Ordinarily, I don't think this is worthy of a special post. But there is some symbolism here. Today marks the 30th anniversary of Hurricane Gloria crossing Long Island. Those that made it down to Jones Beach in the aftermath witnessed one of the most amazing fallouts they would ever see. The lawns were littered with Cape May Warblers (and American Redstarts). Many were being picked off by Merlins, which had no problem dealing with winds still up at 40 mph. This September 27 was very different. Very few migrants around and I didn't even see a Merlin. Ironically, the only warbler of note (I don't note Palm and Yellow-rumped (and they were scarce)) was a Cape May Warbler. I wish I had a camera to capture the scene back in 1985. Well, at least I had one today to use on a happier looking Cape May. Picture at http://www.stevewalternature.com/ for anyone that may be interested.
On another nature note, there are a nice number of Checkered Whites at Jones. On my last trip, I identified one from my car, as I was driving out of the eastern exit from West End 2. With the birding so slow today, I made a point to check on how many of the whites in that particular area were Checkered. It turned out to be most of them, maybe about a dozen. It was enjoyable watching and photographing them nectaring on camphorweed, mating, etc. Heck, some were even doing the butterfly version of kettling. That's about the closest I got to hawk activity today. And if you have no interest in insects, there is one insect at Jones that has an interest in you. And I think it's getting more plentiful by the day (although not epidemic at this point). Finally, I wish I had had a flag football game to go to today. But no, I had to go home and watch the Jets. Steve Walter Bayside, NY -- 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/ --
