Also worth mentioning the Purple Finch flight. It might have been the most I've seen in a day, although certainly not on the grand scale of Siskins. Lots of adult males. And while I won't swear to it, I believe a female Red Crossbill was a fly by at the Fort Tilden platform. Overall, it was a varied and entertaining flight of passerines, including Blue Jays, Eastern Bluebird (3), White-breasted Nuthatch, and Baltimore Oriole, along with the more expected Robins, Tree Swallows, Cedar Waxwings, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, and Goldfinches. Like the reports from points east, there were few nocturnal migrants on the ground -- a stark contrast to huge fallout on my last Fort Tilden trip, last Saturday.
Not a bad hawk flight either, considering the wind was WNW at best most of the time. Probably near 150 of the 7 expected coastal species and 2 Turkey Vultures (not so unusual anymore on Long Island, but still amusing to see at a hawk watch here). The most amusing happening of the day was a Red-breasted Nuthatch landing on Joe Smulktis' head. He's tall -- might have been mistaken for a tree. For anyone that hasn't had enough of Wood Sandpiper pictures, I'm now featuring one at my web site http://www.stevewalternature.com/ . Steve Walter Bayside, NY -----Original Message----- From: bounce-69376246-8873...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-69376246-8873...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Isaac Grant Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2012 12:14 PM To: NYSBIRDS-L@cornell.edu Subject: [nysbirds-l] Pine Siskins (Fort Tilden) Echoing Shai's report from Fire Island, there were huge numbers of Siskins at Fort Tilden. I was there before first light and could hear flock after flock of them. The flight continued strong until I left at about 11:00. I did not bother to count, but there were a lot of them. Far more than I had ever seen in one day before. Isaac Grant Senior Loan Officer -- 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/ -- -- 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/ --
