This past weekend was all about biking. Yesterday my sister and I biked 40 miles through Brooklyn and Queens, it is so fun to cycle through neighborhoods I don't often frequent and parks I have never visited. And on Saturday I biked to Marine Park, Dead Horse Bay, the Return-a-Gift pond at Floyd Bennett field and back home again, as hunger took over. So I tacked on some milage this weekend and made stops to enjoy some of the sights...
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Orange flowers, species? Not too sure... but I like them :) First stop was the Marine Park Salt Marsh. |
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A red milkweed beetle finding refuge under a milkweed leaf. |
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A snowy egret appears to be at its dance recital, but it's actually just fishing like a champ. |
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Ever so dapper of a bird. I like them because it looks like they are wearing spats, with their yellow feet (see photo above this one), which is also a great way to tell them apart from the great egret, aside from the fact snowies are far smaller. |
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Pretty sure the chick is still in there, possibly the lump to the left... |
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The lovely osprey couple. |
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Still working on this ID... |
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A cabbage white before departing to my next location... |
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Welcomed out onto Dead Horse Bay by an Eastern Towhee. |
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Fledged starlings begging for food along the beach. |
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What I was hoping to see, black scoter, 5 in total- here you can see a female on the left and a male on the right. |
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The male out on the bay. |
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There were two males and three females- at this moment the other male is 50 yards away napping on the water. |
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Laughing gulls were common along the beach, they are easy to find, just follow their loud calls. |
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A great egret hunting just offshore. |
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An immature laughing gull, looking hilariously awkward- almost in his adult plumage. |
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The scenery, Dead Horse Bay is an old, capped landfill from earlier times (1930's or so). |
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A (typical) herring gull story.
Prize achieved, a tasty crab. |
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"Can I have some???"
(nomnomnomnom) |
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"Pleeeeeease can I have some?!" |
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"Aw, c'mon..." |
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After DHB, I biked across the street and down a runway to get to the Return-a-Gift pond and bird blind. A mourning dove perched as I stayed out of sight, behind the blind. |
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An oriole nest was nearby and this female came down low and close. |
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A robin thinks about where to forage next along the pond. |
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