This morning I birded Breezy Point, with the dual objective of censusing shorebirds, and seeing what the migration situation was like, given the very interesting and seemingly favorable conditions.
There was a great diurnal movement of birds, with almost the full spectrum of visible migration happening (the notable, though not surprising, exception being raptors). In addition to these migrants, there were also a few species that are more typical of our colder months that were still hanging around. Some of the sppecies on the move were: *Brant*: More than 2,000 heading eastbound, and given the large flocks that were barely visible in the distance off shore, I undoubtedly missed hundreds. Other principal movers were* Common Loon, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Barn Swallows, *and mixed passerine flocks. The passerine flight was fascinating, with small groups of songbirds taking off from the outer dunes, or the trees well off the coast, and starting to head southwest or west, often very high. Many of them would eventually turn and head north after they had gained a lot of altitude. Blackpoll Warblers dominated this flight, but there was a nice mix of other species. Highlight species were as follows: *Summer Tanager* *Hermit Thrush (late!)* *Great Cormorant* *Long-tailed Duck* *Purple Martins (4-5)* *Eastern Bluebirds - *a pair near the Fisherman's lot that seemed like they could be nesting, given the time of year and their behavior. This would be a very notable breeding attempt nowadays. Fifteen species of warblers were a nice bonus. The full eBird checklist of this 89 species excursion (my personal high for a day at Breezy) with photos is here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45875495 In the meantime Sean Sime had found some interesting birds at Coney Island Creek Park, including an apparent Bicknell's Thrush. Despite the midday hour and warm sun beating down, I went to the park to follow up, and found the thrush on site, and doing some whisper songs. I recorded a couple of the calls (no luck with recording the song), and they can be found in this eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45875192 Sean's more interesting and comprehensive list from the morning, including photos and/or audio from the Bicknell's, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Cuckoo and much more (66 spp.) is here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45852906 Good Birding -Doug Gochfeld. Brooklyn, 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/ --
