I led a trip for the Queens County Bird Club today to a few eastern Long Island spots. We had some good birds despite the late-passing cold front and strong north winds. At our morning meeting place on Route 106/107 in Jericho we had 2 COMMON RAVENS flying around the Whole Foods Shopping Center. At Smith Point County Park in Shirley land birding was slow. The best we managed was an early Brown Creeper. There were also 3 ROYAL TERNS over the ocean and over 100 Northern Gannets. The best bird was an immature GLAUCOUS GULL in the parking lot. We were informed that this bird had been around for several weeks. We continued on to Shinnecock Inlet, where we had 2 WHIMBRELS flying west. At the boat launch just east of the Ponquogue Bridge, we had another 10 ROYAL TERNS. At Road K west of the Ponquogue Bridge, we relocated the Whimbrels in the marsh near the island. Dune Road was not very productive, so we headed to Mecox Inlet, where we found an adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL among the gulls roosting on the flats. Gabriske Airport was quiet. The sod fields at Manorville held only a few Black-bellied Plovers, but scanning the skies was productive. We saw 4 Turkey Vultures, a Cooper’s Hawk, and 3 COMMON NIGHTHAWKS. All in all a very pleasant day.
Seth Ausubel Forest Hills, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
