Category Archives: Birds

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.

The Last Osprey of The Season

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Sunday, September 22, 2013,

20130920081944 (2)-8x10wI have other pics and posts on deck but this is a post that is maybe too timely to wait on. Not that I have anything truly creative to say about these pics. It tends to take me a while to come up with the (hopefully) informative and (again, hopefully) witty descriptions behind my photos. To be honest, I find that taking a photo is much easier than writing about it. I’ve got scores of pics that I’ve never published simply because I never got around to writing about them.

20130920081946-8x10wSo, enough about my inability to write, right? Let’s get back to the pics. I took an early morning paddle along the Lower Carmans River three days ago. I had the entire river to myself for the duration of my trip, which is exactly how I like it. In fact, I didn’t see any of us bipeds until I had already secured my kayak to my car top after the completion of my trip. It was sweet. The Lower Carmans is my favorite stretch of Long Island waterway and to have it to myself is a real treat. This is why I like to start early in the day.

20130920081948 (5)-8x10wI had paddled this same area two weeks before. The only Ospreys still in the area were all juveniles, just like this one. All of the adults had already departed to Central and South America. The juveniles stick around to hone their fishing skills for about a month after their parents depart and then they follow them down to warmer climes. For the first hour of my trip I saw no Ospreys at all and I was thinking that I had missed the last of them when I found this guy perched above one of my favorite ‘holes’ on the Carmans. He gave me plenty of time to take my shots and then some, which I was very happy for, especially as he turned out to be the only Osprey left. One last photo shoot for his fans and then he’s off to work on his tan. Good luck, young one. I hope to see you again. JK