Unlike Ken and Sue, I had no clue that there would be a flight overnight and into the morning, so I spent the morning working at home. But what I lack in perspicacity I make up for with proximity, so I was able to run right down to the beach soon after Patricia Lindsay called to tell me that it was hopping.
Arriving as late as 10:15, I was amazed to see a moderately heavy morning flight still ongoing, despite the absence of anything like a strong nw wind. The flight finally weakened noticeably around noon, but in two hours of dedicated flight-watching, we tallied some very interesting things. (full eBird list here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11720633) For one thing, this fall is evidently a flight year for what I call the "woodland resident" cohort, as we saw multiple Red-bellied Woodpeckers, White-breasted Nuthatches, and Blue Jays--species scarce to absent on the outer beach in most years, but which undertake irruptions from time to time. The Red-breasted Nuthatches are continuing their invasion, with at least 21 prior to my arrival, plus 28 more during my watch, and my two-hour tally of Pine Siskins was 307, a very good number for so early in the season. There were also a lot of Neotropicals still on the move. I counted 8 Blackpoll Warblers 10:15-12:15, but Pat had seen 20 before I arrived, and there were surely many more among the 100+ unidentified warblers we saw collectively. Most notable in this category were a very late Orchard Oriole (my latest ever, by almost a month) and a Northern Rough-winged Swallow--my latest coastal record by more than a month. I heard my first Lapland Longspur of the season rattle three times as it passed, but I was never able to find it visually. We also saw four Caspian Terns passing on the inlet side, and Pat found locally scarce Marsh Wren, Lincoln's Sparrow, and Dickcissel either before I arrived or while I was staring at the sky. Shai Mitra Bay Shore ________________________________ Washington Monthly<http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/septemberoctober_2012/features/americas_bestbangforthebuck_co039461.php> magazine ranks the College of Staten Island as one of "America's Best-Bang-for-the-Buck Colleges" -- 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/ --
