I decided to give it another 1 hour and 45 minutes this morning, arriving shortly after 6:30 AM. I had double digit Sooty Shearwaters within my first 2 scope sweeps. This morning was certainly more active than yesterday evening and viewing conditions on the water were a lot easier with lighter wind.
There was a group of about 20 Sooty Shearwaters sitting on open water, that appeared to be feeding, some 3-400 yards off the beach. They were eventually joined by 3 MANX SHEARWATERS who landed in the shuffling Sooty group. These birds remained in a group for the duration of my seawatch, getting occasional glimpses of the Manx's as they bobbed around in the surf. In the end, I tallied 47 SOOTY SHEARWATERS. Fog eventually made its way to land and conditions slightly deteriorated. The most activity took place between 6:30 and 7:30 AM. The high perch at the FINS tower was a major plus. Shearwaters were not "wheeling" as intensely as they were yesterday evening as the wind was much lighter today keeping birds closer to the surface. http://www.flickr.com/photos/39025168@N07/ Best, Derek Rogers Sayville Begin forwarded message: > From: Derek Rogers <[email protected]> > Subject: Sooty Shearwaters - Smith Point C.P. (Suffolk) > Date: May 23, 2013 7:28:40 PM EDT > To: NY Bird List List <[email protected]> > > A 1 hour and 40 minute seawatch this evening at Smith Point County Park > yielded a slow but steady trickle of Sooty Shearwaters. > > I tucked myself in along the east side of the Fire Island National Seashore's > Visitor Center on the upper level. It offered good wind protection and a nice > perch for viewing. I tallied 28 SOOTY SHEARWATERS, some seen just one hundred > or so yards off the beach. A relatively thick haze sat about a half a mile > offshore restricting more distant viewing. About 75% of the individuals that > I noted were heading west with a few birds landing on open water for a quick > rest. Hopefully the routine, morning coastal fog that we've experiencing is > not the case for tomorrow. > > Best, > > Derek Rogers > Sayville -- 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/ --
