Long Island’s Winter Visitors: Some motivation to brave the cold and get outside!

Each winter, Long Island plays hosts to a spectacular array of visitors from the north. The chance to encounter one of these seasonal species is enough to get wildlife lovers and photographers to brave the icy island winds and return to the beaches and state parks they frequent in warmer months. In this article, we’re taking a look at a few of these cold weather Long Islanders through the photography of the super talented Shane Etter (@BigOleMrKanish). I’ve had the pleasure to work with Shane on three other blogs - Raptors of Long Island, Owls of Long Island, and the Oral Account of Striper vs Bluefishing - and it’s always an honor to get to feature Shane’s work. Make sure to follow him on Instagram if you don’t already!

We’ve highlighted a handful of species below, but there are plenty of additional winter pilgrims that we get on Long Island when the weather dips and I encourage you to do some more research!