The cold, blustery day made for an easy decision to avoid birding at the beach and head for the Riverhead and Calverton farm fields. Highlights included a single Lapland Longspur among a flock of thirty-five Horned Larks feeding on the eastern shoulder of Hulse Landing Road. We then proceeded east on Sound Ave. to see if the previously reported vultures were still present in Northville. We followed Mike McBrian's directions and found the Black Vulture and twelve Turkey Vultures huddled along a shrub barrier on the north side of Sound Ave (photo of Black Vulture on my flickr site) east of Church Street. The vacant lot where the birds were seen was adjacent to a former dilapidated farm stand with a semicircular dirt driveway that allowed easy viewing away from busy Sound Avenue. We then headed down to Calverton Ponds Preserve on River Road to look for a wintering Red-headed Woodpecker observed on December 31 - no luck. After experiencing the cold and wind during our short walk we felt that birding from the car would be a wise decision. We headed north then east on Reeves Avenue to the familiar buffalo farm on the south side of the road. There was abundant bird activity in the feed lots, with Brown-headed Cowbird (200+), Starling, Mourning Dove, and Rock Pigeon being observed. After one pass through the cowbird flock, a Yellow-headed Blackbird (possibly an adult female) was seen. i was just about to photograph the bird when a Cooper's Hawk came bombing in causing the birds to disperse. After that it was raptorfest, with Peregrine Falcon, American Kestrel, and Northern Harrier all making passes through the feed lots. While we were trying to relocate the blackbird, a small flock of Canada Geese came over, with the flock containing a single Cackling Goose (photo on my flickr site). Sue and I both had appointments in the afternoon so we headed home. As we headed south on Edwards Ave. we observed a flock of over a thousand Common Grackles. This is approximately the same location where two Yellow-headed Blackbirds wee seen at this time last year, so a check of the grackle flock may be worthwhile.
Good Birding, Ken & Sue Feustel http://www.flickr.com/photos/kfeustel/ -- 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/ --
