Switching up shorebird survey sites today turned out to be a fortunate decision. It was a pleasant day to be out on the flats at Cupsogue LI, where I spent most of the day with Ken and Sue Feustel.
There were decent numbers of shorebirds around. By the time I headed off the flats I had tallied 20 species of shorebirds. The shorebird highlights are as follows: HUDSONIAN GODWIT, which came in and spent all but 5 minutes before it was gone. WHIMBREL heard, before I glassed first and then snapped off a few poor photos before it was gone and PECTORAL SANDPIPER, picked up by Ken and Sue as it flew onto the flats only to disappear shortly after into the Spartina. Other notable shorebird sightings included 10 PIPING PLOVERS, 3 of which had bands/flags; of the ten, 5 were juveniles. Also, a banded SANDERLING with coded green flag. A couple of ROYAL TERNS, an adult and juvenile made an appearance on the flats and loafed for awhile with the many Common Terns. Photos and details, on the shorebird numbers will be online shortly for those who might be interested. All in all, a good survey given the dismal numbers and diversity I have encountered throughout the week at Jamaica Bay. Cheers, -- 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/ --
