West End obviously received some good coverage today, with many birders recording the same species independently. We started out the morning getting a quick view of an immature Northern Goshawk as it flew across the Fishing Road at about 10:OOAM. Working our way south along the West End jetty, we observed three Harlequin Ducks on the Pt. Lookout side of the inlet. While observing the Harlequin's we heard a flyby Horned Lark calling, looking up we saw an immature Bald Eagle high overhead, quickly observing a second immature bird nearby. Looking at the sky more closely, we found a third immature Bald Eagle, accompanied by a smaller buteo (probably a Red-tail). After snapping some photos we continued on our hike. A flock of thirteen Tree Swallows are hanging in, where they ranged all over West End. Off the first Pt. Lookout jetty was a flock of some two hundred Common Eider, with a fair number of adult males present. The birds were too distant to see if any King Eiders (especially females) were present. At the tip of the West End jetty there were approx. eighteen hundred Dunlin. We patiently went through the birds, finally locating a single Western Sandpiper. We did not see the Ground Dove, and we missed the longspurs. We did pick up a Vesper Sparrow at the eastern exit to WE2. Photos of the Eagles, Western Sandpiper (sleeping), and the Vesper Sparrow are on my Flickr site.
Ken & Sue Feustel http://www.flickr.com/photos/kfeustel/ -- 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/ --
