At dawn this morning there was a spectacular fly-out of Laughing Gulls at Plum Beach, Kings, with hundreds of birds streaming east to west along the entire width of Rockaway Inlet, joined by hundreds more arriving from the the creeks to the north. By the time I left, the flight had stopped, but Laughing Gulls were visible in numbers everywhere I could see, along all shorelines and feeding in flocks all over the inlet. My overall estimate is 3,000 birds.
I was also surprised to count 88 Royal Terns, with 73 resting on a bar at Plum at one time, plus 15 scattered around the inlet. I had to leave before satisfying myself that no Franklin's Gull was present, and also before the passerine morning flight got going. Highlights of the last were 23 American Pipits. Shai Mitra Bay Shore, 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/ --
