Tricia and I attended a Friday wedding on Long Island. We rented a place on the water in East Patchogue, right on Patchogue Bay, with her family. On Saturday morning I was able to do some birding at small park right that was a couple doors down, before heading home. One of the neighbors has Purple Martin houses on his property, so I enjoyed plenty of Purple Martins that were flying around. Birds of note at the park included Forster’s Terns, Least Terns, and a relatively cooperative Snowy Egret.
On Saturday evening I birded 6 1/2 Station Road Sanctuary and added Semipalmated Plovers to my Orange County 2026 year list. This morning (Sunday), I birded the Middletown Reservoir Trails again – this is a place that is quickly becoming a favorite of mine – it always seems to be extremely birdy. My best bird was a Canada Warbler, which is not a bird I get very often in the county. Photos were tough this morning, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.
I really enjoy how Snowy egrets always seem like they are having a bad hair day. Makes the photos look epic though…
Ha ha, yeah – I totally chose my photos based on the bird’s ‘do, lol. Matt