I did some birding at Sunken Meadow State Park today in Suffolk County. A quick walk on the Inner Marsh trail at the Western end of the park produced an Eastern Towhee, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 2 Brown Creepers, 12 Palm Warblers, 35 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 20+White-throated Sparrows, Gray Catbird, and 3 Hermit Thrush. Only 5 Wood Ducks were in the swamp along the trail. The marsh adjacent to the Park road held 19 Swamp sparrows, and many were perched atop the phragmites singing. The only raptors today included 5 Osprey and 4 Red-tailed Hawks.
In the field north of Parking Field 2, a foraging sparrow flock was composed of 8 Savannah sparrows, 1 Field sparrow, and a few White-throated sparrows. In the dunes, located at the eastern end of the park, I found several Song Sparrows bringing my sparrow species total to 6. A scan on the Long Island Sound, east of Field 3, netted me 6 Common Loons, 1 Red-throated Loon, 2 Horned Grebes(all three species were in full breeding plumage), 5 Northern Gannets, and 22Brant. I got my FOY Piping Plover down at the tip of the beach. Wading in the tidal flats just east of Field 3 and in the small cove left of the footbridge were 2 Great Blue Herons, 5 Great Egrets, 4 Snowy Egrets, 2 Black-crowned Night-Herons, and 1 Killdeer. Vinny Pellegrino picasaweb.com/vinnypelle East Northport, NY "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined." -Henry David Thoreau -- 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 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --