A 3-hour (7:30-10:30) round trip hike out to Democrat Point from Robert Moses Field 2 was eventually well worth the effort.
After seeing very little activity over the ocean (a scattering of Common Terns), things began picking up after I got past the jetty and started making my way around the point proper. Nesting Least Terns were liberally spread across the upper beach, mostly behind the nesting area barriers. I saw one flock lift off the beach that contained ~40 birds. After crossing the base of the outermost point I reached a cove on the inlet side where there was a sizeable gathering of terns on the beach. This gathering initially contained 6 ROSEATE TERNS and 2 BLACK TERNS (both in alternate plumage) among 50+ Common Terns (2 1st-summer birds). The Roseate total ultimately reached *11*, with some of the later-arriving birds tipping off their approach with distinctive calls. The terns were scattered twice--by a fisherman and then a jogger--the Black Terns not returning after the former passed. Shorebirds were disappointingly sparse: 6 Black-bellied Plovers, 2 Semipalmated Plovers, 9 Piping Plovers, 8 Oystercatchers, 1 Willet, <50 Sanderling, and 4 Semipalmated Sandpipers. Other notable birds were Common Loon (1, flyover), Great and Snowy Egret (1 each), Black-crowned Night-heron (2), and Eastern Kingbird (1) Paid a visit to Massapequa Preserve yesterday (5/27, 7:20-8:45) to see if the Least Bitterns that nested there successfully last year had returned. I detected no visible or audible evidence that they had, but further effort may be worthwhile. A brief visit to Robert Moses Field 2 afterward turned up 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 2 on the beach (2nd summer) and one in the parking lot (1st summer). -- 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/ --
