Happy 2018, another year begins with so many things to look forward to, and one of those things is are birds! I am eager to build my 2018 list and this year track not only birds I see, anywhere, but also tracking my list of Kings County Birds.
I was really hoping to go out on New Years Day to start that list, but those gin martinis from the evening prior held me back and kept me grounded on the couch. So, I went to work a bit early on Tuesday and walked the Coney Island beach for birds. Sounded like a good idea, but the winter, even just having freshly begun has been very cold. And the beach was no exception, combined with the wind, it was not super fun for more than the 15 minutes I spent watching gulls.
But you do know its cold when you see such sights as the ones below...
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| All I got were gulls for this walk- and only 2 species. Herring (pictured) and ring-billed gulls, and I saw a far off common loon. |
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| You know it's cold when salt water is freezing!!! It was high tide at this time, I bet the jetties look pretty amazing at low tide. |
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| Frozen wet sand where dry meets wet. |
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| Herring and ring-billed gulls huddled together, laying low, conserving heat... but there's always that one guy... |
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.... yeah, that one.
A very cold yawn, for sure-- I have a couple of shots with its mouth open like that-- frozen, much? |
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| The ring billed gulls are quite small in comparison to the herring. They did shuffle about, birds from the back flying to the front of the line, changing places. Perhaps, is this reminiscent of huddling emperor penguins as they shift from the outside to center and back out of their huddles? |
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| Bills tucked in as the wind whips sand and cold air their way. |
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| These birds are so resilient and I admire their ability to live in all types of weather. With snow falling today, I sure hope they are doing alright! |
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| Happy 2018 and stay warm out there! |
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