Looking east

 the sun setting over my shoulder 

 gulls came to rest on the beach

twilight beginning.

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Kimogener Point / Inlet Pond Park

Kimogener Point is a beautiful spot located at the head of West Creek where the estuary meets the Great Peconic Bay in New Suffolk.  It has it's own protected harbor where the residents dock their boats for the season.  The creek is an excellent place to clam in the shallows and at night, with the aid of a powerful flashlight, attract and catch blue crabs with nets under the bridge.  The estuary is home to many species of birds, most noticeably osprey, and water fowl.  It remains in pristine condition due to it's protected wetland status.  What a great place to call home.

I'm including two photos that were taken at Inlet Pond Park to show the construction of an osprey nest and a sitting adolescent.

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Day's End

At the end of the day 

gulls wing their way home 

among clouds that inspired Rembrandt 

in a sky that inspired me.

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Skywatch Friday here.

5 AM July 4th and At The Close of the Same Day

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Getting up early in the morning is a gift I give to myself.   Everything looks so clean and fresh and made just for me as usually no one else is there with which to enjoy it.  The solitude mid such beauty never fails to put me in a worshipful mind that seems clearer than normal, more open.  Seeing what is before me on the horizon and in the water's edge at my feet brings the large and the small together as a unified thing.  This is my cathedral. 

 Mist rises from the far side of East Creek as a pair of osprey greet the sun with their new young.

Trumpet flowers frame a sailboat moored on the Great Peconic Bay between Cutchogue and New Suffolk.

Long morning shadows.

It won't be too long before many of the kayaks will be out on the water for a holiday paddle.

The setting sun provided it's own pyrotechnics before fireworks began.  Later, the rim of the bay was outlined by many displays as neighborhood groups came out to enjoy the color and balmy weather.

 

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Gale Force Winds

These shots were taken in high winds where I could not hold the camera steady. Most were shot at extreme zoom focal length from within our rocking Jeep as we got blasted by sand from the beaches. Please forgive the graininess. See photos below, click to enlarge.

The night before last the wind began to pick up and the temperature plummeted. It was an arctic high blowing down our way, pushing steady 40 mph winds gusting 55 to 60 mph, short of a hurricane, but windy. With the wind chill factor the temperature was + or - zero. A normally placid Long Island Sound was whipped into a froth, seas reaching 8 - 10+ feet, endangering shipping. I got an early shot of a tug keeping a barge from running aground just north of Greenport, this before the storm hit it's stride. The tumult in the water tossed the small stuff (bait fish) around out of control making it a field day for the gulls having a feeding frenzy.




At Southold Town Beach the wind was so strong that I couldn't force the door of our Jeep open, but this fellow trying to impress his girlfriend made it out and grabbed a sign post just before being whisked off his feet and on to the hood of his car. That's show biz!



Here a tanker is in shallow water, 30 - 40 feet just off the Mattituck Inlet Jetty. It promises to be a long night for the captain of this vessel, fighting the broadside winds just off a lee shore.

North Fork Herons

These birds were all photographed in the early to midmorning and at considerable distance and with out a tripod which could explain why the shots are so grainy. Still, I wanted to share them. The Night Heron below was my first sighting of the species.

The Black-crowned Night Heron, sometimes referred to as Black Capped Night Heron. Click to enlarge, note the beautiful orange eye.

The Great Blue Heron.

The Green Heron.

The Great White Egret sometimes referred to as Great White Heron.

Early Morning Sky Over East Creek

Early Birds



Moon in the West



A Rosy Hue


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Water Fowl

Birds that live upon and get sustenance from salt water tend to be large as adults and usually gregarious. Some species are vegetarian. Many of us have seen hundreds of Canadian Geese in a field foraging or resting on the water. I've often seen several swan families following each other about. The cormorant (picture 3) is more of a loner although they sometimes group when drying their wings at half mast. Equally at home in fresh and saltwater they are voracious fishers whom the Chinese often use from boats, a line about their throats so that they can catch but not swallow their prey. They are very sleek and can dive to great depths. Sometimes I wonder if they'll ever come up!

It would be hard to find a sight more precious than a baby swan (signet) still wobbly, just getting used to the world.

Indiana State Bird taken at Goshen, Indiana.

Sand Line at the Rip

Bathing Robin All Aflutter

Breakfasting Heron

Geese