I spent just over five hours at Jones Beach this morning, from sunrise to almost noon. It was very windy, but the weather was beautiful and bird activity was very high in areas of cover and during breaks in the breeze. The Dickcissel continues by the fisherman's road, heard several times just after first light and seen flying once. The dune ponds are still hosting Blue-winged Teal, Shoveler, a single Pectoral Sandpiper, both Yellowlegs, and some peeps alongside geese and mallards. A Peregrine dove spectacularly on the ponds several times, one of four seen today. All, along with two Merlins and a Cooper's Hawk, were headed west. There were ten Lesser Black-backed Gulls of varying age classes on the West End 2 lot, and I heard several Bobolinks fly over when I was counting them. The median featured decent activity, and when I crossed the road I found some birding friends who had just seen a Philadelphia Vireo. I quickly got on the bird, and it became apparent that there seemed to be two of them moving around the area between the fisherman's path, the road, and the coast guard lot in loose association. I had both birds in view on two occasions, but they were constantly moving and chased each other a few times. A report of a Caspian Tern on the sandbar sent me over to check, and I found three individuals resting with the gulls and oystercatchers. Over the course of the morning, I had Yellowthroat (8), Redstart (6), Prairie (3), Wilson's (2), Pine (2), Tennessee, Blackpoll, Black-throated Blue (male), Nashville, Magnolia, Palm, Black-and-white, and Yellow Warblers. I also just missed a Northern Waterthrush in the early morning. In total, I encountered 61 species, many of which gave crippling views and showed interesting behavior. Great day to be out birding, and glad I got to see so many familiar faces out there.
Full checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S25030468 Cheers! -Tim H -- 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/ --
