Patricia and I decided to run east this morning, hoping to get some birding in before conditions got really bad.
Visibility at Montauk Pt was decent, and we enjoyed great looks at 20 or so Razorbills and one adult Kittiwake, very close, in addition to the standard duckage. Highlights at Lake Montauk Inlet were single Great Cormorant, Purple Sandpiper, and Lesser Black-backed Gull (third calendar year). A little further west along the Sound at Culloden Pt, Pat picked out three great birds: Red-necked Grebe, King Eider (female), and Pacific Loon. The last was frustratingly distant (I don't think my efforts at digiscoping were successful), but I'm very confident of the identification, having enjoyed close studies of others at Block Island in November and near New London, CT just last weekend. We also had the rare experience of seeing a flock of Ruddy Ducks fly in from the east, settle on the Sound for 40 minutes, then fly off to the west. At the south end of Lake Montauk we sifted a large flock of Greater Scaup, finding at least 30 Lessers and 2 Canvasbacks (soon to be a chaseable rarity around here?). On the ice at Fort Pond was a huge roosting flock of gulls, with a slight majority being Great Black-backs. We tried hard to find an Iceland but could do no better than an adult Lesser black-back. We spent a couple of hours scouring fields in the Wainscott and Bridgehampton area but were unable to find the Graylag Goose. We were surprised not to find other birders--this seems to be getting soft-pedaled for a potential first state record! During this time conditions deteriorated, with more rain and fog, and the remainder of our efforts in central and western Suffolk County, some in tandem with Tom Burke and Gail Benson, were not very productive. Shai Mitra Bay Shore ________________________________ The Campaign for CSI: For College and Community<http://www.csi.cuny.edu/foundation/> -- 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/ --
