Several of us enjoyed a wonderful morning of birding around Montauk (Suffolk Co.) headlined by eye-level views of a *YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER* in a pine next to the restaurant overlook patio.
First spotted by Barbara Rubinstein, the warbler gave absolutely stunning views as it flitted around this small tree along with several Ruby- and Golden-crowned kinglets. We were immediately struck by how long the bill looked, and taken together with the obvious yellow anterior portion of the eyebrow stripe (lores) suggests the coastal subspecies _D. d. dominica_. This one 'magnet tree' also yielded a Blackpoll Warbler, a Pine Warbler, Brown Creeper and host of Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers. >From the Point, we noted a number of birds moving west across Block Island Sound including Tree Swallows (several hundred), Common Loons (15), Northern Harrier, Osprey and several flights of Double-crested Cormorants. The numbers of scoter and Common Eider (38+) visible from the Point are beginning to build in anticipation of the usual winter spectacle. At the north end of East Lake Drive (Outer Beach Park) we found good numbers of the commoner fall passerine migrants, dominated by Yellow-rumped Warbler (253++). At Third House (Teddy Roosevelt County Park) we found 2 Blue-winged Teal, 2 White-crowned Sparrows, 2 Indigo Buntings, a Purple Finch and 2 Bobolink. Migrant falcons were in evidence throughout the morning with at least 5 Peregrines, 5 Merlins, 1 American Kestrel, 4-5 Northern Harriers, and several Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks. My companions were Hugh McGuinness, Karen Rubinstein, Barbara Rubinstein and Vicki Bustamante. Cheers, Angus Wilson New York City & The Springs, NY, USA http://birdingtotheend.blogspot.com/ -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
