Everything but the waterfowl.

     This weekend I helped one of my friends out with the annual waterfowl count. Their patch to survey is the Coney Island to Brighton Beach waterfront. Things started off fairly slow, but as we moved east along the beach, things picked up. Also, bonus, everything ended with delicious borscht and Russian food in Brighton Beach..

    I mostly took pictures of everything that does not count as waterfowl...

So if it is near the water and in the water, that does not always constitute as waterfowl.
This purple sandpiper is not considered waterfowl.
Waterfowl for the purposes of this count include ducks, geese, loons, swans, and grebes.

But even if it isn't waterfowl, we still stopped and took a look.

Because, if you don't stop and look, you might miss that very subtle purple sheen on those wings.

Purple sandpipers never turn their backs to the sea.
Well, they do, plenty.
But they are touch, living upon rocks in the surf, they power through some big splashes!

Salty spray sparkle makes a purple sandpiper look absolutely fab.

While we saw plenty of Bonaparte's gulls offshore, this one was right at the shore. Gave some nice opportunity to see one close and floating along the waves.

These dainty little gulls have black heads when in their breeding plumage, so in the winter, they just have a little ear patch.

My favorite thing about these gulls is that when they feed while flying, they faceplant into the water. With grace.
They also look lovely with the waves crashing behind them.

While less dainty than the Bonaparte's gull, it's smaller than it's "greater" cousin, this adult lesser black backed gull was a lovely treat.
Again. Not waterfowl.
Standing out with its yellow legs, streaky head, and short stature, the adults are easy to pick out from the regular crowd.

Another treat and also not waterfowl, had a few close views of normally further off-shore northern gannets. 

Another great gull, the bird in the foreground is an Iceland gull with a herring gull further back. The Iceland gull is a nice sight, they are not super common, but there are always a handful around to see. They are easily distinguished from our regular ol' seagulls because of their white wingtips.

Before we wrapped up, we got two red-necked grebes which was a nice way to end the survey and go eat a lot of (very) good food!