It was rather windy and chilly today at the eastern tip of Long Island, with some good sized waves coming ashore on both the north and south sides of the peninsula. Seawatching from Montauk Point (Suffolk Co.) this morning produced a basic-plumaged adult PACIFIC LOON that flew round from the south side of the lighthouse, did a leisurely loop and then dropped down among the waves about 500 yards east of the Point. Unfortunately despite seeing it land, I lost the bird almost immediately and did not see it again over the next half hour nor during an early afternoon visit, even though the number of loons on view had increased. This is third sighting of Pacific Loon from the Point since November.
Also seen from the Point were, a lone DOVEKIE, a 1st winter GLAUCOUS GULL, 1st winter and adult ICELAND GULLS (all three white-winged gulls joining the roosting flock on the beach for a few minutes) and a decent number of RAZORBILLS (73 in a 1-h count). A raft of 33 Long-tailed Ducks, all female types, over the reef east of the lighthouse gave me some pause until they came close enough to be positively identified. The absence of any adult males in this group and the tight rafting behavior seemed most uncharacteristic. A different 1st winter ICELAND GULL was at the Montauk Inlet along with more Razorbills. The only landbirds of note were a flock of RED CROSSBILLS (10) in some pines along East Lake Drive. I was unable to find the 1st-winter Black-headed Gull that's been seen several times at the inlet in the past month. Likewise I dipped on the Eurasian Wigeon that has frequented Rita's pond and also the Snowy Owl that sometimes roosts on Hick's Island (viewed from Lazy Point) at the head of Napeague Harbor. -- Angus Wilson New York City & The Springs, NY, USA http://birdingtotheend.blogspot.com/ -- 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/ --
