Author Archives: JK

A Pheasant at Twin Oaks

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Wednesday, April 23, 2014,

Ring-necked Pheasant at Twin Oaks Horse Sanctuary

This is a Ring-necked Pheasant that I saw at Twin Oaks Horse Sanctuary. Twin Oaks is a non-profit horse rescue/sanctuary in Manorville, NY. They rescue older, unwanted horses and give them a nice place to live out their days. They really do good stuff. I was there to help capture some video footage for a fundraising appeal. All morning I had been hearing the pheasants call out but I could never locate one. They sound sort of like a rooster with a sore throat but without the whole cock-a-doodle-do bit. After we got the footage for the video I went back to searching for pheasants. I was still hearing them but not seeing any when Cynthia, (the young lady that was writer, director, producer, editor, and reluctant star of the vid), took the time out to point this guy out to me. She did this while she was distributing hay for the horses with a wheelbarrow. Hey, it’s not all videos and glamour when you’re caring for horses. This guy was in some underbrush at first so I had to stalk him a bit before capturing this shot in a somewhat more open area but without Cynthia’s help, this shot never happens. I’d still be scratching my head, wondering where the heck that bird was. Thank you Cynthia, and good luck with your fundraiser. JK

For more information about Twin Oaks, you can visit them here and this is them on Facebook. Please consider helping them out.

 

A Sure Sign Of Spring

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Tuesday, April 15, 2014,

20140414081002-5x7w2Spring is in the air and the Ospreys are back. I’ve been missing these guys. I’ve been seeing many of my favorite migrators since mid March. On St. Patty’s Day I saw my first Greater Yellowlegs, then on the 30th a Great Egret showed up. I spied a Double-crested Cormorant fishing with the few remaining Common Mergansers on April Fool’s Day. I don’t get to see that very often. Two days later I saw an Osprey emerging from the Nissy with a silvery prize. And two days after that I saw my first Snowy Egret. The gang’s all here and I’m very happy about it. JK

Young Ring-necked Pheasant At Avalon

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Saturday, November 23, 2013,

20131012085015-5x7wFour Harbors Audubon Society holds its monthly walks every second Saturday at Avalon Preserve in Stony Brook. These walks are great for sharing and collecting all kinds of nature info. I’ve learned a great deal during these walks, and not just about birds. It has been my experience that ‘birders’ are not all about birds themselves. I’ve yet to meet anyone on these Audubon walks that doesn’t see or look for the bigger picture. Each of our walkers seem to enjoy nature as a whole, not just the birdy parts. Of course, these walks are about birds so it’s always cool, and well, wonderful, to find any interesting feathered critters. Our October walk did not let us down. This is a young Ring-necked Pheasant, probably male, that we encountered that morning. This guy may look a bit drab now but he’ll grow up to be snazziest dresser on the block. And who can tell? Perhaps we’ll see this same bird during a future walk. I certainly hope so. They make for great pics. JK.