Monday, March 05, 2018

Peeps!


No, not the weird marshmallow candy. "Peeps" is the blanket term that birders use to describe the smaller members of the sandpiper family. Saw some on Saturday!

It was too windy for kayaking this weekend, but Saturday morning was beautiful and it looked like a good day for a shorewalk. I decided to repeat a walk I'd done in March 2016. That had been started out as my "annual winter duck walk", when I go to Sheepshead Bay and see if I can get any nice shots of the winter ducks that like to hang out there, but then I found my way down to the beach and even though it was snowing a bit, I decided to keep going, and did until I ran into water over by Gerritson Creek.

It was snowing a bit that day; it was actually warmer yesterday, although I puttered around at home too long and as I did that, clouds rolled in. By the time I got underway, there was one last streak of blue sky - but it was still a pleasant and reasonably warm day, so I went ahead with it.

No oystercatchers yet (these are really the bird that says spring to me, and in 2016 I actually saw my first ones of the season at the Gerritson Creek end of the walk) but plenty of other birds, including a couple of flocks of what I think are sanderlings. Love watching these little birds running around at the water's edge, and this time I spent some time trying to get some good photos. Someday I might need to splurge on a zoomier zoom lens but I got some OK shots this time! Click on any photo for a better view. 

6 comments:

Alana said...

Again, you prove just how much New York City can offer to a person interested in nature. Too bad most tourists will never see this.

Unknown said...

I love sandpipers...they are my favorite...I only wish I lived closer to th beach so I could walk on it every single day....someday!

bonnie said...

Definitely not something your average tourist would see or even have any idea was there! I even wonder, if you did a survey of random New Yorkers on the street, how many of them would know that we have such an amazing national park right here.

There were definitely a few like-minded folks enjoying the beach last weekend!

bonnie said...

And Renee - I love living close to a beach. I don't take advantage of it but I'm actually close enough to Coney Island that if I put my mind to it, I could walk on the beach every day.

May not be as beautiful as the beaches of Oahu, where I grew up, but any accessible beach makes life better.

Haralee said...

I like the lighting in your photos because it is spring but it is not spring and that's what your shots of the birds and the beach look like to me!

bonnie said...

:D Not spring but feeling somewhat springy was pretty much how the day was. Actually it had started out as a beautiful sunny day but I just didn't get my act together fast enough and the gray had rolled in by the time I got going.

Got a fantastic sunset, though!