[nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[Ken Feustel]

In anticipation of finally witnessing a Fall passerine migration we headed 
overt to RMSP this morning. On arriving at 6:45 AM, we noted that the winds 
were light out of the N/NE, and there was a smattering of migrants (primarily 
warblers) making they way down the beach. One of our first birds was a 
Yellow-breasted Chat, observed near the dumpster in the NW corner of the Field 
2 parking lot. A calling Dickcissel was along the 4-wheel drive road out to 
Democrat Point. On heading back to our car at about 8:00AM we observed a silent 
Common Raven heading west down the beach, our first for RMSP. Once the winds 
picked up out of the NE, migration came to an abrupt halt, having left us a 
window of about an hour and a half to actually see some bird movement. We went 
down to West End to see if there was any activity, but the only thing of note 
was an American Woodcock flushed from the grove of trees at the West End 
turn-around.

Ken & Sue Feustel
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[nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[Ken Feustel]

In anticipation of finally witnessing a Fall passerine migration we headed 
overt to RMSP this morning. On arriving at 6:45 AM, we noted that the winds 
were light out of the N/NE, and there was a smattering of migrants (primarily 
warblers) making they way down the beach. One of our first birds was a 
Yellow-breasted Chat, observed near the dumpster in the NW corner of the Field 
2 parking lot. A calling Dickcissel was along the 4-wheel drive road out to 
Democrat Point. On heading back to our car at about 8:00AM we observed a silent 
Common Raven heading west down the beach, our first for RMSP. Once the winds 
picked up out of the NE, migration came to an abrupt halt, having left us a 
window of about an hour and a half to actually see some bird movement. We went 
down to West End to see if there was any activity, but the only thing of note 
was an American Woodcock flushed from the grove of trees at the West End 
turn-around.

Ken & Sue Feustel
--

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RE: [nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[Shaibal Mitra]

When a beach flight stands out as memorable to Ken, it means something; he's 
seen a lot of big flights out there. In trying to take stock of the day, I find 
myself not only agreeing with Ken, but becoming convinced more and more that 
this flight was unusually intriguing in many ways.

I was part of a group that conducted a stationary morning flight count, and my 
companions will attest that our total of 5 Hairy Woodpeckers had me freaking 
out a little bit. A quick comparison to my past records explains why--and also 
affirms Ken's perception of this species' usual scarcity on the barrier beach: 
since 1996 I've tallied just 8 Hairy Woodpeckers, vs. 28 Red-headed Woodpeckers 
at RMSP and the adjacent Lighthouse Tract. Among other relatively (or 
allegedly) sedentary species moving this morning were 12 Downies, 20 
Red-bellies (possibly a local daily max), and a White-breasted Nut, and our 
total of 28 Northern Cardinals in obvious morning flight was a true spectacle 
of nature!

Of course, these 66 novelties were gleaned from a deluge of literally tens of 
thousands of birds flying past, and I'm also reminded of another point that Ken 
made, that there is no completely adequate way to count birds during these 
events. Each type of effort has advantages and demerits, and each will be 
overwhelmed on a day like this. The most difficult species to count on days 
like this is, in my opinion, Myrtle Warbler, owing to its diverse modes of 
passage through the airspace and puckerbrush, and this is the species for which 
our stationary estimate differs most from Ken's. Although I haven't had a 
chance yet to completely decipher my notes, I'm convinced that we saw on the 
order of 20,000, passing throughout the morning on a broad front from 
oceanfront to bay, and at a wide range of heights. Although I didn't recognize 
at the time that this flight was larger than last Sunday's, my sample counts 
and rate estimates clearly indicate that it was immense. Our Pine Siskin tally 
was about 3,600; the difference from the Feustels' estimate in this case owing 
to the habit of this species' flocks' of calling least when largest; large 
flocks of ca. 100 routinely passed almost silently along the dune line.

But the most intriguing thing about this morning involved the species that 
sometimes, but not always, commit to obvious morning flight. As might be 
expected at this date, Hermit Thrushes were heavily represented in the 
overnight flight, but these birds would not ordinarily be expected to move east 
to west after sunrise. Today, as on 3 Nov 2006 (see note, copied below), they 
were very frisky and pushed bush to bush quite a bit and even persisted in 
giving nocturnal fight calls from the brush, throughout this bright, glary day 
(one called as late as 3:00 pm, under full sun and a raging westerly breeze 
that streaked the Atlantic Ocean with white, as Eileen Wheeler and I discussed 
whether we were lucky or unlucky to have been weathered out of today's 
scheduled pelagic--lucky, I say!). For purposes of comparison, my drive-around 
tally of road-side Hermits Thrushes this afternoon was 65 today, vs. 422 on 3 
Nov 2006. Among other species that sometimes do and sometimes don't engage in 
morning flight at Fire Island, Juncos and White-throated Sparrows were all in 
today--these two species were streaming east to west along the inlet shore at a 
prodigious rate for the first 40 minutes after sunrise. Again, I need to work 
carefully  through my notes, but the back of the envelope estimates are 6,000 
Juncos and 2,000 White-throats--both exceptional totals for a stationary count 
in fall. Even more amazing to me is my total for Ruby-crowned Kinglet, which 
overwhelmingly dominated Golden-crowned in the morning flight, with ca. 800 
passing, mostly bush to bush between 7:20 and 11:50.

And other mysteries remain. Song Sparrows were strikingly under-represented 
today, especially given the huge pushes of Juncos and White-throats, and it 
wasn't until my afternoon mop-up that I saw my first Swamp Sparrow. Taking 
everything into account, I think that Song Sparrows were genuinely scarce in 
last night's flight (and further under-detected in our stationary counts, 
because they don't engage in morning flight). But the paucity of Swamp Sparrows 
today was inexplicable--how could it be that I saw fewer Swampies than Hairy 
Woodpeckers!

Shai Mitra
Bay Shore

>3 November 2006

>Hi everyone,
>
>The morning flight was very impressive today  along the barrier beach at Robert
>Moses State Park, Suffolk.
>
>Between 6:45 and 8:15, my estimates of the numbers of birds sweeping
>along the dunes were on the order of 50,000 Red-winged Blackbirds, 10,000
>American Robins, and 1,000 Cedar Waxwings. There were at least 3,000 White-
>throated Sparrows, and 1K each of Junco and Myrtle Warbler on the ground. GC
>Kinglets, a staple feature (in the multi-hundreds) of recent coastal flights, 
>were
>almost completely absent, but numbers of RC 

[nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[ken feustel]

Robert Moses State Park witnessed one of the more memorable fallouts in recent 
years this morning, with clouds of sparrows on the lawn and moving through the 
bushes. Overhead, flyby Pine Siskins and Purple Finch put in a good showing. 
Species that exceeded a thousand individuals included Pine Siskin (1,972), 
Yellow-rumped Warbler (1,765), Dark-eyed Junco (1,490), and White-throated 
Sparrow (1,155). Our count was not stationary, so I expect the folks who were 
counting the birds as they passed down the beach to have significantly higher 
totals. Additionally, there were so many birds that "counter's fatigue" set in. 
Some interesting sightings included Orange-crowned Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow, 
and Clay-colored Sparrow. As is so often the case on big flight days, no real 
rarities were seen (at least, to our knowledge, at RMSP), although a flyby 
Short-eared Owl seen by John Heidecker (sp.)must have been a treat. Of interest 
to us was the four Hairy Woodpeckers we saw at RMSP -  generally a rare bird on 
the barrier beach. As a means of comparison, over the years we have probably 
seen more Red-headed Woodpeckers on the barrier beach in the Fall than Hairy 
Woodpeckers. A few photos from the days birding are on my flickr site.

Ken & Sue Feustel
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kfeustel/
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--

[nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[ken feustel]

Robert Moses State Park witnessed one of the more memorable fallouts in recent 
years this morning, with clouds of sparrows on the lawn and moving through the 
bushes. Overhead, flyby Pine Siskins and Purple Finch put in a good showing. 
Species that exceeded a thousand individuals included Pine Siskin (1,972), 
Yellow-rumped Warbler (1,765), Dark-eyed Junco (1,490), and White-throated 
Sparrow (1,155). Our count was not stationary, so I expect the folks who were 
counting the birds as they passed down the beach to have significantly higher 
totals. Additionally, there were so many birds that counter's fatigue set in. 
Some interesting sightings included Orange-crowned Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow, 
and Clay-colored Sparrow. As is so often the case on big flight days, no real 
rarities were seen (at least, to our knowledge, at RMSP), although a flyby 
Short-eared Owl seen by John Heidecker (sp.)must have been a treat. Of interest 
to us was the four Hairy Woodpeckers we saw at RMSP -  generally a rare bird on 
the barrier beach. As a means of comparison, over the years we have probably 
seen more Red-headed Woodpeckers on the barrier beach in the Fall than Hairy 
Woodpeckers. A few photos from the days birding are on my flickr site.

Ken  Sue Feustel
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kfeustel/
--

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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--

RE: [nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[Shaibal Mitra]

When a beach flight stands out as memorable to Ken, it means something; he's 
seen a lot of big flights out there. In trying to take stock of the day, I find 
myself not only agreeing with Ken, but becoming convinced more and more that 
this flight was unusually intriguing in many ways.

I was part of a group that conducted a stationary morning flight count, and my 
companions will attest that our total of 5 Hairy Woodpeckers had me freaking 
out a little bit. A quick comparison to my past records explains why--and also 
affirms Ken's perception of this species' usual scarcity on the barrier beach: 
since 1996 I've tallied just 8 Hairy Woodpeckers, vs. 28 Red-headed Woodpeckers 
at RMSP and the adjacent Lighthouse Tract. Among other relatively (or 
allegedly) sedentary species moving this morning were 12 Downies, 20 
Red-bellies (possibly a local daily max), and a White-breasted Nut, and our 
total of 28 Northern Cardinals in obvious morning flight was a true spectacle 
of nature!

Of course, these 66 novelties were gleaned from a deluge of literally tens of 
thousands of birds flying past, and I'm also reminded of another point that Ken 
made, that there is no completely adequate way to count birds during these 
events. Each type of effort has advantages and demerits, and each will be 
overwhelmed on a day like this. The most difficult species to count on days 
like this is, in my opinion, Myrtle Warbler, owing to its diverse modes of 
passage through the airspace and puckerbrush, and this is the species for which 
our stationary estimate differs most from Ken's. Although I haven't had a 
chance yet to completely decipher my notes, I'm convinced that we saw on the 
order of 20,000, passing throughout the morning on a broad front from 
oceanfront to bay, and at a wide range of heights. Although I didn't recognize 
at the time that this flight was larger than last Sunday's, my sample counts 
and rate estimates clearly indicate that it was immense. Our Pine Siskin tally 
was about 3,600; the difference from the Feustels' estimate in this case owing 
to the habit of this species' flocks' of calling least when largest; large 
flocks of ca. 100 routinely passed almost silently along the dune line.

But the most intriguing thing about this morning involved the species that 
sometimes, but not always, commit to obvious morning flight. As might be 
expected at this date, Hermit Thrushes were heavily represented in the 
overnight flight, but these birds would not ordinarily be expected to move east 
to west after sunrise. Today, as on 3 Nov 2006 (see note, copied below), they 
were very frisky and pushed bush to bush quite a bit and even persisted in 
giving nocturnal fight calls from the brush, throughout this bright, glary day 
(one called as late as 3:00 pm, under full sun and a raging westerly breeze 
that streaked the Atlantic Ocean with white, as Eileen Wheeler and I discussed 
whether we were lucky or unlucky to have been weathered out of today's 
scheduled pelagic--lucky, I say!). For purposes of comparison, my drive-around 
tally of road-side Hermits Thrushes this afternoon was 65 today, vs. 422 on 3 
Nov 2006. Among other species that sometimes do and sometimes don't engage in 
morning flight at Fire Island, Juncos and White-throated Sparrows were all in 
today--these two species were streaming east to west along the inlet shore at a 
prodigious rate for the first 40 minutes after sunrise. Again, I need to work 
carefully  through my notes, but the back of the envelope estimates are 6,000 
Juncos and 2,000 White-throats--both exceptional totals for a stationary count 
in fall. Even more amazing to me is my total for Ruby-crowned Kinglet, which 
overwhelmingly dominated Golden-crowned in the morning flight, with ca. 800 
passing, mostly bush to bush between 7:20 and 11:50.

And other mysteries remain. Song Sparrows were strikingly under-represented 
today, especially given the huge pushes of Juncos and White-throats, and it 
wasn't until my afternoon mop-up that I saw my first Swamp Sparrow. Taking 
everything into account, I think that Song Sparrows were genuinely scarce in 
last night's flight (and further under-detected in our stationary counts, 
because they don't engage in morning flight). But the paucity of Swamp Sparrows 
today was inexplicable--how could it be that I saw fewer Swampies than Hairy 
Woodpeckers!

Shai Mitra
Bay Shore

3 November 2006

Hi everyone,

The morning flight was very impressive today  along the barrier beach at Robert
Moses State Park, Suffolk.

Between 6:45 and 8:15, my estimates of the numbers of birds sweeping
along the dunes were on the order of 50,000 Red-winged Blackbirds, 10,000
American Robins, and 1,000 Cedar Waxwings. There were at least 3,000 White-
throated Sparrows, and 1K each of Junco and Myrtle Warbler on the ground. GC
Kinglets, a staple feature (in the multi-hundreds) of recent coastal flights, 
were
almost completely absent, but numbers of RC Kinglets, 

RE: [nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[Shaibal Mitra]

Unlike Ken and Sue, I had no clue that there would be a flight overnight and 
into the morning, so I spent the morning working at home. But what I lack in 
perspicacity I make up for with proximity, so I was able to run right down to 
the beach soon after Patricia Lindsay called to tell me that it was hopping.

Arriving as late as 10:15, I was amazed to see a moderately heavy morning 
flight still ongoing, despite the absence of anything like a strong nw wind. 
The flight finally weakened noticeably around noon, but in two hours of 
dedicated flight-watching, we tallied some very interesting things.

(full eBird list here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11720633)

For one thing, this fall is evidently a flight year for what I call the 
"woodland resident" cohort, as we saw multiple Red-bellied Woodpeckers, 
White-breasted Nuthatches, and Blue Jays--species scarce to absent on the outer 
beach in most years, but which undertake irruptions from time to time. The 
Red-breasted Nuthatches are continuing their invasion, with at least 21 prior 
to my arrival, plus 28 more during my watch, and my two-hour tally of Pine 
Siskins was 307, a very good number for so early in the season.

There were also a lot of Neotropicals still on the move. I counted 8 Blackpoll 
Warblers 10:15-12:15, but Pat had seen 20 before I arrived, and there were 
surely many more among the 100+ unidentified warblers we saw collectively. Most 
notable in this category were a very late Orchard Oriole (my latest ever, by 
almost a month) and a Northern Rough-winged Swallow--my latest coastal record 
by more than a month.

I heard my first Lapland Longspur of the season rattle three times as it 
passed, but I was never able to find it visually. We also saw four Caspian 
Terns passing on the inlet side, and Pat found locally scarce Marsh Wren, 
Lincoln's Sparrow, and Dickcissel either before I arrived or while I was 
staring at the sky.

Shai Mitra
Bay Shore






Washington 
Monthly
 magazine ranks the College of Staten Island as one of "America's 
Best-Bang-for-the-Buck Colleges"

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[nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[Ken Feustel]

We arrived at RMSP this morning in the hope of finding migrants after  
listening to the overnight weather report that forecast light  
northwest winds. What we found at first was fog - lots of fog. Birding  
started out slowly at the golf course, but we were eventually able to  
see a good variety of sparrows, including two Clay-colored and one  
Lincoln's Sparrow. As the fog lifted birds starting moving down the  
beach, highlighted by Yellow-rumped Warblers and Pine Siskins. Siskins  
continued down the beach all morning - we eventually tallied 129  
birds. Other birds moving down the beach in number were Eastern  
Phoebe, Cedar Waxwing, and Goldfinch. We heard two Dickcissels  
calling, as well as observing two colorful Bobolinks in the shrubbery  
at the main entrance to Field 2. As the birding died down the  
butterflies (Red Admiral, Monarch, Mourning Cloak, and Painted Lady,  
among others) and dragonflies (mostly Common Green Darner and Black  
Saddlebags) started moving down the beach in number. By late morning  
the temperature was approaching August-like levels and we called it a  
day.

Ken & Sue Feustel

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[nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[Ken Feustel]

We arrived at RMSP this morning in the hope of finding migrants after  
listening to the overnight weather report that forecast light  
northwest winds. What we found at first was fog - lots of fog. Birding  
started out slowly at the golf course, but we were eventually able to  
see a good variety of sparrows, including two Clay-colored and one  
Lincoln's Sparrow. As the fog lifted birds starting moving down the  
beach, highlighted by Yellow-rumped Warblers and Pine Siskins. Siskins  
continued down the beach all morning - we eventually tallied 129  
birds. Other birds moving down the beach in number were Eastern  
Phoebe, Cedar Waxwing, and Goldfinch. We heard two Dickcissels  
calling, as well as observing two colorful Bobolinks in the shrubbery  
at the main entrance to Field 2. As the birding died down the  
butterflies (Red Admiral, Monarch, Mourning Cloak, and Painted Lady,  
among others) and dragonflies (mostly Common Green Darner and Black  
Saddlebags) started moving down the beach in number. By late morning  
the temperature was approaching August-like levels and we called it a  
day.

Ken  Sue Feustel

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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RE: [nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[Shaibal Mitra]

Unlike Ken and Sue, I had no clue that there would be a flight overnight and 
into the morning, so I spent the morning working at home. But what I lack in 
perspicacity I make up for with proximity, so I was able to run right down to 
the beach soon after Patricia Lindsay called to tell me that it was hopping.

Arriving as late as 10:15, I was amazed to see a moderately heavy morning 
flight still ongoing, despite the absence of anything like a strong nw wind. 
The flight finally weakened noticeably around noon, but in two hours of 
dedicated flight-watching, we tallied some very interesting things.

(full eBird list here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11720633)

For one thing, this fall is evidently a flight year for what I call the 
woodland resident cohort, as we saw multiple Red-bellied Woodpeckers, 
White-breasted Nuthatches, and Blue Jays--species scarce to absent on the outer 
beach in most years, but which undertake irruptions from time to time. The 
Red-breasted Nuthatches are continuing their invasion, with at least 21 prior 
to my arrival, plus 28 more during my watch, and my two-hour tally of Pine 
Siskins was 307, a very good number for so early in the season.

There were also a lot of Neotropicals still on the move. I counted 8 Blackpoll 
Warblers 10:15-12:15, but Pat had seen 20 before I arrived, and there were 
surely many more among the 100+ unidentified warblers we saw collectively. Most 
notable in this category were a very late Orchard Oriole (my latest ever, by 
almost a month) and a Northern Rough-winged Swallow--my latest coastal record 
by more than a month.

I heard my first Lapland Longspur of the season rattle three times as it 
passed, but I was never able to find it visually. We also saw four Caspian 
Terns passing on the inlet side, and Pat found locally scarce Marsh Wren, 
Lincoln's Sparrow, and Dickcissel either before I arrived or while I was 
staring at the sky.

Shai Mitra
Bay Shore






Washington 
Monthlyhttp://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/septemberoctober_2012/features/americas_bestbangforthebuck_co039461.php
 magazine ranks the College of Staten Island as one of America's 
Best-Bang-for-the-Buck Colleges

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[nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[ken feustel]

In anticipation of a gooding morning flight, Sue and I ventured to Robert Moses 
State Park (RMSP) this morning, only to discover that Field 2 will be closed 
the next four day due to construction work at the golf course. Not to be 
denied, we parked at the Administration Building parking lot at Field 3 and got 
permission to park there, then commenced our walk westward down to Field 2. As 
we began our birding it was clear that there was a good movement of warblers. 
However, very few actually stopped their rapid westward movement down the 
beach. We observed Yellowthroats, Redstarts, and Northern Waterthrushes, but we 
had been seeing these species at RMSP (in much smaller numbers) for the past 
week. At the entrance to Field 3, we intercepted a small (six birds) flight of 
Purple Finch, pausing to watch one as it sang on a bare pine branch. At the 
volleyball courts, we found our first fall Clay-colored Sparrow.

Just east of the entrance to Field 2 we finally located a few additional 
warbler species, including Parula, Magnolia, Prairie, Pine, and Wilson's. The 
birds were very skittish, owing to the good hawk flight consisting of Merlins, 
Kestrels, and Ospreys. Most of the activity ended a little after 9:00AM. The 
most impressive flight of the day, however, was Red-breasted Nuthatch;  We 
observed one hundred and five individuals in our three plus hours at RMSP.

Good Birding,

Ken Feustel

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--

[nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[ken feustel]

In anticipation of a gooding morning flight, Sue and I ventured to Robert Moses 
State Park (RMSP) this morning, only to discover that Field 2 will be closed 
the next four day due to construction work at the golf course. Not to be 
denied, we parked at the Administration Building parking lot at Field 3 and got 
permission to park there, then commenced our walk westward down to Field 2. As 
we began our birding it was clear that there was a good movement of warblers. 
However, very few actually stopped their rapid westward movement down the 
beach. We observed Yellowthroats, Redstarts, and Northern Waterthrushes, but we 
had been seeing these species at RMSP (in much smaller numbers) for the past 
week. At the entrance to Field 3, we intercepted a small (six birds) flight of 
Purple Finch, pausing to watch one as it sang on a bare pine branch. At the 
volleyball courts, we found our first fall Clay-colored Sparrow.

Just east of the entrance to Field 2 we finally located a few additional 
warbler species, including Parula, Magnolia, Prairie, Pine, and Wilson's. The 
birds were very skittish, owing to the good hawk flight consisting of Merlins, 
Kestrels, and Ospreys. Most of the activity ended a little after 9:00AM. The 
most impressive flight of the day, however, was Red-breasted Nuthatch;  We 
observed one hundred and five individuals in our three plus hours at RMSP.

Good Birding,

Ken Feustel

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[nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[ken feustel]

Highlights of a Saturday mornings birding at RMSP were few, but Sue and I found 
a Yellow-breasted Chat (probably the same bird seen on the golf course the 
previous day) west of the Field 2 picnic area. Later that morning Sue found a 
perched-up Lark Sparrow on the south side of the entrance road to the RMSP 
Administration building. When last  seen the bird was on the north side of the 
entrance road near the hedge that obscures the park manager's home. A distant 
photo of the bird can be seen at:


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

Ken Feustel

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[ken feustel]

Highlights of a Saturday mornings birding at RMSP were few, but Sue and I found 
a Yellow-breasted Chat (probably the same bird seen on the golf course the 
previous day) west of the Field 2 picnic area. Later that morning Sue found a 
perched-up Lark Sparrow on the south side of the entrance road to the RMSP 
Administration building. When last  seen the bird was on the north side of the 
entrance road near the hedge that obscures the park manager's home. A distant 
photo of the bird can be seen at:


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

Ken Feustel

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[ken feustel]

There was a modest passerine movement around RMSP Field 2 this morning, with 
swallows (Barn & Tree), Bobolinks, Baltimore Orioles, and Red-winged Blackbirds 
comprising the majority of the flying birds. We recorded seven of the common 
species of warblers in addition to a Yellow-throated Vireo. We then proceeded 
to Democrat Point, which was a delight to bird, primarily due to the area being 
closed to four-wheel drive traffic - except for a few surfers we had the Point 
to ourselves. We recorded eighteen species of shorebirds, highlighted by two 
Marbled Godwits, four Whimbrel, and our FOS juvenile Western Sandpiper. We 
missed the previously reported Buff-breasted Sandpipers. Seven species of terns 
were found, highlighted by a single Sandwich Tern, four Caspian Terns, five 
Royal Terns, and a single Black Tern. I have posted a few shorebird and tern 
photos to my flickr site at:

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

Note: RMSP Fileds 4 & 5 were closed this morning, the sign indicating that the 
closing was due to "environmental conditions" (erosion?). I do not know how 
long this will last or whether the hawk watch folk were allowed through. If 
anyone has further information please post it. 

Ken & Sue Feustel

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[nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[ken feustel]

At the volleyball courts at the east end of RMSP Field 2 this morning there was 
a Blue Grosbeak, Clay-colored Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, and two flyby Royal 
Terns. The three passerines were observed in the vicinity of a dead (no leaves) 
Autumn Olive that is on the right (south side) of the dirt road leading to the 
volleyball courts.

Ken Feustel

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[ken feustel]

At the volleyball courts at the east end of RMSP Field 2 this morning there was 
a Blue Grosbeak, Clay-colored Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, and two flyby Royal 
Terns. The three passerines were observed in the vicinity of a dead (no leaves) 
Autumn Olive that is on the right (south side) of the dirt road leading to the 
volleyball courts.

Ken Feustel

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Birds (Suffolk Co.)

[ken feustel]

i spent a few hours (7:00AM to 9:00AM) birding at RMSP this morning. At the 
golf course a Yellow-breasted Chat was in the shrubbery on the north side of 
the golf course adjacent to the four wheel drive road. At the volleyball courts 
at the east end of Field 2, there was a second Yellow-breasted Chat, as well as 
a Lincoln's Sparrow, a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, a Wilson's Warbler, and a 
calling flyby Dickcissel.  Overall activity was low, with only five species of 
warblers recorded.

Ken Feustel

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