in the middle of lake.  I assume they're Lesser, not Greater scaup - they were too far away to make a positive ID.  Several Great Blue Herons were present also.

Northen Shoveler

Coot

Scaup in the distance

Tackapausha Preserve, Seaford

I stopped by Tackapausha looking for ducks - on the pond were Mallards, Black Ducks and lots of Ring Billed Gulls.  A sharp-shinned hawk seemed to be eyeing the Mallards by the creek.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Point Lookout

Waves were rough at Point Lookout - was hoping to get some pics of the recent Harlequin Ducks, but no luck.  I did see my first Harlequin Duck and Bonaparte Gull but they flew over too quick to get a pic.  (I just enjoyed looking at the Harlequin with the binoculars)  Despite the rough waves, there were a decent amount of waterfowl: Common Eiders, Common Loons, Long Tailed Ducks and seemed to be a lot of Horned Grebes.  Purple Sandpipers were on the second western-most jetty - sanderlings were on the beach.  Leaving the park, I saw two huge flocks of Brant heading for inlet - hundreds, if not a thousand plus.

Horned Grebe

Purple Sandpipers

Common Eider and Gull - the Gull was trying to steal the Eider's catch

Brant flock

Jones Beach Coast Guard Station

Another unusually warm day for December - went by the Jones Beach Coast Guard Station - saw two Long Tailed Ducks, Common Loons, Red Breasted Mergansers, Brant, Gulls and a Horned Grebe.

Brant

Long Tailed Duck

Common Loon

Common Loon about to dive

Red Breasted Mergansers

Comorant

Massapequa Park

(From Saturday) Driving along Front Street, a large "crow" caught my attention - it landed briefly next to another crow before both took off.  My gut instinct told me they were two ravens - the bad pic I took can't verify that, so it's anyone's guess.

Large Crow or Raven

Massapequa Preserve

(From Saturday) Unusually warm for December (50's) I stopped by the Preserve - saw Green Winged Teal, Gadwall, Mallards, and American Wigeons on the "Pittsburgh Ave pond".  Saw Titmice, Chickadees, Cardinals, Song Sparrows, Flickers and Carolina Wrens along the trails.  Driving on Clark Blvd, a dark mallard caught my eye so I stopped for a quick pic.

Domestic Mallard

Mallard

Jones Beach Field 10

I stopped at Green Island and Jones Beach West End - at Green Island, saw a flock of Horned Larks, at Field 10 there were Brant in the bay and gulls in the lot - a driver tried to intimidate this juvenile black backed gull to get out of the way - the gull didn't feel like moving too much - seagull won.
At the West End median, saw a few Tree Swallows, at the Coast Guard Station, there were a pair of Long Tailed Ducks.

Brant

Black Backed Gull