Old Bethpage 2

After seeing the village we went for lunch at Cold Spring Harbor.

Southampton

We went to check out the the new stone for our plots that I purchased. The black granite looks good. Our plots are in Southampton Cemetery, Long Island, New York look and looks nice in the shade of a tree by Henry Road. We plan to have green burials when the time comes. After that we drove to the North Fork of Long Island and ate lunch at the charming little town of Greenport. After lunch we took two ferries to and from Shelter Island and drove back towards home to Manhattan via the South Fork. While visiting the Elizabeth Morton NWR I was not happy to see that during the last couple of years people have taking it upon themselves to hand feed the wildlife. It is not natural for them to eat strange foods and could harm them. Many birds, including the turkeys came up to us expecting food. People don’t feed the Ospreys. The young are almost fledged and the parents were calling to them to fly off the nest.

High Line

The High Line is adding a new connection to the uptown end soon Connections | The High Line.

Some of the artwork is intriguing.

Jamaica Bay

A short trip to Jamaica bay netted these. It was great to see that the East Pond is once more accessible. This is thanks to the efforts of dedicated birders like Andrew Baksh, who worked with Gateway National Recreation Area to see to it the the pumps were repaired. The water levels are now maintained at a lower levels so that both shorebirds and birders may use the shores of the pond.

Chincoteague 5

We covered a more of the Chincoteague NWR and the little Island Nature Trail – Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce with other members of the NY Littoral Society. What made the whole trip so rewarding was the expertise of some of the participants and all the keen eyes and minds. In addition to what I learned during the trip I used my memory, books, and iNaturalist to ID these.

Chincoteague 4

I went out to photograph the sunrise alone. After breakfast our group from the Littoral​ Society (littoralsociety.org) went for a boat ride with a very knowledgeable young local. We had lunch in town. After lunch we went to Chincoteague NWR.

Chincoteague 3

We booked a boat tour with Chincoteague Island Adventures – Wild Pony Tours and sail with Captain Randy. He was terrific, full of history and stories. We got nice and close to the wild ponies. The tour operators share information about where they are to be found. The Chincoteague Pony – Wikipedia has adapted to eat the salt grass.

Chincoteague 2

We toured Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia for most of the day.