Covering the cemeteries near Flushing Meadows for the Queens CBC, I had the luck of encountering a WESTERN TANAGER. The entrance to the Cedar Grove Cemetery is on the Long Island Expressway service road, just west of the Van Wyck Expressway / College Point Blvd. There is a building on the right shortly after the entrance. I had stopped by the sign for the restrooms, to look over a sparrow flock (which included a Chipping), when a couple of birds flew into the pine tree between the restrooms sign and the building. I was immediately drawn to a yellow one, thinking I had my goldfinch for the count. But the bird was twice that size and brighter than a goldfinch should be in winter. The bill was recognizable as that of a tanager. Then a glimpse of wing bars pretty much confirmed it as a Western. Red on the face would have cemented it even more, but I did not see any. Though a brief look, the bird was only about 30 feet up and out in the open. It then made a short flight to a tree on the west side of the road, and then I lost it in the dark conditions of the morning.
The sighting was at about 8:30. I could have posted earlier, but this isn't Manhattan, where everything is a big deal. Just kidding. With most people doing counts elsewhere, the weather, and most likely anyone wanting a Western Tanager already having it this fall, it could wait. And since it flew, who knows anyway about finding it? I contacted the rest of my party, and they had no luck a couple of hours later. What isn't the reason for waiting - and shouldn't be - is keeping it secret in order to spring it at the compilation. In this age of instant communication front the field, I hope no one does that anymore. Steve Walter Bayside, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
