[nysbirds-l] Barnacle Goose at Belmont Lake and other mid-Island additions
At mostly frozen Belmont Lake at first light this morning, the Barnacle Goose was at the back of a flock of about 500 Canada Geese. The lake also held small flocks of American Coots, Ring-necked Ducks, Ruddy Ducks, Gadwall and Mallards and a pair of Hooded Mergansers. When I left at 8:15am most of the geese still had heads tucked as they hunkered down on the ice, so I could not pick out the pair of Cackling Geese that I saw last weekend. A stop at Connetquot River State Park yielded a single flyby Crossbill sp. (probably white-winged but it disappeared rapidly and permanently into a stand of pines near the entrance road and I couldn't relocate it). Other birds included Belted Kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, Ring-necked Ducks and Gadwall and the previously reported flock of at least 8 Northern Bobwhite that frequents the area under the feeders behind the main house. The Bobwhite appeared to retreat under the house when frightened. In the early afternoon at the Jones Beach Coast Guard Station there was a third Lapland Longspur in the midst of a skittish flock of 19 Snow Buntings, in addition to the two Longspurs associating with a small flock of Horned Larks. There were a pair of Black-bellied Plover on the sandspit in the Bay beyond the gazebo, with a nearby flock of Red-breasted Mergansers. The bay otherwise held very few birds, due at least in part to the boat of duck hunters blasting away at the few unfortunate Long-tailed Ducks that were fooled by the raft of decoy the boat was towing. The non-snow covered bits of Ocean Parkway roadside held many Yellow-rumped Warblers and numerous Sparrows (including Savannah, "Ipswich" Savannah, American Tree, Song and White-throated), along with the many small groups of American Pipits previously reported by David Klauber. A Northern Harrier stood in for the Rough-legged Hawks that David reported in the morning. In the heavy surf off Point Lookout in the late afternoon there was a raft of 80 Common Eider near the jetties along with a single Horned Grebe. I could not find the Harlequin Ducks that were seen earlier in the day, but there were a pair of Purple Sandpipers mixed in with Dunlin and Sanderling on the 2nd jetty to the west of the inlet. Richard Fried New York City -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Delaware Co. eagle trip
Twenty participants spotted 30+ Bald Eagles and one Golden Eagle on today's Delaware-Otsego Audubon Soc. field trip to the Delaware Co. rivers and reservoirs. Maximum at one location was nine Balds soaring over the Cannonsville Dam above Deposit. A variety of waterfowl was also sighted, including a couple of goldeneyes, Common and Hooded Mergansers, and good numbers of Black Ducks. Andy Mason Andrew Mason 1039 Peck St. Jefferson, NY 12093 (607) 652-2162 andyma...@earthling.net -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Montauk & Vicinity-1/15
Seth Ausubel, Stella Miller, Benjamin Van Doren, and I birded from Montauk Point to areas west in Suffolk County today. The scoter numbers off the point are quite remarkable. A rough estimate yielded a count of approximately 40,000 birds, of which around 3/4 were Surf Scoter, and about 1/8 each of White-winged and Black Scoter. Large numbers of Common Eiders were visible past the scoter flock, with 6,000 birds present. *Razorbills*were around in relatively good numbers, with a total of 40 or 50 between the point and Camp Hero. A flock of 23 *Purple Sandpipers* flew past the point, and an *American Pipit* and a Horned Lark were in the Camp Hero parking lot. Ditch Plains and Culloden Point held very few birds in general, but a * Merlin* was perched on a lightpole in Montauk Village. Near the west lake jetty we spotted a second-cycle *Iceland Gull. *Lazy Point was rather productive, with an immature *Northern Shrike* spotted by Benjamin as mentioned in his previous email. Shorebirds were in evidence here, with about 30 Sanderlings and Dunlin, three *Black-bellied Plovers, *and two *Ruddy Turnstones*. At the David's Lane duck pond we had three *Wood Duck* and a Swamp Sparrow*.* We couldn't locate any Greater White-fronteds, but in a cornfield along Montauk Highway we found *9 Snow Geese*. Dune Road and Shinnecock Inlet was dead, and there we no visible bobwhite at Connetquot. Belmont had only around 70 Canada Geese, a noticeable departure from last week's numbers, and the only bird there worth mentioning was a Pied-billed Grebe. Brent Bomkamp Northport, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Connetquot River State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)
Sue and I did a walk on snowshoes this morning up the east side of the Connetquot River to the fish hatchery and down the west side of the river. Although the woods were fairly quiet we observed a single Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, five Wood Duck, and most surprising of all, an Eastern Phoebe at the fish hatchery. An Eastern Phoebe was observed at CRSP on the Captree CBC in December and is likely the same bird (and one tough Phoebe). Ken & Sue Feustel -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] South Fork LI: Shrike update and Common Redpolls
At about 2:40 PM, an immature NORTHERN SHRIKE, presumably the one found
earlier by Benjamin Van Doren, was hunting sparrows along Napeague Meadow
Road (Suffolk Co.). This is the straight stretch between the main bend and
the railroad crossing. The shrike was working along the line of trees
bordering the marsh, then flew up onto the telephone wires before crossing
onto the south side of the road and disappearing into the small pines
bordering the railway tracks. A MERLIN and an immature male Northern Harrier
were working the same area, often sparring with each other. I searched for a
further 20 mins but couldn't relocate the shrike, even looking on the ocean
side of Montauk Highway (Rt. 27) and through the small community (White
Sands Resort). If I understand correctly, Benjamin had seen the shrike 3/4-1
mile north of this spot near Lazy Point and I can't help wondering if this
might not be the bird spotted in that area by Anthony Collerton back on 11
Dec 2010. There is a lot of shrike worthy habitat here, much of it
relatively inaccessible during hunting season and I can believe a wide
ranging bird might evade detection, even by the sharp eyes of the CBC teams.
The Amagansett-Montauk village area was relatively quite otherwise. I found
a single COMMON REDPOLL on the west side of Montauk Inlet where a 2nd cy
ICELAND GULL was feeding on the beach. Three GREAT CORMORANTS were on the
jetty towers. Another 2 COMMON REDPOLLS flew over me as I scoped Fort Pond
Bay, followed by a Merlin. The adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL ('Freddy') was
on the rocks along the western shore. Three immature WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS
were in a mixed sparrow flock that included some American Tree Sparrows at
Hither Hills. There wasn't much activity on the ocean. Belated reports from
last weekend include a female KING EIDER with Common Eiders off the beach at
Kirk Park in Montauk Village. A 1st winter GLAUCOUS GULL and RED-NECKED
GREBE at Ditch Plains.
--
Angus Wilson
New York City & The Springs, NY, USA
http://birdingtotheend.blogspot.com/
--
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ARCHIVES:
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Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/
--
[nysbirds-l] New York Botanical Garden
Wonderful birding day at NYBG! Great horned owls -2 Saw whet owl-1 Cooper's hawk Red tailed hawks-3 American Crows-4 Cardinals-6 Blue Jays-11 Mockingbird-1 Tufted titmouse-15 Chickadees-many Fox sparrow Song sparrow White throated sparrow-many Red breasted nuthatch White breasted nuthatch Yellow bellied sapsucker Juncos-many House finches-5 Goldfinch-4 Red winged blackbird-1 Hermit thrush-1 Good birding, Debbie Becker Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Common Redpolls at Bayard Cutting Arboretum (Suffolk Co.)
While covering my area for the NYSOA January Waterfowl count this morning, I encountered 4 COMMON REDPOLLS feeding among 10-12 American Goldfinches at Bayard Cutting Arboretum. The flock was feeding on the "cones" in alders down near the Connetquot River, at the far end of the lawn downhill from the manor house. They eventually flew across the lawn toward a nearby stand of trees that also contained alders. This sighting was particularly satisfying in that for years I've been fantasizing/hoping/speculating/expecting that I'd eventually find Redpolls feeding at this location during an irruption year. There are good numbers of alders and birches growing along the river, mostly concentrated where I saw the birds today, and farther upriver as you approach Paradise Cove. I reasoned that if I was ever going to find Redpolls On Long Island somewhere other than along the barrier beaches, this would be a likely spot. My hunch finally paid off. Woo hoo! Photos of the Redpolls can be viewed here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jgluth_brb/ John Gluth Islip -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Lazy Point, Napeague: Northern Shrike
Hi all, At about 1 PM this afternoon, there was a NORTHERN SHRIKE perched on top of a telephone pole toward the end of Lazy Point in Napeague. Benjamin Van Doren White Plains, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Evening Grosbeak in Dutchess
this is a belated report for those interested parties out there. this past wednesday, the day of the snowstorm (jan.12), a flock of evening grosbeaks stopped in my yard. i heard the birds calling from inside the house, as i was at my computer which sits near a window. unfortunately, the birds departed before i could run outside to get a count-bummer.JPA John AskildsenMillbrook, (Duchess County) New York
