Marine Nature Study Area 9/19

Shari & I have talked about birding this refuge for a while, but it took an invitation from our good friends who moved out to Long Island to get us there. A great place--you can get get very close to the birds (without disturbing them) and the refuge has enough varied habitat (salt marsh, open water, a stand of trees) to keep the birding interesting. It is on Middle Bay and I figure it will be a great place to look for ducks, grebes, and possibly alcids in the winter--it is a lot easier to scope than some spots on Jones Beach. But looking on eBird I was surprised to find no records for any of the winter months. My only thought about that is that Long Island birder just naturally gravitate to Jones Beach and Pt Lookout and skip this spot. I can't imagine that there wouldn't be any birds in the water in the winter.
We managed 31 species (really 32 but I can't count the Ruby-throated Hummingbird that Caroline saw) and a few were very entertaining like the Belted Kingfisher that flew from tree to tree and the Eastern Phoebe flycatching from a perch on a fence in the middle of the marsh.
Marine Nature Study Area
Number of species:    31
Canada Goose    50
Mute Swan    2
Double-crested Cormorant    10
Great Egret    10
Snowy Egret    5
Black-crowned Night-Heron    4
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron    1
Osprey    1
Red-tailed Hawk    1
Black-bellied Plover    10
Spotted Sandpiper    2
Greater Yellowlegs    18
Lesser Yellowlegs    1
Semipalmated Sandpiper    5
Short-billed Dowitcher    5
Laughing Gull    10
Herring Gull    10
Great Black-backed Gull    1
Belted Kingfisher    1
Eastern Phoebe    1
Tree Swallow    4
Carolina Wren    1
Gray Catbird    3
Northern Mockingbird    1
European Starling    25
Eastern Towhee    1
Song Sparrow    3
Northern Cardinal    1
Red-winged Blackbird    1
American Goldfinch    1
House Sparrow    1