It was a crazy week at work which left me without much time for birding. On Saturday, however, things worked out pretty well for me. My sister was having a Christmas party at her place on Long Island, and also had to deliver a stained glass window to a residence in, of all places, Point Lookout NY. After making my delivery, Tricia and I stopped by Point Lookout Town Park for a brief visit before the party. Thanks to John Haas and Tom Reichert, both of which helped me out with the lay of the land. I did pretty well for a relatively quick stop, seeing 10 different species of swimming waterbirds:
Brant
Canada Goose
Common Eider
Harlequin Duck
Long-tailed Duck
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Horned Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
It was a less than ideal day for photos, very gray and overcast, but many of the birds were quite accessible so that helped. I will be back on the island for Christmas, I am hoping to maybe sneak out to Point Lookout again if the weather is better. I highly recommend this spot – you can get great looks at some super birds.
Nice shots! I missed the action the whole weekend due to bad flu. Anyway, happy holidays to you and your family.
Sorry to hear about your flu PJ! Feel better and happy holidays to you and yours as well. Matt
Matt,
Glad the stop worked out well for you, great shots! Happy Holidays, John
Thanks again for the help John, I really enjoyed myself yesterday. Happy Holidays to you too. Matt
Great shots of those Harlequins and all the other waterfowl! I’m really hoping to get down to Point Lookout and Jones Beach sometime this winter. Maybe the Gyrfalcon will show up in the area again (and I won’t miss it this time!).
One can only hope, I guess. Happy holidays and good birding! I’m happy I stumbled upon your blog, always great to read….
Thanks Stephen. I struck out on that Gyrfalcon twice last year; that would be a super bird to get. Good luck if you go and happy holidays to you and yours. Matt
Matt
These shots are great!
I have been going on the weather man’s promise of at least partly sunny this week, boy do they screw up!! I haven’t seen any at all except on days I’m working!!!!!
Better than any other reason to retire soon!!!
What kind of scope do you have? Is it a celetron? Was size?
Merry Christmas to you and Tricia!!!
Wilma
Thanks Wilma, glad you like the pics. My scope is a Celestron Regal M2 65ED. The zoom is 16x to 48x. I got a great deal on it a few years back, so I feel like it’s a good value, but at full price I would certainly shop around. Merry Christmas to you and yours. Matt