The Captree June Count was conducted for the seventh consecutive year on Saturday 12 June 2021. A record total of 37 observers divided into 20 parties to cover the nine traditional territories of the Captree Christmas Bird Count circle, in southwestern Suffolk County, Long Island. This fine-grained effort, in combination with favorable weather, yielded a total of 138 species—eight more than the previous best totals, in 2017 and 2019. Breeding evidence was obtained for 106 species, 57 of which were confirmed, with 14 more scored as probable.
Easterly winds and good visibility allowed for a productive seawatch in which, for the first time in these seven years, all seven of the regularly occurring seabird species were recorded on the CJC: 3 Parasitic Jaegers, 15 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, 16 Cory’s Shearwaters, 17 Sooty Shearwaters, single Great and Manx Shearwaters, and 62 Northern Gannets; eleven Roseate Terns and two Arctic Terns were also highlights at Fire Island. Indeed, the highlights were many. The best waterfowl records were Green-winged Teal at Oak Beach and a Hooded Merganser and family of Wood Ducks at Connetquot. The only Whip-poor-wills recorded were also at Connetquot. Remarkable for June were 16 species of shorebirds, headlined by a Red Knot at Fire Island, White-rumped Sandpipers at Gardiner County Park and Oakdale, and a Stilt Sandpiper at Oak Beach. The Heckscher team found an American Woodcock, adding this difficult to detect species to the cumulative list at last. For the first time in seven years, we managed to log both Little Blue and Tricolored Herons, scarce and elusive residents of the Captree marshes, and another Tricolor was found in the Oakdale-West Sayville area. Great Horned Owl is not numerous in this circle, so one at Belmont was an excellent pick up, and the observers covering the East Islip area must be commended for their thoroughness in tallying up no fewer than eight Eastern Screech-Owls by night, then two locally scarce Turkey Vultures by day. Among passerines, a Bank Swallow at Belmont was new to the count and likely a late migrant, whereas the pair of Yellow-throated Warblers at Bayard Cutting Arboretum were confirmed feeding young—a brand-new Brown-headed Cowbird. Forest-breeding Neotropical migrants are not doing well in this circle, but Connetquot still supports at least eight Veeries and two Wood Thrushes were recorded in the Oakdale-West Sayville area. The former site was also host to the only two Black-and-white Warblers, whereas the latter yielded a territorial Hooded Warbler—a species barely suspected of ever breeding on the south shore of western and central Long Island. Common Ravens (9!) fledged young prior to the count, and Wild Turkey made an emphatic entry onto the list with 12 birds in three of the easternmost territories. A numerical pattern that can’t be ignored involves the gulls on the outer beach. The most numerous species was Great Black-backed Gull at 1,056—more than five times the previous max. A total of 1,015 Laughing Gulls was partly a reflection of the relatively new colony in Great South Bay, but mostly comprised first-summer birds migrating west to east over the ocean. Lesser Black-backed Gull retrenched to 41 from last year’s total of 66, but still managed to outnumber Herring Gull in a couple of outer beach flocks. Our worst misses were Surf Scoter (always a roll of the dice at this season), Belted Kingfisher (not really expected as a breeder in this circle), but also three Neotropicals: Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos, and, most remarkably and distressingly, Scarlet Tanager. The full data for this year’s count, including breeding codes and summaries of frequency and maximum counts, are available on request. We thank all of our participants and convey our deep gratitude to Bob and Michelle Grover for hosting an in-person compilation. It was such a pleasure for us all to be together again, recounting the day and so many past days we’ve shared. Patricia Lindsay & Shai Mitra Bay Shore -- 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/ --
