The 2018 Montauk CBC (89th count since the circle was created in 1920) took place place on Saturday 15 Dec. For a change, the weather was reasonably cooperative with a predawn low of 48 Fahrenheit rising to a comfortable 52 Fahrenheit through most of the day. Wind was minimal giving rise to lingering patches of mist in places, sometimes limiting views of ponds or the ocean. The otherwise ideal winter count conditions were marred only by a heavy overcast making it quite dark and gloomy in the early morning followed by a few hours of drizzle and light rain ending around midday. The 41 participants, divided across six territories, tallied a total of 128 species (including Ipswich Sparrow) on count day, with at least 4 additional species recorded in count week.
Highlights included 1 BARROWS GOLDENEYE (adult male off Camp Hero), BLUE-WINGED TEAL (Big Reed Pond), 4 WOOD DUCK, 2 HARLEQUIN DUCK, 7 CANVASBACK (Oyster Pond), 1 COMMON MERGANSER, 1 BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON (Gardiner’s Island), 9 BALD EAGLES, 1 RED-SHOULDERED HAWK (Napeague), 2 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (Gardiner’s Island), 2 VIRGINIA RAIL, 1 WILSON’S SNIPE, 1,898 RAZORBILL (mostly between Shagwong Pt and Montauk Pt), 7 BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, a record 13 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL, 22 EASTERN SCREECH OWL, 4 COMMON RAVEN, 131 RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, 76 WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, 1 HOUSE WREN, 186 CAROLINA WREN, 5 TREE SWALLOW, 1 EASTERN PHOEBE (Big Reed Pond), 1 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, 1 YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, 1 COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, 1 NASHVILLE WARBLER (Lake West), 1 COMMON REDPOLL, and 4 RUSTY BLACKBIRD. Compared to recent counts, scoter numbers were much reduced (4,631 combined), especially off Montauk Point offset by an excellent total of nearly two thousand Razorbills. Misses included Northern Pintail, Lesser Scaup, King Eider, Killdeer, Purple Sandpiper, Bonaparte’s Gull, Palm Warbler and Brown-headed Cowbird. Our thanks to the South Fork Natural History Museum & Nature Center (SoFo) and Hampton Coffee Company for sponsoring the compilation dinner and the Goelet Family for hosting the Gardiner’s Island survey. Karen Rubinstein, Brent Bomkamp and Angus Wilson (Co-compilers NYMK CBC) -- 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/ --
