I thought about going down to the coast this morning, knowing there would be likely be an impressive show of diurnal passerines migrating. But they're just passerines and the hawks still beckon - and I don't have to get up early for them. Not that I didn't get to partake in an impressive passerine show. I've been told by the inland hawk watchers north of the city that they get passerine movements late in the day - a phenomenon not seen on Long Island. I stuck around late a couple of times recently at the Greenwich Audubon Center) to see for myself (and to avoid sun glare on the way home). Last week, the flight was mainly Robins and Cedar Wawings (and a Golden Eagle at 5:11 P.M). Today, it was Grackles. There was one ten minute period with three flocks comprised of about 10,000 birds. Overall, I guess there well over 15,000 - probably a lot more, but I wasn't the one keeping count. And that's with a much smaller window of time than the morning coastal flights.
As for hawks, it was noteworthy for being better than your average Golden Eagle day for east of the Hudson. Quaker Ridge (Greenwich) recorded 5 and Chestnut Ridge (Butler Sanctuary, Westchester) tallied 3. 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/ --
