On Saturday we went to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, which is a part of Gateway National Recreation Area to get a nature fix. This national park is lovely and in most areas you have no visual clues you are in or near a huge city. I kind of like the area where city meets nature, so my photos show more of that than the quiet nature. We saw lots of birds that were too far away to take decent photos. Some of what we saw was: downy woodpecker, northern shoveler, american coots, canada geese, snow geese (by the hundreds) great egret, eastern phoebe. There were many other birds that were hiding in the bushes, including many sparrows, which I don’t know how anyone can identify.
I’m not very good at identifying water birds, so we kind of looked over the shoulders of other birders and asked for help. Some were dressed as though they were going on a safari, which was kind of hilarious. Reminded me of the photo nerds I have spent countless hours around.
I really like the quiet color palette of winter.
Hundreds and hundreds of snow geese
Thanks for posting this — I’ve been meaning to get out to Jamaica Bay for ages!
It really is pretty. I think that in a few weeks it will be even nicer. Tons of birds migrate through our area and use Jamaica Bay as a rest stop.
I love northern shovelers. Those huge beaks are so seductive.
I really like their pretty brown saddles.