Avalon Park & Preserve- Part II

Welcome back, friends. The time has come, I have returned to Avalon Park and Preserve with my husband earlier today and, believe it or not, this second trip was even better than the first!! I’m so excited to tell you about all the birds we saw, so let’s just dive right in, shall we?

Just like last time we parked along the road in front of the Stony Brook Grist Mill and spent the beginning of our trip exploring the glittering waters of the duck pond and stream.  As was the case on our first visit we were immediately greeted with a variety of wild and domestic Mallard Ducks as well as Canada Geese. A few House Sparrows and Song Sparrows hopped about the shady grass along the shore, picking at crumbs of bread left behind from visitors feeding the ducks. Rock Pigeons soon joined in on the buffet, as Pigeons often do.  Amidst these common species we walked about, searching for a hidden gem, and then we realized the commotion filling our ears. Right in front of our eyes, a short distance across the pond stood a tree; leafless and stretching high into the bright blue sky. The sight seemed ripped from the pages of National Geographic Magazine, a photo I might have looked at and commented how someday I would love to visit such a place.  On each outstretched branch rested a large nest filled with baby Double-Crested Cormorants and their parents, feeding them as fast as they could manage amongst the screaming cries of their hungry young. We stood in amazement for quite a while, searching each nest for the tiny crying faces, dozens of more mature Cormorants hunting the waters below. A family of Mute swans, complete with young of their own, glided across the calm water, seemingly unfazed by all the excitement and a pair of Wood Ducks circled about the shallow shores of the edge of the pond. A few Common Grackles showed off their striking blue heads in the strong, shining sunlight and soon enough we readied ourselves to set out onto the trails.

Just as on our previous trip we headed into the park passing the small ponds that had once served as golf hazards in the preserves prior life, today being enjoyed by mother Mallards and Wood Ducks with their young. Gray Catbirds loomed inquisitively above up in the shade of leaves and a small Downy Woodpecker hammered away at a distant trunk.  A parade of turtles; every color, size, and species; clung to fallen branches, stones and logs, sunning themselves in the heat of the morning. Eastern Chipmunks flashed before our eyes, darting across the path so fast they seemed to fly, their chatter rumbling throughout the woods with the frantic warning of “visitors!” The familiar American Robin Tourguides hopped along in front of us, ushering us along on our way to the red trail and the grass fields.

The emerald ocean of green grass, enclosed in a wall of jade, shone just as bright as I had remembered. Looking back, I had almost thought I had exaggerated it in my mind, but there it was, so neon it played tricks on your eyes and filled your nose with thoughts of citrus and dew. The child in me longed to run through the field, rolling in its freshness and life but the adult in me knew better and stood tiptoed along its edge, searching for its hidden residents. Even just writing about it now, days later, my lungs fill with the memory of its warm air, thick with captured rain and secret wildflowers. The air above us swished with the breeze of racing Tree Swallows and Blue Jays screamed their attendance from the shade of the trees. Chipping Sparrows, a parent with a single young, walked casually in front of us on the sunbaked path, searching the grass for snacks as if we were not even there and, within the sea of grass, Song Sparrows perched atop nesting boxes, gathering supplies and ringing in the day with their sweet songs. Only the occasional yellow flower and the bright red shoulders of Red-Winged Blackbirds broke the curtain of green that covered as far as the eye could see, leading us from one majestic field to the next.

At the end of the second grass-fiel,d Eastern Chipmunks shrieked and scurried for cover, dozens rushing from one side of the trail to the other into the hiding of the grasses as a magnificent Red-Tailed Hawk circled elegantly above us. A group of small trees along the edge of the path stood like an Oasis in the desert as we trecked through the shadeless field of burning sun and we decided to rest in their cover and take a drink. A pair of birds methodically flitted from the trees to the field and back again, foraging food for their nest of hatchlings. New Lifebirds for me the two soon showed themselves to be a male and Female Orchard Oriole soon accompanied by their Baltimore Oriole cousins, watching to be sure we kept our distance. A House Wren worked furiously on his nest within a nearby box and Common Yellowthroats landed arms lengths away from us to feed their curiosity and say hello. Even within the shade of the treeline Yellow Warblers shone through the dark like stars in the night, zipping across our view nearly too fast to even see. Following the trail once more, towards the yellow trail and the beginning of the East Farm Preserve and its shaded woods. Rainbows of butterflies flitted about the air, basking in the sun and resting on the low leaves within the field of grasses, making a small part of me want to stay in the fields forever, but the woods were calling and we were determined to answer this time!

Stepping out of the sun into the cool green shade of the yellow trail, through a dense forest of breathtaking trees, felt as though we had crossed through some portal into another time and place. Our eyes opened for the first time, no longer blinded by the bright sunlight and the sweat of our brows began to dry. The calls of Warblers faded away and replaced with the drumming of woodpeckers. The bright crimson of a Northern Cardinal shone from the maze of trees and blanket of deep green leaves. A White-Breasted Nuthatch trecked up and down a nearby trunk and a large White-Tailed Deer flipped its tail in the distance. Shortly after heading out onto the trail we spotted it, and my heart skipped more than a few beats, a large white shape perched high on a branch overhead. From a distance I swore from its size that it was an owl, or maybe an immature eagle, but as we came into a few feet and moved around front, it came into view. A majestic Red-Tailed Hawk stared down at me, so close I could see the gold flecks in its eyes. I had never been so close to one before, had never been able to see the pattern on the feathers without magnifying photos on a computer, had never been able to hear the wind of a flapping wing or the crunch of one’s talons stripping the bark from a tree branch. It took the air out of my lungs, I stood their staring in awe suddenly rejuvenated with the passion for birding I had felt when first starting out and suddenly my feet didn’t hurt so bad, I wasn’t so thirsty and all I wanted to search for more birds, every day, forever. As the massive bird alit to the sky and disappeared throughout the netting of branches and treetops we continued on down the trail, spotting a few Downy Woodpeckers along the way.

As the loop finished, and we returned to the familiar sights and sounds of the red trail, we took our final glances around. The sun bounced off the water of the pond through the lattice of branches and once more the shrieks of hungry baby Double-Crested Cormorants filled our ears. When we approached the entrance trail, and could finally see the water clearly once again, a band of Double-Crested Cormorants dried themselves in Dracula pose along a fallen log, circled by Domestic and Wild Mallard Ducks. Two Black-Crowned Night-herons stalked about the shores beyond them all and a cloud of noisy gulls descended from the skies to land atop the cool water. Great Black-Backed Gulls floated about the surface, taking in the sights and eyeing its residents. Opposite the path, in the small hazard pond, the mother Wood Duck still rooted about the shallow water with her young, exploring and greeting the passersby. A small group of Great Egrets shown brightly in the distance of the duck pond and as we approached the gates a Brown-headed Cowbird arrived to bid us farewell.

I would never have believed that my second visit to Avalon Park and Preserve could have possibly been better than the first, but then we went back, and somehow, it was. There is something magical about this park that makes me want to start planning my next visit before I have even left. There are so many habitats fit into this one magnificent space that there is no end to the possibility of birds one may come upon and that my friends, is an intoxicating thought; A thought that many of us gave up on shortly after childhood, the idea that anything is possible. I can not say enough about this park, about the magic that hangs in the air and transports you to another place you never knew. Whether you are going for birds, for hiking or just for a day in the outdoors this is one not to be overlooked. Without a doubt, I will be returning soon, and I am eager to see what the other seasons bring to this incredible spot. Until next time my friends, Happy Birding!

For more Long Island Birding content, visit my Facebook Page!

•