Category Archives: Nissequogue River

Common Tern In Breeding Plumage

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Friday, May 16, 2008

Well, almost. On May 9th I posted a photo of some Common Terns who were not yet wearing their breeding plumage. This tern is sporting his all black skullcap and he’s just about ready for some action. The black on his bill will retreat till it only covers the tip. This is another one of the shots from Wednesday’s outing. If you take a close look at his leg you will see that he is banded. No, that is not an ankle bracelet. Last year I noticed several of these terns that were banded. How do you catch a tern? Most times I can barely follow them with the camera. JK

Trigger Happy

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Thursday, May 15, 2008

I went out for three hours in the morning yesterday. 808 pics, 500 of them in the first 31 minutes. I may be a little trigger happy. Maybe a lot. But I did have plenty to shoot. And, besides, what do I bring extra memory for?

The bird pictured above is a female Red-breasted Merganser. This is my best shot of a Merganser yet, not that it’s a particularly great shot. This past winter I photographed three couples from the shore but the shots were very distant and blurry. This lady was swimming along with a flock of Brant Geese, with no mate in sight. According to all of my field guides, Kaufman, National Geographic, Peterson, and Sibley, she should be well north of here. Apparently she reads different field guides than I do.

At my launch site there was a large mixed flock of Great and Snowy Egrets. I counted 35 birds. The majority of them dispersed as I put in but I came across them again just a little upriver on the west bank. This time I could count 41 birds. This guy admiring his reflection is a Snowy.

This is a close-up of a Great Egret in his breeding colors. Their faces are yellow during the rest of the year. This may be the greenest Great Egret I’ve ever seen. He was greener than any of the others I saw him with at the very least.

I went as far as Terrapin Station before heading back. This Diamondback Terrapin was sunning himself on one of the islands. I saw only two turtles the entire trip but I had to include this one because the chicks love terrapins.

On the return trip I came across the mixed flock of Great and Snowy Egrets again. This time there were some Black-crowned Night Herons and this Great Blue Heron as well. The Great Blues are very impressive birds.

Common Terns

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Friday, May 9, 2008

It’s a dark and rainy day out there today so I’ll do another post. These Common Terns were enjoying the sun on a floating dock off San Remo. In a few weeks the tops of their heads will become all black as they slip into their breeding attire. They look cool either way. I love to watch these acrobatic birds. I’ve seen them share (maybe steal) food in midair and later in the season I’ll get to watch them bring whole fish to their older chicks. At the end of last July I was lucky enough to get several shots of them doing just that. JK

Correction: These birds are not Common Terns. They are Least Terns. Go here for the whole sordid story. I apologize for any inconvenience my incompetence may have caused. JK

Big Snapper

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Friday, May 9, 2008

This is the big Common Snapping Turtle that I mentioned in my last post. Ordinarily, I would not post a shot that includes trash but in this case the discarded wood helps to show just how big this guy (or gal) is. That’s a 1×4 piece of milled lumber next to our friend. Turtles are measured by their shells, the head and tail are not included. I estimate this guy’s shell at about 16 inches. According to my Peterson’s Reptiles and Amphibians Field Guide the average size for snappers is 8 to 14 inches, with the record coming in at just under 20 inches so this is one good sized snapping turtle. JK

Terrapin Station Is Open

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Thursday, May 8, 2008

I spent five hours on the river Tuesday. I did the bull and back, about 3.5 miles each way. The bull is the Smithtown bull on Rt.25 where Rt.25A splits off and goes north. That is almost the southern end of the navigable part of the river. There’s less than a quarter mile of river south of Rt.25. It does not take five hours to do the bull and back. I went at a very leisurely pace and afterwards I explored some of my favorite haunts at my end of the river. Generally the bull run can be done in three relaxed hours or less.

I cruised through Terrapin Station both coming and going and saw at least a dozen Diamondback Terrapins. As long as you approach quietly and slowly you can almost always find terrapins here. The scales on the guy below are peeling. I neglected to bring my sunblock, too.

I also saw several snappers, one of which was huge. Humungous. You could land planes on his back. I’ll post his pic tomorrow. There were lots of pretty red-orange jellyfish in the water. You may not want to swim with them but they are cool to watch. Common Terns are starting to show up in numbers as well. Sharp looking birds. JK