I got up early so I could head out and meet up with my buddy Bob for a trip to the Esopus Meadows Lighthouse Park. We arrived at the park around 9:30 and the tide was starting to go out and the light was iffy along most of the water. We walked down the path to see what was going on in the river and we came across a green heron, a great blue heron, a cormorant and a pair of grebes. Most of the birds were far, but the green heron was relatively close in bad light. He was tough to photograph as he was backlit from the sun that was behind him, but we continued to watch him and do our best.

As the day went on, the light got better. There weren't too many birds there so it was a lot of waiting around to see if anything would come in close. In addition to the birds we found upon arrival, we also got to see bald eagles, a butterfly, lots of grasshoppers and a few kingfishers. There was only one green heron who bounced around and occasionally was in a nice spot, but there were several great blue heron and several cormorants. At one point a great blue heron was sitting on a branch and when a cormorant got too close, it chased the cormorant away. We saw one of the great blue heron catch a little fish, the green heron caught a few little fish and one of the grebes caught something long and skinny. I couldn't really tell what it was as the grebe was a bit far away. I even tried to examine my pics, but I'm still unsure. I'm thinking maybe a baby eel as it was silver in color.

There weren't too many really good opportunities for photographing birds, but it was still a nice day. It's alway awesome sitting by the river while the sun is shining and there is a nice breeze. Although the wildlife was lacking a bit, it was fun to watch all the boats going by. It seemed as though there were more than usual out there. There were speedboats, yachts, a barge being pushed by a tug, a few sailboats, the RIP Van Winkle and the Clearwater all went by. I think Bob could easily fill a calendar of boats passing the Lighthouse.

Here is the green heron with one of his catches from today!