September 13. Jones Beach and Robert Moses SP Joe Giunta and I (Sy Schiff), joined while at Jones West End by Pat Jones, went birding for land birds without any success. But first we stopped to look on the bar at the Coast Guard Station at low tide. Here there were several hundred each of American Oystercatcher and Black Skimmer, lots of Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Red Knot, Short-billed Dowitcher and a lesser assortment of other species. Among several dozen mostly "Western" Willet was a single WHIMBREL.
After unsuccessful land birding we went to the swale. As we walked down the path we came across three peep, a Least, a Semipalmated and a BAIRD'S SANDPIPER. Nice comparison as they were mostly within the same field simultaneously. We later found a WESTERN SANDPIPER in the other shorebirds there. Raptors at the spot were Osprey, Northern Harrier, Peregrine Falcon and Merlin. Back at the cars an immature BALD EAGLE flew over going east. We saw additional Osprey and a Sharp-shinned Hawk as we drove out to Robert Moses SP. Parking field #5, had two adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS with an additional one on parking lot #2, three adults, all dark, pretty with bright yellow legs. At the hawkwatch, it was slow and a bit of rain. Looking toward the ocean, the gulls were chasing the terns including a single ROYAL TERN. Gannets were feeding over the open water. Sy -- 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/ --
