I thought I'd be writing this last night - "the spirit is willing, but the
flesh is weak! Yesterday,Tom Moran & I ventured up to Sterling Forest St. Pk.
in pursuit of the Mississippi Kite, Golden-winged Warbler and whatever else was
channeled our way - which was quite a lot...on many levels.
We met in Shoreham at 0600, with, thankfully,Tom behind the wheel. By 0830, we
were at the turn -around on Ironwood Rd., listening to at least 2, and possibly
3, Worming-eating Warblers singing on both sides of the road, ~ where the
apartments are located. Walking the trail under the tower-line wasn't very
productive, except for spooking a hen W.Turkey, who at first did what sounded
like an alarm squawk (which both of us had never heard before, only familiar
with the "gobble"), then running out of an entrance/exit hole at the base of a
large shrub, and finally taking flight into the woods - we decided not to probe
into the base of the shrub.
Returning to our car, it was our good fortune to speak with folks who had just
had a singing GWWA on the main rd., ~ 1/4 mile before the turn off to the SFSP
Visitor Center. As we were "hauling-..." (while still on Ironwood Rd.) we even
had another gracious birder stop to let us know about the same bird, which he
had just seen. We arrived on the scene, just as a N.J. father/son team were
starting to drive away...but not before showing us exactly where the bird was
"2 minutes ago". I apologize for not writing the father's name down, but his
son's name is Alex - thanks guys! After ~ 5 min's.Tom picked up the GWWA, which
I think responded to my "weak" imitation of it's song. The bird took off before
I got on it, but after another 5 min's., or so, of frustration, the bird
returned, "making my day"...perhaps you remember reading about my saga of 6/5
into 6/6 ? At least another 8 birders' curiosity got the best of them, with all
of us getting amazing, up close views of this handsome bird, as it sang
repeatedly. Although none of the others saw it, I believe I had a female as
well. While not "needing" it, after such an extended look at such a prized
species, we were treated with first the calling, and then the sighting, of a
Yellow-billed Cuckoo!
Taking our leave of "the spot", we arrived at "THE Spot"... and hunkered down
(with ~ 10 other birders) to a long summer's nap. The time was somewhere around
1130-1200, the sun kept it hot enough for most of the amassed "kiters" to seek
shade, but the birds did "shine" a little after 1600. They were first seen,
while still quite high, by a local birder/photographer, who also predicted a
1615 arrival time...not bad, oh keen-eyed one! We all marveled at the pair, as
they slowly descended by a combination of circling and power dives, with their
wings bent in to form a 90 degree angle with their body in front, to where the
wing tips looked to be touching the body in the rear ! The kites finally
landed in their favorite tree on the r/s, at the beginning of driveway to
visitor's center. We were also treated to observing their courtship - first
the male feeding the female, followed by her calling to him, him returning
"post-haste", and then copulation. It wasn't long after, that most of our
happy group headed out.
During our 4 plus hours wait, we did fairly well with other raptor species.
Helping to break the monotony were:Turkey Vulture; Black Vulture;
Red-shouldered Hawk; Bald Eagle and Osprey. However, this period of time will
also be remembered for the people who shared this experience. There were old
friends to greet in Peter Dorish, Mary Eyster and Mike Vedder. There were new
friends to make, in Deb Hartquist and Celeste Morien. There was the honor to
finally meet John Yizzary (sp?), who also showed us the tree and general area
(obstructed view) where the kites are trying to nest. The time invested was
truly memorable! We got to witness the dynamic flight acrobatics of the kites
(their branch acrobatics, as well) caught up with the lives of some, learned
about the lives of others (and common friends shared) plus having a good many
laughs - you just can't beat it !
On our return to L.I., driving on the Sprain Brook Parkway, we had a pair of
Red-tailed Hawks - making it a total of 7 species of raptors for the day...a
day that saw Tom experience another "hat-trick", by getting the kite, the
warbler and the cuckoo !!! We finished this glorious day with a fitting
repast... Spare Ribs and beer, at J & R's in Patchouge.
Cheers, Bob
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