After dropping my wife off in Commack at 1045, I headed down to RMSP, where the first animal I saw was half of the resident pair of Peregrine Falcons on their favorite haunt, the water tower. The next animal I saw was a large, dark, "buck" White-tailed Deer, who crossed the road ahead of me. It sported a "rack" that had at least 4, and very possibly, up to 8 points, a marked difference from the "smallish" deer you normally see on the barrier beach.
I then visited the F.I.Hawk Watch, but didn't stay long...it had been a very slow morning up to that point. I then made stops at Captree S.P. and Gilgo, finding hardly any birds at both, and in contrast with my last trip down Ocean Parkway, zero sightings of "wind-surfers" in the ocean, or the bay ! On my westward passing of the Jones Beach Water Tower, only one of the resident pair of Peregrines was present, as opposed to none on my return leg. Looking for the previously reported N.Shrike, I drove the entire West End a number of times, before getting out of the car in the museum parking lot, and walking the boardwalk, where, a few years ago, a shrike hung out for awhile. Although I didn't get the shrike, I did see a male N.Harrier hunting and just before leaving the boardwalk, had a flock of ~ 20 Tree Swallows , and 1 Cave Swallow fly past me heading south to north, before heading west as they passed the museum. It seems that after making my day, a short time afterward, *Petrochelidon fulva* brightened Andrew's also ! Other birds of note while at the west end was a single Rusty Blackbird, a single Palm Warbler and 1,possibly 2 Merlins, 1 of which failed to get the blackbird before it reached the safety of a dense shrub ! Cheers, Bob -- 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/ --
