Today's weather forecast didn't seem like a good prescription for a pelagic trip -but it was perfect for hawk watching, especially after four days of overcast and east winds. So I decided I'd deal with some of my least favorite roads in the world and go to Sandy Hook (NJ) for the first time in a few years. It paid off with over 300 hawks, highlighted by (finally) my first Swallow-tailed Kite in the north. It's not quite New York, but as it didn't come back south like some water crossing fearing hawks, it's almost a certainty that it crossed over into New York (I was thinking that observers in Central Park should be on the lookout). I won't be posting a picture, as I didn't get the best angle and distance on it (I have lots of pictures from the south, so I'm not fretting over that). I couldn't help but think that had it been three years ago, I might have been sitting on a boardwalk right under the kite, but Sandy happened and I had to pick a different spot (which was still well positioned for many of the falcons).
The rest of the flight included 208 American Kestrels, 55 Merlins, 34 Ospreys, and smaller numbers of Turkey Vulture, Black Vulture, Northern Harrier, Bald Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, and Peregrine Falcon - a very nice variety, with hawks passing with a frequency near that of Caracara updates. There was also a constant flow of swallows through the day, with Trees well outnumbering Barn and Rough-winged. A few Fish Crows appeared to be in migration and a few flocks of Cedar Waxwings were earlier than I've come to expect of them in spring. Overall, just nice to watch birds actually on the move north. I took a peak at the ocean at the end of the day, and saw a spectacle of thousands of ducks. In order of abundance, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Surf Scoter, Greater Scaup, and White-winged Scoter - more birds poised to imminently migrate through New York. On the way back, I stopped off at Gravesend Bay (and many other points right on the Belt Parkway) and quickly found the continuing Glaucous Gull flying around. Steve Walter Bayside, NY -- 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/ --
