Pat and I headed east on this stormy day, figuring we could watch the ocean if and when the rain and wind made thicket birding too difficult.
Mecox Bay was closed to the ocean and quite full of water, with very limited habitat for shorebirds. Nearby Sagaponack had some nice flats, however, and these had lured in a juv Hudsonian Godwit and a Royal Tern. At both sites the ocean was alive with birds: thousands of scoters and hundreds of gannets streaming westward, and hundreds of Laughing Gulls beating eastward into the wind. The thickets around Water Mill and Bridgehampton were very lively, too, and we explored these fairly carefully during lulls in the morning's generally light rain. The highlights of this segment were Lark and Clay-colored Sparrows feeding together along the edge of a driveway near the east end of Daniel's Lane. You'll have to take our word for it that these two western novelties were richly pleasing to the eye, because neither the setting nor the photographer were likely to yield quality documentation: https://picasaweb.google.com/109808209543611018404/LongIslandMiscellany2014#6076849759292055090 Montauk Point presented, as might be expected, a wild and beautiful scene. Over a thousand Laughing Gulls and hundreds of gannets were feeding over the rips, beating into the wind, then streaming back rapidly, close to shore. The scoter migration was again conspicuous, and hundreds of Common Eider were rafting fairly close to the point. The highlights here, beyond the spectacle itself, were four Cory's Shearwaters, at least two Parasitic Jaegers, and two Lesser Black-backed Gulls, including a crisp juvenile. We had another Parasitic Jaeger off the village while birding the thickets there, then the rain intensified and we started working our way back westward. Only now, reflecting on the day, did we realize that we neither heard nor saw a Purple Finch or a Pine Siskin all day--the first such day in many, many field days this fall. Shai Mitra & Patricia Lindsay Bay Shore ________________________________ Celebrate International Education Week (IEW)><http://www.csi.cuny.edu/international/events/education_week.html> November 13-21 at the College of Staten Island> -- 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/ --
