The Mountain Bluebird at Democrat Point continued to be very cooperative today, through at least the middle of the day.
The bird very consistently favors perches atop a variety of different trees along the southern edge of the second, westernmost, flat sand clearing to the west of the Robert Moses SP golf course. Today we encountered several birders on our way out who were looking in the wrong places--either along the edge of the first (more easterly) flat sand clearing, or along the track that cuts over to the ocean side. Walk west along the four-wheel drive road which begins at the western turn-around of the parkway in Robert Moses SP, keeping the golf course on your left. Continue straight west where the track forks and the other choice cuts south toward the ocean. Continue west, with the Fire Island inlet on your right for possibly more than ten minutes. You will pass a large, flat sand clearing on the left that is fenced off. Continue further west. After passing a berm on your left, you will see a second large, flat sand clearing, with obvious vehicle tracks slanting off to the left. Follow these tracks a short distance until they bend to the right, then stop and scan the woody vegetation to the south. The best vantage is marked by numerous foot- and tripod-prints, and the wings of a deceased Lesser Black-backed Gull. The Mountain Bluebird feeds on junipers and perches at the very tops of junipers especially, but also pines and leafless deciduous trees. It often disappears for 10-15 minutes, then resumes its conspicuous habits. Occasionally it towers high in the air and flies around for a minute or more, sometimes hovering, showing off its distinctive long-winged, long-tailed flight profile. It is best to remain at a distance from the perches it prefers, because if people stand close to these, it will likely resort to others that are difficult or impossible to see. It has consistently returned to conspicuous perches over many hours, both yesterday and today, so be patient if it is in resting mode. If bored between views of the bluebird, it is very enjoyable and edifying to study the primary replacement pattern on the LBBG wings, but please don't move them! Shai Mitra Bay Shore ________________________________________ From: bounce-122137500-11143...@list.cornell.edu [bounce-122137500-11143...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Patricia Lindsay [pjlind...@optonline.net] Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2017 11:49 AM To: nysbirds-l@cornell.edu Subject: [nysbirds-l] Mountain Bluebird Robert Moses SP Suffolk Co Found on Captree CBC walk 10 min past golf course along 4 W drive road hugging the inlet. In second of 2 big sandy clearing in Junipers Sorry first post did not go through. Sent from my iPhone -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
