By Mike Busch

After a short hiatus, the Best of Long Island Wildlife Photography is back this week with another 5 pages of incredible local wildlife images, a small sample of what is shared daily by over 11,600 members.  It is an open Facebook group so feel welcome to join and contribute.

Highlights this week include a Clapper Rail, Clapper Rail Chick, Royal Terns, Scarlet Tanager, Red Headed Woodpecker, and Whimbrel.  There are also some fantastic images of Black Skimmers with chicks including the cover shot by Nancy Viscardi-Ricigliano and the first photo below by Fred Kopf  who captured a hatch in progress!

I also included a few Bottlenose Dolphins shots to remind everyone that if you are looking for something to do this weekend,  you can look for Dolphins and Whales from both sides of the Island.  American Princess Cruises with Gotham Whale are on a Wednesday – Sunday schedule out of Riis Landing and the CRESLI Viking Fleet Montauk is running both Wednesday and Sunday through September 2nd.  These trips also offer great birding opportunities as well, visit their respective websites in the clickable links above for more info.

Fred Kopf | Black Skimmer Hatching

Bob Schmitz | Great Blue Heron

Kathleen Desiderio | Clapper Rail

Heff Stoppe | Green Heron

Jason Ganz | Ruby Throated Hummingbird

Jill Weigold | Bald Eagle

Jim Botta | Royal Terns

Jimmy Johnny Juvenile | Bald Eagle

Ken Grille | Scarlet Tanager

Vicki Jauron | Whimbrel

More Images on Pages 2,3,4 and 5