Well, keeping things right on trend, nice weather during the week and a noreaster for the weekend. Friday brought quite a bit of wind and flooding our way and come Saturday there were down trees, power outages, and flooded roadways. As I often say, the weather is a huge part of birding! sometimes it can work to your advantage, causing birds to stop to take shelter in areas they normally would not, but other times it truly is rain on your parade.
Sunday morning Steve and I got up early and bundled up for this weeks adventure to explore Lakeland County Park in Islandia, NY. We arrived at an empty parking lot and took our pick of spots, taking a moment to take a peek around. There was a rest area right in front, a playground to the left and a basketball court just beyond that. There was an information board standing just before the start of the trail, however, it had very little information on it. All there was was a page of before and after photos from a recent renovation sponsored by Canon; no park map, no trail map, no information at all really. Unsure of exactly what we were in for we set off on the trail. Lakeland County Park is one of the only fully handicapped accessible parks on Long Island, the entire trail a well maintained even boardwalk. The trail leads us through an absolutely beautiful tour of the park, complete with woods, wetlands, streams and eventually a pond.
Calls of songbirds cut through the quiet morning all around us, but none of whom made themselves known. Being without a trail map we came upon our first fork in the boardwalk. It appeared as though the wood railings had been replaced several times since being built; unfortunately, the signs saying where each path led was on the old piece of wood. So, we decided to follow the one remaining sign, leading us towards ‘Honeysuckle Pond’. There was a beautiful variety of trees, studded with empty nests, which stood out to me immediately because it showed how alive this spot must be in the warmer months. Every turn we made revealed more wetland with new arrangements of trees and plants. Hidden throughout in all the shallow mirky puddles sat pair after pair of Mallard Ducks and Canada Geese. Calls echoed and bounced through the woods but despite our desperate searching, we were unable to find any of the singers. As much as I respect and appreciate the idea behind the boardwalk, allowing access to all the public despite ability levels, it did make for an interesting frustration. We could hear birds around us, but where unable to step off the trail to locate them. At times we even spotted a few birds but were unable to photograph them because they were tucked behind a branch or tree trunk and we were not able to move to an area that would allow a clear view.
After a short walk, we came to Honeysuckle Pond. It was on the small side, with a view of train tracks in the horizon, but undeniably beautiful, with a fair amount of boardwalk allowing accessibility to about half of the waterfront including an elevated area assumingly geared towards fishing. The pond was quiet and we took our time trying to see all that we could, spotting Mallards, Canada Geese, American Black Ducks, and Gadwalls. The water was dotted with an exciting amount of foliage which will absolutely be a hotspot for smaller sparrows and songbirds once spring arrives. We followed the boardwalk as far as we could until it ran out and we were left with a small dirt path that led to the edge of the park and a rather creepy, flooded tunnel leading under the train tracks. Covered in Grafitti and sitting in about 6 inches of rainwater we half expected a floating red balloon to drift out, but it was just another access point to the park. Turning back we followed the boardwalk again to the opposite side of the pond where there was a very conveniently placed bench allowing us to sit amongst the swamp grass and cattails with a great view of the water. After sitting for about an hour without seeing any new visitors, only mallards and geese coming and going, we decided to pack it up and leisurely head back towards the car.
As soon as we left our bench a bright flick of red caught our eye, my first Red-winged Black Bird sighting since winter began. Majestic in the rising sun it perched on the outstretched branch of a leafless tree. Below it, in some brambles and grass dotting the pond’s edge a Song Sparrow hunted for breakfast. The cackles of a murder of American Crows rang out overhead and lowered from the sky to the treetops. We continued on, passing a clearing with scattered trees with long hanging vines and tangles of thorny branches. Black-Capped Chickadees fluttered from branch to branch, hiding just beyond the scope of my camera lens. Once the parking lot began to come back into view and I thought we had seen all there was to see, with the smell of skunk cabbage rising with the warming morning air a small bird perched on a down tree. Surprisingly it allowed us to creep up fairly close to it before darting deeper into the woods, a beautiful richly colored Carolina Wren capping off our trip.
To sum things up, the trail was a nice easy walk for people of all abilities. Round trip from the parking lot to the pond and back I would safely estimate as less than a mile. Sadly, the park has its fair share of vandalism and litter but not so much to discourage a revisit. There are so many different areas to view waterfowl in particular within this small park that it is quite extraordinary; though we did not exactly hit the jackpot on this visit as far as sightings go, I’m confident our next visit will produce far more results. Winter birding, especially with all the harsh weather we have been having lately, is a game of patience. You need to go out knowing that you may strike out, hoping for the best but being prepared for the worst. We didn’t see too much on this visit but sometimes that is just the way it goes. In no way do I attribute this to the park itself, in fact, I think this hidden little County Park has some great potential! If you are looking for a park that will take you all day to hike and explore then this is not the one for you. But, if you have an hour or two to go birding or just for a nice walk outside then this is a great local spot. Family and dog-friendly, with plenty of parking and no entry fee this is a great park to visit for a quick outing. Until next time everyone, Happy Birding!
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