[nysbirds-l] Pike's Beach--3 Marbled Godwits

[John Gluth]

There were 3 MARBLED GODWITS, a Western Willet, and 15 Royal Terns among 
Double-crested Cormorants, Sanderlings, and gulls (Laughing, Ring-billed and 
Herring) on the sliver of sandbar above water at high tide this afternoon 
(2:30-2:45) at Pike's Beach overlook.
I'd stopped in for a quick look after striking out on finding any Nelson's 
Sparrows on the Cupsogue County Park marsh. That was my third fruitless attempt 
of the day, having failed earlier at both Wertheim NWR (marsh west of Carmen's 
River) and Pine Neck Sanctuary in E. Quogue.
I saw ammodramus sparrows at all 3 locations (~12 total), but the few seen well 
enough to identify were all Saltmarsh or Seaside. I flushed an American Bittern 
on the Cupsogue marsh.

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[nysbirds-l] Pike's Beach--3 Marbled Godwits

[John Gluth]

There were 3 MARBLED GODWITS, a Western Willet, and 15 Royal Terns among 
Double-crested Cormorants, Sanderlings, and gulls (Laughing, Ring-billed and 
Herring) on the sliver of sandbar above water at high tide this afternoon 
(2:30-2:45) at Pike's Beach overlook.
I'd stopped in for a quick look after striking out on finding any Nelson's 
Sparrows on the Cupsogue County Park marsh. That was my third fruitless attempt 
of the day, having failed earlier at both Wertheim NWR (marsh west of Carmen's 
River) and Pine Neck Sanctuary in E. Quogue.
I saw ammodramus sparrows at all 3 locations (~12 total), but the few seen well 
enough to identify were all Saltmarsh or Seaside. I flushed an American Bittern 
on the Cupsogue marsh.

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Re:[nysbirds-l] Pike's Beach & Cupsogue Co. Park

[John Gluth]

I too was at Cupsogue and Pike's Beach today, I assume later than Sy et al
(~12:45-3:30, all but the last 10 min. at Cupsogue). I took the same route
out to the flats (RV road, bay beach). I first found 2 MARBLED GODWITS
(MAGO) out on the large sand bar in the middle of Moriches Inlet (north
end, east side) and a scope was definitely necessary. Good numbers of
Oystercatchers (30+), Black-bellied Plovers and Sanderlings were also out
there. After a while I moved on towards the main channel that drains the
flats, following that as far east as I could. I found shorebird numbers and
diversity were very low. Other than 20-25 more B-b Plovers the only other
species seen were Lesser Yellowlegs (10 at the south end of the flats) and
a few Semipalmated Plovers. Out at the far north end of the flats was a
mixed group of Black Skimmers, Royal and Forster's Terns, and a few
Ring-billed and Laughing Gulls. A CASPIAN TERN, presumably the same bird
Sy and company had at Pike's, eventually joined them after putting on a
nice show, fishing over the flats and a pond in the marsh to the east.

The tide was rising at this point and when I turned to check on the position
of the godwits I saw that they'd left the sand bar and were now closer, on
the western edge of the flats. They had been joined by a third godwit and
a WHIMBREL. The latter eventually separated itself and moved south along the
bay beach while the MAGOs gradually worked their way east. I was able to get
excellent scope views and decent photos of all, from <100 ft. On the walk
back to the parking lot on the RV road I discovered a night-heron roost in
the pines--their croaking gave them away. There were at least a dozen birds,
mostly Black-crowned, but also 2 juvenile Yellow-crowneds.

The Pike's Beach spit had ~25 Royal Terns.

Photos at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jgluth_brb/



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[nysbirds-l] Pike's Beach & Cupsogue Co. Park

[sy schiff]

Pike's Beach and Cupsogue County Park 13 September

Joe Giunta, Debbie Martin and I (Sy Schiff) parked in the bay side parking lot 
of Pike's Beach and walked out to the bay. Directly across on the bar were 12 
ROYAL TERNS and a CASPIAN TERN among the gulls. The Caspian flew off to the 
west as we looked. It was not subsequently relocated.

At Cupsogue, we parked by the road to the trailer campgrounds and walked the 
sand road to the path leading to the bay. This is longer, but a lot easier than 
wading through the march. Directly across on the front of the bar were 3 
MARBLED GODWIT among the gulls, shorebirds and cormorants.

We then moved a way to our right (east) along the edge to a spot that appeared 
appropriate. There in a small area of the marsh, we called up 2 SEASIDE 
SPARROWS and 2 SALTMARSH SPARROWS.

Except for the sparrows which came fairly close, the other birds required a 
fairly high powered scope even though they are pretty large birds. 

Sy

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[nysbirds-l] Pike's Beach Cupsogue Co. Park

[sy schiff]

Pike's Beach and Cupsogue County Park 13 September

Joe Giunta, Debbie Martin and I (Sy Schiff) parked in the bay side parking lot 
of Pike's Beach and walked out to the bay. Directly across on the bar were 12 
ROYAL TERNS and a CASPIAN TERN among the gulls. The Caspian flew off to the 
west as we looked. It was not subsequently relocated.

At Cupsogue, we parked by the road to the trailer campgrounds and walked the 
sand road to the path leading to the bay. This is longer, but a lot easier than 
wading through the march. Directly across on the front of the bar were 3 
MARBLED GODWIT among the gulls, shorebirds and cormorants.

We then moved a way to our right (east) along the edge to a spot that appeared 
appropriate. There in a small area of the marsh, we called up 2 SEASIDE 
SPARROWS and 2 SALTMARSH SPARROWS.

Except for the sparrows which came fairly close, the other birds required a 
fairly high powered scope even though they are pretty large birds. 

Sy

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[nysbirds-l] Pike's Beach; Cupsogue Co. Park; Calverton Grasslands (Suffolk Co.)

[ken feustel]

Sue and I spent a nice low humidity/bugless morning at the west end of Dune 
Road, starting at Pike's Beach. Pike's Beach had the usual shorebirds in fair 
numbers with the only bird of note a single White-rumped Sandpiper. At Cupsogue 
Co. Park we waded across the marsh drain to take a look at the terns that 
always seem to gather as far away from a stable viewing platform as possible. 
We quickly picked up four Roseate Terns as well two first summer Common Terns.  
Scattered among the group of terns that we estimated at 170 birds were two 
immature Forster's Terns. We came upon an interesting looking tern among the 
Commons, and preliminarily identified it as an Arctic Tern (it was sleeping 
with head tucked in). We were joined on the flat by Ken Thompson and we 
continued to study this individual, an adult except for some salt and pepper 
plumage on the forehead. The bird finally woke up and we were able to see it 
both in direct comparison to a nearby Common Tern as well as in flight and 
stretching its wings. A few photos can be seen at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kfeustel/

We proceeded to the Calverton Grasslands (aka Old Grumman Property and/or 
Enterprise Park at Calverton) where there was a good amount of activity despite 
the afternoon hour. We recorded American Kestrel, Horned Lark, Grasshopper 
Sparrow and Eastern Meadowlark as well as a cool looking Red-tailed Hawk (at 
flickr site).

Ken & Sue Feustel 
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[nysbirds-l] Pike's Beach; Cupsogue Co. Park; Calverton Grasslands (Suffolk Co.)

[ken feustel]

Sue and I spent a nice low humidity/bugless morning at the west end of Dune 
Road, starting at Pike's Beach. Pike's Beach had the usual shorebirds in fair 
numbers with the only bird of note a single White-rumped Sandpiper. At Cupsogue 
Co. Park we waded across the marsh drain to take a look at the terns that 
always seem to gather as far away from a stable viewing platform as possible. 
We quickly picked up four Roseate Terns as well two first summer Common Terns.  
Scattered among the group of terns that we estimated at 170 birds were two 
immature Forster's Terns. We came upon an interesting looking tern among the 
Commons, and preliminarily identified it as an Arctic Tern (it was sleeping 
with head tucked in). We were joined on the flat by Ken Thompson and we 
continued to study this individual, an adult except for some salt and pepper 
plumage on the forehead. The bird finally woke up and we were able to see it 
both in direct comparison to a nearby Common Tern as well as in flight and 
stretching its wings. A few photos can be seen at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kfeustel/

We proceeded to the Calverton Grasslands (aka Old Grumman Property and/or 
Enterprise Park at Calverton) where there was a good amount of activity despite 
the afternoon hour. We recorded American Kestrel, Horned Lark, Grasshopper 
Sparrow and Eastern Meadowlark as well as a cool looking Red-tailed Hawk (at 
flickr site).

Ken  Sue Feustel 
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[nysbirds-l] Pike's Beach

[Luke Ormand]

I visited Pike's Beach this evening - nothing spectacular or really all that
out of the ordinary but there were two non-breeding plumaged Piping Plovers,
several Greater Yellowlegs, a small group of Ruddy Turnstones and plenty of
semipalmated sandpipers.  Photos can be seen here:
http://birdsoflongisland.blogspot.com/2011/08/pikes-beach.html

-- 
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www.birdsoflongisland.blogspot.com

www.wildlongisland.blogspot.com

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[nysbirds-l] Pike's Beach

[Luke Ormand]

I visited Pike's Beach this evening - nothing spectacular or really all that
out of the ordinary but there were two non-breeding plumaged Piping Plovers,
several Greater Yellowlegs, a small group of Ruddy Turnstones and plenty of
semipalmated sandpipers.  Photos can be seen here:
http://birdsoflongisland.blogspot.com/2011/08/pikes-beach.html

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www.birdsoflongisland.blogspot.com

www.wildlongisland.blogspot.com

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[nysbirds-l] Pike's Beach Royal Terns and Cupsogue Marbled Godwits

[John Gluth]

Sunday afternoon (12:30-4:00) I birded Pike's Beach and Cupsogue County
Park, starting about 50 minutes after low tide.

At Pike's there were 39 ROYAL TERNS roosting on the western sandbar,
a mix of adults and juveniles. One or two of the adults seemed to still
be in young-feeding mode (hormones yet to diminish?). These birds would
fly over and around the roosting flock a bit, carrying food (appeared to
be snapper bluefish) and calling all the while. They would eventually
settle among the other birds, but they would not eat the fish immediately.
I saw both juvenile and adult birds approach, the former assuming begging
posture. But the bird(s) in question would ignore the juveniles and move
away from other adults, either on foot or flying short distances. It/they
seemed to be looking for a specific recipient which never appeared. Only
after this went on for a while would the adult eat the fish itself. Also
present were 14 Red Knots, and a Ruddy Turnstone was seen picking at the
underside of some old driftwood (bulkhead material), feeding on barnacles
perhaps. I'm pretty sure I've never seen a turnstone reaching up to obtain
food before. But then I once saw one in the parking lot of the Chesapeake
Bay Bridge/Tunnel rest area eating french fries spilled on the pavement,
so why not? 

At Cupsogue the previously reported trio of MARBLED GODWITS were still
present, feeding at the extreme northeast edge of the flats. Also present
was a single Pectoral Sandpiper and, of the two willets I studied well
enough to ID to subspecies, one was a molting adult "Western". Many Common
Terns were roosting on the flats, but, despite much careful scoping, no
extraordinary species were detected among them. At the head of the flats,
one adult and one juvenile Clapper Rail were seen. 



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[nysbirds-l] Pike's Beach Royal Terns and Cupsogue Marbled Godwits

[John Gluth]

Sunday afternoon (12:30-4:00) I birded Pike's Beach and Cupsogue County
Park, starting about 50 minutes after low tide.

At Pike's there were 39 ROYAL TERNS roosting on the western sandbar,
a mix of adults and juveniles. One or two of the adults seemed to still
be in young-feeding mode (hormones yet to diminish?). These birds would
fly over and around the roosting flock a bit, carrying food (appeared to
be snapper bluefish) and calling all the while. They would eventually
settle among the other birds, but they would not eat the fish immediately.
I saw both juvenile and adult birds approach, the former assuming begging
posture. But the bird(s) in question would ignore the juveniles and move
away from other adults, either on foot or flying short distances. It/they
seemed to be looking for a specific recipient which never appeared. Only
after this went on for a while would the adult eat the fish itself. Also
present were 14 Red Knots, and a Ruddy Turnstone was seen picking at the
underside of some old driftwood (bulkhead material), feeding on barnacles
perhaps. I'm pretty sure I've never seen a turnstone reaching up to obtain
food before. But then I once saw one in the parking lot of the Chesapeake
Bay Bridge/Tunnel rest area eating french fries spilled on the pavement,
so why not? 

At Cupsogue the previously reported trio of MARBLED GODWITS were still
present, feeding at the extreme northeast edge of the flats. Also present
was a single Pectoral Sandpiper and, of the two willets I studied well
enough to ID to subspecies, one was a molting adult Western. Many Common
Terns were roosting on the flats, but, despite much careful scoping, no
extraordinary species were detected among them. At the head of the flats,
one adult and one juvenile Clapper Rail were seen. 



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Re:[nysbirds-l] Pike's Beach

[AndyatWH]

The town of Southampton has just opened (  is in the process of  building ) 
a new area just to the west of the bay side parking area  at  Pike's beach. 
It consists of a trail to a bird watching platform with  benchs, access to 
the mud flats, and a new parking lot off Dune Road  Holding about a dozen 
cars. The town plans to close the parking area  off  Cove Rd.(,next to the 
mayors house), as being  a violation of code, and the  locals are sending 
around a petition asking the town to finish the work there  soon, and set up 
some 
rules so that people will not use this parking lot to park  for camping or  
swimming at Pikes beach and avoid a parking fee in  that lot. The community 
of Westhampton Dunes seems to be very helpful  to bird watchers.
 
Andy Murphy
 
 
In a message dated 7/27/2009 10:48:03 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
e...@ericsalzman.com writes:

Pike's  Beach and Cupsogue are the best shorebird locations on the 
East End by  far. Mecox Bay is their only competitor but there are 
issues about  parking, water level and ease of getting to the flats. 
At Pike's Beach, it  is possible to walk east or west at any tide 
(although a rising tide is  the best) and see shore birds and other 
water birds, often in large  numbers. Cupsogue itself is a little 
trickier; it has extensive flats at  low tide and. like Mecox, 
attracts many terns and lots of shorebirds, but  it requires wading 
across inlets and mud flats to get to the best  areas.

Eileen Schwinn scheduled visits to Pike's Beach for both days  this 
weekend. Saturday's walk was a program of ELIAS or Eastern Long  
Island Audubon and attracted a good 30 participants in warm, sunny  
weather. Sunday's walk, organized by (of all places) the Parrish Art  
Museum, had a much smaller crowd and had to be squeezed in between  
early thunderstorms and late arriving dense fog. Both walks were  
marked by good numbers of Short-billed Dowitchers, Semipalmated  
Sandpipers, Sanderlings, Willets and Laughing Gulls, plus smaller  
numbers of Least Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones, all apparently  
feeding on horseshoe crab eggs. Although the numbers of horseshoe  
crabs coming to this beach to mate and nest has been severely  
diminished by a thriving (and partly illegal) market for these 
ancient  creatures, there are now apparently fair numbers of late 
arrivals.  Harvesting horseshoe crabs after June 1st is not legal in 
New York and  both the legal and illegal harvest pretty much comes to 
a halt; as a  result, the inexorable workings of evolution (even on 
such ancient  creatures!) seems to be encouraging late nesting!

Besides the above  listed birds, there was one Red Knot on Saturday 
feeding on the horseshoe  crab eggs. Also seen in the area were Little 
Blue Heron and a pair of  Royal Terns (on Saturday) and a single 
Forster's Tern (today). In the  category of local breeders, there were 
numbers of Piping Plover (both  days), a single Am. Oystercatcher (on 
Saturday) and Herring, Great  Black-backed and Ring-billed Gulls (not 
a local breeder) as well as Least  and Common Terns.

Now that I have rescued my Peruvian Amazonian boots  (useful for marsh 
and mud sloshing), I think I need to try the Cupsogue  flats!

Eric Salzman


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East Quogue, NY 11942
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PLEASE NOTE: NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS:   & NEW WEBSITE  







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