My day of birding started off at 8:30 in the fog at Robert Moses S.P., where it was pretty quiet migrant-wise, with the exception of 1 E. Phoebe and 1 Brown Thrasher. Out on (and above) nearby Captree Island marsh were 1 Snowy Egret, 3 Great Egrets, and 4 Wilson's Snipe.
By the time I got to Sunken Meadow S.P. on the north shore the sun was in control of the sky and the day was warming up nicely. I started on the inner marsh trail, where avian highlights included the immature Red-shouldered Hawk recently reported by Vinny Pellegrino, 2 Pine Warblers (among 15-20 Yellow-rumps), 3 Catbirds, 3 Brown Thrashers, an E. Towhee, a Brown Creeper and a few Wood Ducks. The non-avian highlight was a minimum of 50 Alewives in the upper reaches of Sunken Meadow Creek, apparently spawning. Later, at the opposite end of the park, I walked out to the mouth of the creek where it empties into the Nissequogue River. Along the way I saw a pair of Piping Plovers within a cordoned nesting area. Out on the mirror-like Long Island Sound were 2 Common Loons and 2 Horned Grebes, all well into pre-alternate molt. I finished the day at Caleb Smith S.P., where I picked up my FOY Chipping Sparrow, another Phoebe, another Pine Warbler and a few Tree Swallows. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
