[nysbirds-l] 2/10-Nassau/Queens: Kittiwakes, Razorbills etc.
The ocean off of the jetty at Jones Beach West End was alive this morning. In addition to a strong westbound flight of Northern Gannets (>500) there were something like 40-50 Red-throated Loons flying west VERY close to shore, although this could have been an underestimate since I may have glazed over many. My count of westbound Razorbills was 46, and a little bit later there were 6-10 sitting in the mouth of the inlet, all of which could have been birds I had seen and counted already. The biggest surprise for me here was/were 1-2 adult Black-legged Kittiwakes. The first one was observed heading westbound just off the jetty, and I observed it continuing west across the mouth of Jones Inlet. About 15-20 minutes later I saw another one flying back and forth just off the jetty. This is the first time I have ever definitively seen Black-legged Kittiwake from Jones Beach. Of note on the Coast Guard Station Island were 31 American Oystercatchers and 4 Red Knots. Also visible from here were a surprising 7 Razorbills, including one that was NE of the island, almost to the Loop Parkway bridge. At the Hempstead Beach Park parking lot in Point Lookout there was a single 1st-winter "Kumlien's" Iceland Gull among ~25 Herring Gulls. At Mill Pond (off Merrick Road just west of the Wantagh Parkway) there were 2 drake Blue-winged Teals standing on a log next to the island at the north end of the pond, always a nice bird to see in around these parts in February. I didn't have much of note during the middle of the day at Jamaica By Wildlife Refuge, although 11 Canvasbacks (6 on the West Pond and 5 on the East Pond) and 2 Common Mergansers (males on the East Pond) were nice. There was also a hulking adult female Cooper's Hawk hunting around the West Pond Trail. At JBWR I ran into Corey Finger and we both took a jaunt out to Breezy Point to check on the gull situation there. It was incredibly low tide, and we didn't see a huge number of gulls, but we did encounter a/the 1st-winter Glaucous Gull well north of the jetty, as well as 4 Razorbills on the water. McLovin', the adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, was at his/her usual spot just west of the Silver Gull Club on the border of Fort TIlden and Breezy Point. Good Birding -Doug Gochfeld. Brooklyn, 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/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/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/ --
[nysbirds-l] 2/10-Nassau/Queens: Kittiwakes, Razorbills etc.
The ocean off of the jetty at Jones Beach West End was alive this morning. In addition to a strong westbound flight of Northern Gannets (500) there were something like 40-50 Red-throated Loons flying west VERY close to shore, although this could have been an underestimate since I may have glazed over many. My count of westbound Razorbills was 46, and a little bit later there were 6-10 sitting in the mouth of the inlet, all of which could have been birds I had seen and counted already. The biggest surprise for me here was/were 1-2 adult Black-legged Kittiwakes. The first one was observed heading westbound just off the jetty, and I observed it continuing west across the mouth of Jones Inlet. About 15-20 minutes later I saw another one flying back and forth just off the jetty. This is the first time I have ever definitively seen Black-legged Kittiwake from Jones Beach. Of note on the Coast Guard Station Island were 31 American Oystercatchers and 4 Red Knots. Also visible from here were a surprising 7 Razorbills, including one that was NE of the island, almost to the Loop Parkway bridge. At the Hempstead Beach Park parking lot in Point Lookout there was a single 1st-winter Kumlien's Iceland Gull among ~25 Herring Gulls. At Mill Pond (off Merrick Road just west of the Wantagh Parkway) there were 2 drake Blue-winged Teals standing on a log next to the island at the north end of the pond, always a nice bird to see in around these parts in February. I didn't have much of note during the middle of the day at Jamaica By Wildlife Refuge, although 11 Canvasbacks (6 on the West Pond and 5 on the East Pond) and 2 Common Mergansers (males on the East Pond) were nice. There was also a hulking adult female Cooper's Hawk hunting around the West Pond Trail. At JBWR I ran into Corey Finger and we both took a jaunt out to Breezy Point to check on the gull situation there. It was incredibly low tide, and we didn't see a huge number of gulls, but we did encounter a/the 1st-winter Glaucous Gull well north of the jetty, as well as 4 Razorbills on the water. McLovin', the adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, was at his/her usual spot just west of the Silver Gull Club on the border of Fort TIlden and Breezy Point. Good Birding -Doug Gochfeld. Brooklyn, 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/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/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/ --
