Finding Feathers Long Island

Welcome to Finding Feathers Long Island!

Hello there and welcome to Finding Feathers Long Island! I want to take this first post to introduce myself and my vision for this sight. My name is Jackie and I have lived on Long Island my entire life. Long island, New York is a place unlike any other; as a child my town was quite reminiscent of a “pleasentville”. Children rode their bikes in the streets, drew hopscotch arrangements in chalk in our driveways and gathered for games of manhunt every night in warm weather. when winter blew in there were snowball fights and sledding, snowmen and Santa Clause riding on the back of fire trucks. We had block parties and town pools, craft fairs and carnivals; I grew up in a world where summer meant you were outside until your parents dragged you in for bed and going in for dinner was nothing but a pause in the game. Everyone knew their neighbors and your neighbors where as good as family.

Now that I have grown up and look back on my childhood I am amazed at the diversity of my memories. Fishing on my grandfathers boat out of Wantagh Park, pulling up Bluefish and barking Sea-robins, the horde of gulls following us screaming for scraps. The amount of time I spent wandering Jones Beach State Park is astounding; Daring each other to pick up the monstrous horseshoe crabs and digging for Steamer Clams in Zachs Bay until the sun started to set and your fingers had gone numb. Other days the neighborhood kids would gather to explore the local sump, catching garter snakes under fallen trees and fishing for goldfish in the murky water, dotted with old tires and shopping carts. As I grew up and was able to venture further from home I began discovering the huge variety of Parks around me, and fell in love with them. Being outside, and away from the hustle and bustle, out of earshot of car horns and stereos, was where i was truly happy.

Always having been a lover of animals and the beauty of nature I suppose it was a natural evolution that I soon found myself enamored with birds. As soon as I began paying attention to the birds flying by I was hooked, and completely shocked at how many different types of birds were constantly around me! It was as if I had discovered a whole new world in the very place I had always been. For the past two years I have been utterly obsessed. I ran out and bought a camera with a good zoom and hit the parks eager to see what new species I could find and add to my list. I am going to say it right now, so there are no misunderstandings between us, I am not a birding expert! I struggle to identify birds I find all the time, but I am passionate and eager to learn and grow. I hope you will join me in my newest adventure; I am on a quest to explore the parks, preserves, refuges and sanctuaries of Long island to find all the birds that call this amazing strip of land home (or perhaps are just stopping by for a visit). Whether you are a born and raised Long Islander, moved here later on, vacationer or just someone who vaguely knows that New York has an island sticking off of it; I think you will be amazed at how many different environments this tiny place has to offer. From the salty waves of the ocean and beaches, lakes and ponds, salt marshes and bogs, the heights of Bald Hill and the thick woods of the Long Island Pine Barrens, there truly is a little bit of everything; and I will be the first to tell you, the birds know it! Long Island is known to house over 400 different species of birds, from the coastal shorebirds to soaring raptors all the way to tiny songbirds, it truly is a birders paradise.

From here, I will be posting my trips from around the island. Showing you where I have been, how to get there, what it has to offer and what birds were spotted. Some of these places may be spots you have been and perhaps some will be all together new to you, most will be new to me. My hope is that I will be able to show the places right here around us that will make you feel as though you are someplace totally foreign, and help you to identify some of the birds you may spot while out exploring this magical place! Either way, you will never look at Long Island, New York the same way again!

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

1 Comment

  1. Nancy

    Love everything. You never surprise me with what ever you do. Can’t wait for more.

    Reply

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