Best of Long Island Wildlife Photography 10-5-17

By Mike Busch

Another outstanding set of images was captured this week by the Long Island Wildlife Photography Group.

The Fall migration is now in full swing with a nice mix of transient birds mixed in with stragglers still waiting to head south. An early arrival for the winter this week was the Common Eider, Jeanne Eggers ran into a bunch in Montauk this week on page 3. The Common Eider is the largest duck in the Northern Hemisphere that spends summers breeding in the Arctic.

A few other notable finds this week include a Snow Goose, Brown Booby and a Black Throated Blue Warbler.

Another interesting find this week were thousands of migrating Monarch Butterflies on the south shore. From Mid August into Early October thousands of Monarchs stop to rest and feed on Fire Island as they head south for the Winter. It is hard to believe but they will end up in the mountains of Central Mexico for the Winter! Check out a bunch of beautiful Monarch images on the last page.

The cover shot this week goes to Robert Kaplan with a super crisp image of a Great Blue Heron in flight.

If you have the time check out all 6 pages!