After doing some early morning birding at Calverton Ponds I found a large flock of blackbirds a little east of where the Yellow-headed Blackbirds have been reported recently - this was at 40.925398,-72.730333, just where Rt 25 becomes 4 lanes heading into Riverhead. I stayed with this flock for about an hour, failing to find any adult males, but eventually I did find what was probably a female, although it could have been a first-year bird. Most members of the flock were grackles - I don't even want to estimate how many thousands there were. But when I located the Yellow-headed Blackbird it was with a group of mostly Red-winged Blackbirds, north of Rt 25 near the sign for Rain Irrigation. Cool bird.
Also of interest for me this morning were two Vesper Sparrows and an American Kestrel along Hulse Landing Road in Wading River, and a hardy House Wren at the DEC property in Ridge. I've seen what I assume is the same House Wren at this location several times this winter, but this was the first time I'd seen it since 3 January. Richard Kaskan Shoreham, NY -- [email protected] (512) 748-8660 -- 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/ --
