Day 157: June 5th – Jones Beach

Cloudy and cool with intermittent showers

       Will these cloudy days ever desist?  Another day of drizzle and clouds as we get ready to test the weather patterns of western Montana.  We are with friends in Long Island where we will spend the night and then head over to JFK for a morning flight out to “Big Sky Country” .

        Since we are so close to Jones Beach, we decide to drive over and spend a couple of hours checking out the activity at the shore.  We find very little in the way of shorebirds, but the gulls are here to entertain us.  On the main beach we find Greater Black-backs, Herring and Ring-billed gulls.  With little else to be found, we move across the steet and find Yellow and Common yellowthroat warblers in the roadside shrubs.  The vegetation is also playing host to a number of Cottontails which seem to be found around every corner. 

       The flora along the roadside is also quite photogenic.  The Rugosa roses are in bloom as are the Beach daisies.

       Eventually we work our way around to the bay side of Jones Beach and find a young Herring gull which has just snagged a little Blue-claw crab.  The crab still has a lot of life left in it and is not about to give up without a fight.  The gull keeps flipping it around, trying to avoid those powerful front claws.  Finally, seeing an opening, the gull begins to thrust its bill forcefully at the belly of the crab and the end is soon obvious.

       As has been the case for the last week or so, the rains soon arrive and we are driven back to the shelter of the car.  Our birding here at Jones Beach is over for the day.  Tomorrow, it’s a long flight across country….first to Salt Lake City and then on to our final destination of Missoula, Montana.  We’ll be in and out of web service for the next ten days, but be assured that whenever we have the opportunity, we will  post an update on our western adventure.  Till then…….