Winter Hike At Jones Beach...

Today, despite the cold and wind, I decided to head out on a long overdue trip to Jones Beach, to see if I would see Snow Buntings and maybe a Snowy Owl. I hit the road around 9:30 a.m., which by birding standards was late, but I made good time and arrived at Jones Beach State Park around 10:10 a.m. My first stop was over by the park information office, where I picked up a Jones Beach map. My next stop was Field 10, where there were reported sightings of Snow Buntings. I did not see any, but got looks at Oyster Catchers, Brandts, Greater Black Back Gulls, House Sparrows, a Northern Harrier, and a Red-tailed Hawk. I stayed for about half an hour and then headed to West End 1 where I stopped at Boat Basin.

Here I had some nice water birds and a lifer. I saw Red-breasted Mergansers, Mallard, Common Loon, Brandts and my first Long-tailed Duck. There were a lot of Gulls, but it was just too cold and with the wind blowing into my face I was not up to doing a thorough check of the Gulls that were present. After about an hour, I decided that it was time to move on and decided on continuing on to West End 2. I kept a lookout on my way for the Snow Buntings, but all I got were Mocking Birds and White-throated Sparrows.

Once at West End 2 I headed out into the Dunes taking the fisherman’s path; on my way I heard and then saw about 5-6 Horned Larks flying overhead. I scrambled to gain some height on the dunes and watched their downward dive between some dunes. I waited for a few minutes to see if they would take off again and then tracked them down to their location. I sat in the sand and got my fill of these cool birds, which was another lifer. After having my fill, I continued on towards the beach. Once there, I scanned the water and shore but all I could find were Brandts, a few Sanderlings, and Great Blacked Backed Gulls.
On my way out of the Dunes, I observed a Northern Harrier flying low in the parking lot and as I was setting up for a photo I observed several Horned Larks feeding in the parking lot. I was ecstatic, because I was nearer to them and could get photos, which I did. After the photo session, I decided to call it a day and headed back home. While I did not get the Snow Bunting or Snowy Owl, it was still a worthwhile trip to Jones Beach as I got two lifers.