This morning I joined John Haas and Karen Miller on a trip to Nickerson Beach on Long Island; we were hoping to see some of the great terns that have been reported there in recent days. It was my first time to Nickerson Beach, and I didn’t really know what to expect. There are nesting colonies of Common Terns, Least Terns, and Black Skimmers – all in a relatively small area, so the shear number of birds is absolutely incredible. Our timing was good for tern chicks and we saw plenty of both Least and Common Tern chicks. We spent much of our time between the Common Tern colony and the ocean, and it was remarkable to see how well the terns were doing feeding; there was a steady stream of COTEs heading out to the ocean and coming back with fish in their bills to feed young.
We were hoping that some larger groups of terns would loaf on the beach, this would increase our chances of seeing some different terns, but this never materialized to any great extent. Whenever a larger group of terns would start to develop, sure enough a walker or jogger would come through and flush the birds. It was a perfect “beach day” after all! Apparently we had missed a Royal Tern do a fly-by while we were checking out the Least Tern colony, but we did get lucky with four GULL-BILLED TERNS which spent a good amount of time flying above and through the Common Tern colony. I was excited because of all the likely terns, this is the one I wanted to get shot of – they are a beautiful clean, sharp looking tern and they are distinctly whiter than the Commons that they were flying among. Unfortunately, we left without getting a couple of our targets – Arctic Tern and Roseate Tern. It was a great morning of birding, and getting out super early, we beat the heat for the most part.
It was a great day Matt! Glad you were able to join us! John
PS great shots!
Thanks John!
Fabulous photos Matt! That Gull-billed Tern photo is a beauty!
Scotty
Thanks Scotty – I was pretty jazzed to see and photograph that bird today. Matt
Wonderful photos, Matt! Love the shot of the Black Skimmer “taking time to reflect”.
Ha ha, Kathy me too, as cheesy as it was to write that. Thanks. Matt
Great tern shots. Looks like your new camera is working out well. I am in Ohio now and was successful with my quest to photograph Kentucky warblers. I had them in the same area two years ago. May look for some clay colored sparrows tomorrow. Leave for North Carollina on Wed before stating for home.
So far, so good with the new camera, although I have to say I’m not very comfortable navigating it yet. I’m sure it won’t take all that long. Congrats on getting the Kentucky, good luck with the Clay-colored sparrows. Any target birds in North Carolina? Matt
Had grasshopper sparrows this morning but missed the dickcissals. If I get to the outer banks may look for the red cockaded w.p. Have had it in this area before. May stop at Bombay Hook on the way back up to New Jersey to look for the stilts. In addition to my Nikon d 500 I use the canon 7d 2 with the new version of the 200- 400. It is a good combination. While I am away I see that black bellied tree ducks hav been found in my county
Correction-Shold have noted that the canon lens is the 100-400
You’ve been getting loads of birds Bruce; Grasshopper Sparrows have always been favorite of mine. I’m surprised to hear that you mix Nikon and Canon – most people seem to stick to one brand. Your Canon set up is exactly what I’m shooting with now. Matt
Nice shots Matt.
You are doing great with the new toy.
The birds are gorgeous. What hours were you there??
Wilma
Thanks Wilma. We arrive just after 7 am, so the light was still good. We left around 11 am. Matt
What great shots of cute and gorgeous!
Thanks so much Norma! Matt