A Great Day Birding and a Poor Day Photographing

Monday, my friend Doug and I we went out birding and picked up a good number of sea ducks and seabirds.  The problem was all those birds were way offshore and too far for any decent photographs.  There was a number of passerine's, around, but they were very skittish and would only perch for a second, which did not allow any photographs.

There was an area where the ground cover was starting to change colors even though there was no color in the trees as most of the leaves on the deciduous trees had fallen.

Ground Color

At the parking lot on Gooseberry, a gentleman was feeding the gulls, which allowed me to capture some photographs of ring-billed gulls hovering and in flight.

Ring-billed Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Like I said a day out in the field with beautiful weather is always a great feeling.  But remember, do not be afraid to go out in inclement weather because it will change perspectives.

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Finally, a Day Birding

Sun Dog Present at Sunrise

Finally, after a number of postponements due either to the weather or illness, my friend Doug and I went out birding yesterday.  I picked them up before sunrise and in the eastern sky we could see Venus, Jupiter and Mars.  Since reports have been showing a number of sea ducks around the area.  We decided to go down to Sachuest to see what we could find.  I have to say it was a great day birding, there was a large number of different passerines around.  Most of them were very skittish, but we were able to get enough of binocular views to ID them.  Some of the birds we saw were the usual song sparrows, yellow-rumped warblers along with a palm warbler, Eastern towhee white-throated sparrow and dark-eyed junco.

Dark-eyed Junco

 The only sea ducks that we saw were some eiders.  There was a Peregrine falcon in northern harrier sweeping the fields.  White-tailed deer wise, scattered all through the fields a large number of does and yearlings.

White-tailed Deer

White-tailed Deer

As we were returning toward the visitor center, in the distance, on the other side of the parking lot.  A nice buck white-tailed deer ran quickly through the field jump the fences and disappeared behind the visitor center.  If I was near the car on the visitor center.  I would have been able to get a picture, but I was too far away to even try. However, it was finally nice to see a good looking buck.

Interesting Rock Formation Lit up by the Morning Sun

Ash Berries

Ring-billed Gulls and Sanderlings, Feeding in the Wrack

American Black Ducks in Flight

While we were driving pass Norman Bird Sanctuary, there was a Peregrine falcon sitting on the wires.  I slow down stopped and slowly backed up, hoping to get a photograph up close of this Peregrine.  No lock it decided to fly away and disappear into the tree line

Feeding Frenzy

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During my visit to Gooseberry the other day, I spent time watching it photographing the groups of Gulls and Peeps feeding in the water and on the wrack line. The gulls were catching slipper shells from the water, bring them in on land and trying to eat the gastropod that is inside the shell. The peeps, mainly Dunlins would check out the slipper shells and eat what was left inside. I do believe the recent storm had turned up the bottom and brought the slipper shells close to shore.

Dunlin carrying a slipper shell

Herring gull with slipper shell

Dunlin feeding on slipper shell

Dunlin feeding on slipper shell

Dunlin feeding on slipper shell

Dunlin feeding on slipper shell with a ring-billed gull in the background

Dunlin feeding

Herring gull feeding on slipper shell

Herring gull dropping a slipper shell

The common slipper shell, Crepidula fornicata, is a species of medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Calyptraeidae, the slipper snails and cup and saucer snails. They are often found, sometimes living stacked on top of one another, rocks, on horseshoe crabs, shells and on dock pilings. What is interesting about the slipper shells especially the stacked ones is that the largest and oldest animal at the base of the pile is a female and the younger and smaller animals are the males. If the female for some reason dies, the largest male becomes the female. For this reason that is why they are known as a sequential hermaphrodite.

Slipper shell looking underneath showing the shelf that gave this shell its name

Top view of slipper shell

Pair of slipper shells