Bird Watching - November 6th

Today was an unexpected birding day for me. I woke up not expecting to go but ended up meeting the gang at Hook Pond. I could not find the group at first, so I sat in the car for a minute and saw a huge adult Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias). The plumage coloring was one of the give aways along with the long black plume coming off of the back of the head, The long yellowish bill, and piercing gaze from its white eyes. After a couple of minutes, I decided to move on down a road and found the group. The minute I got there, the group had spotted a Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon). The shaggy plume on the top of its head and blue plumage was very noticeable. After Hook Pond, we moved on to a beach which I do not know the name of. Here we saw Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla) which was not only given away by Doc's constant fake laughter, but also by its plumage. Soon after, we spotted some Royal Terns (Sterna maxima) which was noticeable in the crowd of Gulls because of its bright red bill and black plumage on its head. After spending a little bit of time at the beach, we moved on to the field next Wosnofski's potato farm. Here we saw the bird of the day, three Wilsons Snipes (Gallinago gallinago) which we were not expecting here. The long bill and multiple shades of brown stripes were hard to spot among the grass and browning pine needles. The eyes and light stripes on its face were what helped us spot it. After this amazing find, we moved on to a golf course in Bridgehampton where we saw a Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) which was noticed due to its bright green patch on its rust colored head. We also saw Ruddy Ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis) which were identified quite by its thickly striped head.