Today Tom Johnson and I birded the east end of Long Island. We started at Montauk Point State Park at dawn and then headed slowly west. Our initial plan of a rather balanced day of birding was scrapped in favor of a seawatch-heavy day in order to take advantage of the incredibly calm ocean (basically 0 foot seas for a good portion of the day). Red-throated Loon numbers on the ocean between Napeague and Soputhhampton seemed very robust, with around 800 (just those sitting on the water) observed in our several stops along the south shore. Razorbills also put on a good showing, and we had the species at almost every single stop we made with a view of the ocean.
Highlights: Dovekie- 1 (Ditch Plains, first spotted by Tom to the east of the trailer park. We observed it for quite a while and got some photos and video of it,. although it was quite far offshore. If the seas were even a foot or two higher it would have made finding this bird a very difficult proposition) King Eider- 1 (Female, Main Town Beach in Montauk. Also first picked out by Tom from among 40 Common Eider. All were rather close to shore) Razorbill- ~360 (250 at Montauk Point, 63 at Camp Hero, and 28 at Sagaponack were the notably high numbers. 1-4 were seen at several other locations) Black-legged Kittiwake- 2 adults (1 @ Montauk Point headed north, then 1 @ Camp Hero headed east) Red-necked Grebe- 1 (flyby at Montauk Point (headed south and around the point)) Cackling Goose- 1 (Tom had this bird among ~850 Canada Geese sitting on the Ocean off of Sagaponack) Purple Sandpiper- 25 (16 @ Camp Hero, 9 @ Ditch Plains) Of seasonal/ice-related interest Hook Pond held a Pied-billed Grebe and a Belted Kingfisher. The little bit of Passerine birding we did along the Montauk Highway between Deep Hollow and Camp Hero was fruitful with, among others, 9 Hermit Thrushes, 2 Gray Catbirds, and 1 Eastern Towhee. At dusk near Triton Lane on Dune Road west of Shinnecock we had at least 8 Ammodramus Sparrows, including 4 Seaside Sparrows, 3 Saltmarsh Sparrows, and 1 Sharp-tailed Sparrow sp. There were also no less than 8 Northern Harriers (including at least one adult male) over the bayside marshes around then. Good Birding -Doug Gochfeld. Brooklyn, NY. -- 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/ --
