Getting a late start (1 PM) Tom Moran and I headed for the Calverton Grasslands
(EPCAL) and while en-route had a flock of 7 Turkey Vultures and 2 Red-tailed
Hawks in Wading River. Once at the grasslands, we found 2 N.Harriers, a
Red-tailed Hawk, a Kestrel and an E.Meadowlark, but what we didn't find was
even better ! The entire long runway ( ~ 10'000') was devoid of cars ! For
those of you who don't know, EPCAL was, and still is being used as a depot for
over 100'000 vehicles that were damaged during "Sandy". The short runway ( ~
5'000') is still full of vehicles however, but a security guard told us that
plans call for all of those to be gone by May - hopefully, in time, to not
adversely affect the breeding season,
We then headed back to W.R. to try for the redpolls reported a few days back by
Derek Rodgers. Even though the trail proved to be cold, we did meet a
birder/photographer there, that we hadn't met before, Melissa Hahn. After
getting acquainted, we invited her to follow us to our next destination, the
North Fork Preserve in Jamesport.
After checking the pond on the e/s of the preserve and finding only a Great
Blue Heron, we headed for the pond on the w/s of the property, which none of us
had ever been to. The paths to it were a tad wet, but it was worth it. We
flushed anywhere from 3 to 5 C. Snipe, some going, some at, and some while
leaving the pond area. Whatever the #, it really didn't matter to Tom &
Melissa, both of whom were observing this species for the first time ! Melissa
had double the fun, when she picked out a Green-winged Teal on the far
shoreline, for another lifer !
Cheers,
Bob
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