Highlights..... Sewane Golf Course, Hewlett Cackling Goose Eastern Meadowlark
Bay Park, East Rockaway Palm Warbler Black-headed Gull Lawrence Eurasian Wigeon North Woodmere County Park Common Goldeneye The Team "South End" Jeff Glassberg Jane Scott Eric Miller Jean LoScalzo Mitch Horowitz Lisa Scheppke "North End" Joe DiCostanzo Jeff Kimball Chuck McAlexander David Sime "Little Kevin" Sean Sime "The Other Ringer" Steve Walter Yesterday I had the pleasure of coordinating the 5 Towns section of the Southern Nassau CBC. This area consists of suburban parks and a few vantages of the bays, canals and inlets from of Hewlett, East Rockaway, Woodmere and Lawrence. Many long time participants as well as a few new counters joined the fray this year and our typically sizable group swelled to an impressive 13. The group splits in two to cover the north and south ends of 5 Towns. Our sub-group covers the north end and most of the following account will be from there. We also had the distinct honor having my brother's nephew Kevin (age 11) join us for his first CBC. This turned out to be more enjoyable than the birds themselves and I strongly urge CBC participants to give it a try. It was one of those "full circle" moments that brought me back to my first CBC many, many years ago and all the nostalgia that comes along with such memories. When the full group was splitting up after pre-dawn breakfast I said to Jeff and Jane, "I've got a good feeling about today." Little did I know how true those words would ring. At our second stop in Hewlett we were counting Canada Geese feeding on the Sewane Golf Course. We immediately noticed a very small "Canada type" goose. The bird fed continuously and most of the group was on it before it ever lifted it's head. It eventually looked around and it's short, stubby bill and block headed appearance were clearly observed. We could also see the white line between the base of the neck and chest.The flock flew out into the marsh and I was able to get a marginal flight photo which at least shows size and shape, if not much more detail. >From the same vantage, but looking west out into the marsh, one of the many hunters seen this day flushed 6 Meadowlark, a difficult bird on this particular CBC and a save for the count. A few stops later in Bay Park, we almost immediately found a "western" Palm Warbler working the ground and pines along the NW corner berm of the northernmost ball field in the park. We were hoping to run into one of the white winged gulls Steve Walter had seen here days prior. At one point a couple started feeding gulls bread and fruit loops (mental note to self). Ring-billed Gulls were descending immediately and when I lifted my bins I saw a small gull with orange legs streak by! The excitement was tempered immediately by the realization that our group had split up and Joe and Chuck were half a mile away, yet the fruit loop numbers were dwindling rapidly. Thankfully, we had hero in the car to keep the birds there while Jeff K. ran a scope out to meet them halfway. Eventually all in the party were able to get great looks at the 1st winter Black-headed Gull. In the pandemonium we were all trying to teach little Kevin what to look for to pick this bird out. Five adults franticly yammering field marks at the same time; look for the orange legs, see the black trailing edge of the wings?, it's the smallest gull out there. Someone said, "When it's standing it's back it very patterned." To which Kevin cooly responded, "Actually, it's back is white. The wings are patterned." The kid's got potential! It was around this time that Steve called to let us know he had found a Eurasian Wigeon in our territory. At lunch we learned the "south end" crew found another Eurasian Wigeon in Lawrence. We headed out to Grant Park in Hewlett to find the pond open, but seriously lacking in numbers and diversity of ducks. I can't say definitively, but this is consistent with years the pond has frozen early in the season and then opened up. Once the birds are driven off to find open water many do not return. Three Pintail were a nice consolation though. The only other area rarity came in the form of two female Common Goldeneye, one at North Woodmere Park and the other from Mill River. It was a wonderful day to be out counting birds and I can't thank all our participants enough. Our area wound up with three saves for the count (Cackling Goose, Meadowlark and Black-headed-Gull). I fully understand the demands on birders during the count season and it amazes me that after 15 plus years of covering 5 Towns I'm still a relative "newbie" among this group. Your consistency is commendable. I look forward to seeing you all next year and yes, I've already inquired about "little Kevin's" availability in 2014. Cheers, Sean Sime Brooklyn, NY -- 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/ --
