I took off from work to take care of some business on Long Island's east end and decided to see what activity might be occurring at the seal haulout site on the north side of Montauk State Park. While scanning for seals I was surprised to see a lone, mature male harlequin duck near the rocks at the haulout site. I watched it for more than 1/2 an hour before a boat with three photographers ( taking shots of the seals) scared it. It then flew east toward Montauk Point, out of view. It is the earliest I have ever seen a Harelquin Duck on Long Island. Also saw several dozen adult gannets flying past, all heading in an eastbound direction, two white-winged scoters and several red-breasted mergansers. For pinniped fans there were 7 grey seals and one harbor seal at the site.
John Turner -- 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/ --
