On Tuesday 1/20, Dad (Ken McDermott) and I ventured to Beacon in Dutchess County, after finding that all flowing ice was on that side of the Hudson. We were rewarded with a single first year Iceland Gull, seen from the Long Dock area near the Beacon Train Station. On Wed. 1/21, the landscape (icescape) of the river had changed dramatically. The river was completely filled with flowing ice and contained an estimated 5,000-6,000 gulls. After sifting through only about 200 gulls, I had already found 2 first year Iceland Gulls, when an Eagle put up all the gulls. When they settled, I began to scan again, this time finding 2 first year Icelands within the first 500 or so gulls, when....you guessed it, another eagle flyby. This time the gulls settled mid river, just beyond a good distance for ID's. Game called on account of darkness. Today, after 2 hours of scanning from the Newburgh side with Dad, Bruce Nott and Peter Schuyler, we had only produced a single first year Iceland. Anxious to check the Dutchess side, while people were watching on the Newburgh side, I headed to Beacon. At Long Dock, I was rewarded with 2 first year Icelands and a FOS Adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. Gulls numbers are continuing to increase. For anyone trying to figure out a day trip for this weekend, the conditions are looking promising. In a 5 minute scan of the Hudson from Newburgh this morning at 9:30, I had 16 Bald Eagles, from a single location, just north of Torches Restaurant. Good Birding, Curt McDermott --
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/ --