Sep 16. Joe Giunta and I (Sy Schiff) birded the barrier beaches this morning We stopped at Jones West End and the swale very briefly at each, routed by MOSQUITOES. They're back in force; beware, The bar was empty and the swale is dry, so we didn't miss much.
We proceeded east stopping at Field #6. Two large terns landed on the beach, an adult and young ROYAL TERN. (The youngster had a thinner "yellow" bill. The first time I saw a young bird of the year in this plumage, I thought it was an Elegant Tern--one learns with experience). The next stop was Robert Moses field #2 parking lot where we found a first winter plumaged LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. We proceeded to the volley ball courts where we heard of a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW seen earlier. Rather than going to the hawkwatch, we waited patiently until it finally came up into the top of a clump of grass. A sea watch was unproductive. We arrived at the hawkwatch platform just before noon, a slow time of day. A short stay rewarded us only with swiftly moving Merlins propelled by the strong east wind.. 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/ --
