Was on Gabriel Willows bird walk of my occasional haunt, Randalls Island. We had a good fallout, Gabe will post our list. After the group split up, I biked up to north fields on my own. Around 3pm I was getting a good look at a Bonapartes Gull at low tide when I turned my head to see three Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows munching on top of the salt marsh grass. I gather that was where the food was and they were too hungry to care about my presence. I was so amazed at their cooperation I stayed for about an hour. I eventually counted up to 5 adults, 4 Atlantic and 1 Interior (better defined streaks, more orangy, less grey, and "white suspenders"). I think there were two immatures, too, they were less visible and less orange than I expected, but essentially engaging in the same behavior as the adults. The exact location the marsh along the northeast shore of Randalls Island, across from the backstop of baseball field 42. If you walk to the right there is a small path to the water and you can see the grass along the shore to the left.
Happy Birding, Alan Drogin -- 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/ --
