On July 2 & 3, Bob and I went out on his sister’s boat in East Hampton. It’s a gorgeous 58-foot yacht. We anchored over at Shelter Island for about 4 hours, where I watched at least one pair of probable Bank Swallows fly in and out of the nest holes of these sandy cliffs and watched an Osprey pair flying around:
We had a friendly Mute Swan scavenging for food by us:
Later in the afternoon, we drove out toward a private island called Gardiner’s Island:
I have never seen baby Great Black-backed Gulls before, and there was a whole colony nesting here. I’d say we saw 75 to 100 gulls:
There were also about 300 to 400 Double-crested Cormorants roosting in the trees and flying in toward the island, as well as many Ospreys. Check out the platform next to the windmill:
Here we are back in the marina with a friendly local egret:
It was a gorgeous day! (Click any photo to enlarge it and/or see full album.)