Having somehow managed to fail at all my previous attempts to find Purple Sandpipers this winter (twice around Montauk and once each at Point Lookout and Jones Beach west end), I gave it one last go after consulting eBird data which showed that the most recent sightings had been along the ocean in Long Beach. I tried Point Lookout again first, but the 3 jetties there held no Purples. Other shorebird species present included American Oystercatcher (24, several small flocks flying into Jones inlet and 3 displaying on the beach), Sanderling (3), and Dunlin (75). Sixteen Bonaparte's Gulls were feeding in the surf, and 2 "Ipswich" Savannah Sparrows were along the trail that runs parallel to the inlet up to Firemen's Park.
So it was on to Long Beach, where I parked at the end of Grand Boulevard. After climbing the newly built up mound of sand to access the beach, I walked west to the jetty at the end of New York Avenue, then reversed course and checked the 10 jetties east to Long Beach Boulevard. On those 11 jetties I found a total of 21 Purple Sandpipers, with the breakdown of birds per jetty (moving west to east) being 0,0,3,1,4,0,2,4,5,2,0. Also present on one jetty were 3 Ruddy Turnstones. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jgluth_brb/sets/72157632448263840/ -- 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/ --
