Jamaica Bay WildLife Refuge. . .some pics of my day

[gahspidy]

These are a few shots from this great place in Queens, N.Y. in an area called The Rockaways. There are many species of birds there and some turtles ( this one happened to be crossing the road in front of me on the foot trail) This onelooks like a Terrapin and was headed toward the Terrapin nesting areas.
Lots of Canada Geese there as well. And a shot of a Bluebird, which looks like an Eastern Bluebird but the white neck is not shown in my refernce book. Maybe Paulnj can help. Also a shot of a Monarch butterfly which was right in the front by the entrance.
Met some good people there, bird watchers and other photogs. A father and son bird watching team were there waitng for sundown to check out the Owls as they come over to the island to do their hunting and train their young to hunt. It was an unplanned ,spontaneous visit, but an enjoyable one.

[paulnj]

not a bluebird........ it's a TREE SWALLOW

and yes that is a diamond-backed terrapin too

one thing I MUST STRESS about jamaica bay from my limited visits...... WATCH OUT FOR DEER TICKS!!!!!

USE PERMANONE!!!!!!!!

[Iguanamom]

These are beautiful, if somewhat oversharp to my eyes. Great job composing and filling the frame. However, it's not a monarch butterfly either - it's a Tiger swallowtail.

I am jealous of your day!

[gahspidy]

Thanks Paulnj and iguanamom for your help on identifying some of these. Fortunately i had no problems with ticks that day but did get bitten by mosquitoes later towrd the early evening. Have to remember to use bug repellent next time
The first three pics seem to have some noise and grain that I did not spend to much time on trying to clean up, thus making it appear like too much unsharp mask. the sharp filter and grain don't go too well together. I keep hearing great things about a program called Neatimage and think i will try it to clean up some images that need it.

[paulnj]

I think the problem is ONLY the scan.... you originals are GREAT I'm sure ;)