Ben the Birder: Birding at Orient Point and Dune Road

Orient Point is the farthest East you can go on the North Fork of Long Island. I visited it last Tuesday with my grandma to see what birds I could find. Before going to the actual point, we visited Orient Beach State Park, a state park with dunes, marshes and woods, where a Snowy Owl has been seen recently. Just minutes after arriving, the owl took to the air in front of us and landed farther down the beach. While walking to the owl's new location, we observed some Snow Buntings. When I visited Orient Beach again the next day, I was greeted by a Merlin on the way to the state park., giving very close views from the car.

Merlin - 14/02/18

Snow Buntings - 13/02/18

I started photographing the owl as I approached it slowly. Unfortunately, it flew away when I was about 50 meters from it. I walked to where it had landed and made sure not to come too close. It wouldn't let me get close, so the pictures aren't very good. However, I visited again the next morning and got better shots of it sitting on a sign.

Snowy Owl - 13/02/18

Snowy Owl - 14/02/18

Then we drove to Orient Point County Park, a rocky beach where I've seen rare birds such as King Eiders and Harlequin Ducks. After walking the trail to the beach, we scanned the sea and saw Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, White-winged Scoters, Common Loons and Common Eider. However, I saw two suspicious-looking eiders with two White-winged Scoters and soon realized they were King Eiders, an immature male and a female. This was a nice surprise, as they are rare on Long Island. The female is best distinguished from the Common Eider by its smaller bill and different black patterning on its body.

King and Queen Eiders - 13/02/18

King Eider - 13/02/18

At the point, we saw a 1st Winter Glaucous Gull that had been reported before. Its almost white plumage and large size were clearly visible as it flew toward a large flock of gulls . It seemed to dwarf Ring-billed and even Herring Gulls, and looked just slightly smaller than the Great Black-backed Gulls. When I returned the next day, I saw two Glaucous Gulls in the same location.