Great Backyard Bird Count 2022

     It's the great backyard bird count! I used this, the sun, and my meh attitude from the last few months that I've wanted to turn around to get my butt our the door. It was cold, windy, but the sun shined and for me that's all I wanted and needed.

    I pregamed the backyard bird count with a little post work walk at the salt marsh last week, all was quiet except for some waterfowl. 

An American wigeon drake stretches his wings.

A hen American Wigeon, post preening.

A male hooded merganser joins the ladies who have been hanging out here.

    On Friday I managed to get all my adulting out of the way early and I began the backyard bird count with a bike ride up to Green-Wood Cemetery.

Started it all off with my favorite sparrow, a fox sparrow!

A young red tail was surveying something, didn't let a little wind up its pantaloons sour its surveillance.

Always in that one sunny hillside on the Dell Water are basking mourning doves.

Just taking every sun-lit opportunity for a photo. The mockingbirds are ALWAYS obliging.

A very tiny yawn on an American Black Duck looks like a cheeky little smile.

A closer look reveals the edges of their bill with those comb-like patterns, called lamalle. That's what helps them dabble being a dabbling duck, they use their bills to eat and as they search through mud or the water, the lamalle act like sieves to separate the edible stuff from everything else.

    On Saturday morning I set out to Jamaica Bay hoping to see the Eurasian Wigeon ( I did, yay!), but also hoping to see other waterfowl. I have been (still) learning my camera and mucked about with some settings and am starting to finally get in-flight shots that make me fairly happy.

A group of northern pintails head for someplace different.

These Northern shovelers are interested in shoveling elsewhere. Maybe the pintails know what's good.

Yellow-rumped warbler were just about everywhere. They were all super curious, coming up and out to see who was walking by.

A dashing looker of a red-breasted merganser. The west pond is finally feeling good again. With its hurricane Sandy Breach it just wasn't hosting as much as it would if fully freshwater. Now it is, and I don't feel the need to trek over to the east pond when I am short on time.

Lots and lots of snow geese, constantly moving between the salt marsh and the freshwater of the west pond.

A nice view from the overlook of snow geese toward the Gil Hodges Bridge. Got home before the snow squalls and wind started up.

Hope everyone got in some good birding - and if you didn't don't worry, one day more remains of the Great Backyard Bird Count!