Before I relate the details of our morning's birding at RMSP, let me first say that we searched unsuccessfully for the previously reported Say's Phoebe from 11:30AM to 12:30PM around the FI Lighthouse and the trails leading back to the hawk watch. When we left the bird had not been relocated. As a comparison the dates of last years Suffolk County Say's Phoebes were Oct 4-5 (Caumsett State Park) and Oct 7 (RMSP).
The Pine Siskin and Yellow-rumped Warbler show continued with thousands of each species streaming down the beach. The flight also featured good numbers of Red-winged Blackbirds and American Goldfinch. Birds occurring in modest numbers were Flicker, American Robin, Purple Finch, and Cedar Waxwing. Highlights were few, but included a single Lincoln's Sparrow just east of the Field 2 toll booths, and a Blue Grosbeak that John Gluth first saw by the volleyball courts and we then picked up in the parkway median. Eastern Meadowlarks were observed in one and twos during the morning, a few stopping in the planted islands in front of the Field 2 concession. Sparrow numbers were unimpressive, the most numerous being Dark-eyed Junco. We have never experienced the sustained Siskin flight of the last few weeks, where over a thousand individuals have frequently been recorded in a few hours birding. On a related Siskin note, we observed two flock of Siskins moving north across Great South Bay on the east side of the Captree Bridge, thereby avoiding the west winds that had developed by the early afternoon. Good Birding, Ken & Sue Feustel -- 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/ --
