By Mike Busch

March 1st marked the first day of meteorological Spring but the forecast this weekend and the winter birds still here beg to differ.

Besides being known for the wild weather that straddles between Winter and Spring, March also marks a transition on Long Island as our winter waterfowl will be leaving just as many of the summer birds return or pass through as they migrate north.

The great thing about the Long Island Wildlife Photography group is that with 7000+ members not many birds can pass by without someone capturing a great image.

This week I made sure to include a nice selection of wintering ducks that will soon be gone for the season including Longtail ducks, Lesser and Greater Scaup, and Green Winged Teal.

This week also featured a few Wilson’s Snipe, a Wood Frog, and a relatively rare Northern Goshawk.

This week’s cover photo of a large group of Harbor Seals hauled out is from Diane Prokop Chatterton.  Diane also shared a video of the Seals on page 5.

The Seals will be around for another month or so, Artie Kopelman of Cresli still has a number of weekend Seal Walks on the calendar, we will keep you updated if you want to see these for yourself.

On a side note I had a few more teachers tell me that they are sharing this weekly feature with their students.  I love to hear this and encourage everyone to get their kids out into the fresh air and get a look at our diverse wildlife for themselves.

 

Grace Scalzo | Common Loon

Jimmy Johnny | Red Eared Slider

Joan Kolb Porey | Muskrat

Eric Larsen | Long Tailed Duck

Tom Reichert | Horned Lark