Despite the date, a mornings birding at Jones Beach State Park yielded a nice winter bird list. We started out at the West End Boat Basin, where a few breeding-plumaged Horned Grebes were the highlight. We then headed over to the Fisherman’s parking lot, birding along the Inlet jetty. The Red-necked Grebe was still present at the mouth of the Inlet, and a Piping Plover was sitting on the jetty. At the south end of the jetty we saw our first Northern Gannets (two) since January. There was a steady stream of Tree Swallows in groups of 2-3 crossing the Inlet from Pt. Lookout. At the end of the jetty were five Harlequin Ducks. In the dune area west of the parking lot a small number of Tree Sparrows continued. Walking back on the north side of the parkway towards the boat basin we spied the Northern Shrike perched up in the trees between the Fisherman’s parking lot and the parkway. A search of Zach’s Bay area was not particularly productive, a lone Merlin being the only bird of interest.
Think Spring! 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/ --
