I went to the Bash this morning at 5:30am to see if I could see the Sandhill when it stood. The fog was somewhat thick, but about ten feet in the air, so I could see the spot it bedded down last night. The fog also made it a little darker out than it would have been. At 5:50 the bird stood up exactly where expected. It foraged around and walked directly toward me about an additional 50 feet. It was still about 150 feet away. Lance Verderame arrived shortly thereafter, and we had good looks of the bird over the next hour. It preened and stalked prey off and on. My pics came out blurry and dark for the obvious reasons. We finally left, and Scott Baldinger returned, as well as Jim Carney and Mike Medley. They all had great looks, and Jim got some nice shots now that the sun broke through. At 10am the bird reportedly (Jim) just up and took off. It flew up the channel, toward Wurtsboro. Subsequent checks of the fields around Wurtsboro, and the Bashakill failed to turn up the bird. It may still remain, as the one two years ago stayed around and was seen three times in ten days. John Haas
-- 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/ --
