Late this morning (11:30) I began the trek out to Democrat Point from Field 2 at Robert Moses State park. I returned to my car just after 3:00. In between I encountered 1 adult ROYAL TERN and 12 species of shorebird:
Black-bellied Plover 15 Semipalmated Plover 30 American Oystercatcher 10 Spotted Sandpiper 3 Greater Yellowlegs 3 Willet 4 Ruddy Turnstone 5 Sanderling X Semipalmated Sandpiper 18 Least Sandpiper 22 White-rumped Sandpiper 2 Short-billed Dowitcher 8 Also of note was a single Bank Swallow moving west down the beach among small numbers of Barns, and a still downy but very ambulatory juvenile Least Tern. All other juvenile terns seen (Common and Least) were already capable of flight. Later I spent 20 minutes along Captree Island Road checking the marsh to the north for shorebirds and waders. The only bird of real note was a juvenile YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON which flushed from the marsh's edge upon my approach and then flew to a nearby tree. There it was persistently mobbed by Robins who perhaps still had a brood in a nest close by. At the west end of the road Tree Swallows were massing for migration already. A flock of 300+ were swirling over the marsh and perching on utility wires. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
