Spent a pretty full day birding a few locations along Suffolk County's south shore today (Sunday, 1/27, 9-5). I started at Smith Point Park where the highlights were 1 FOX SPARROW, 1 "IPSWICH" SAVANNAH SPARROW, (both along the north edge of the main parking lot), and a flock of ~20 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS (in pines in the RV campground). In the grasslands of the Eastport Conservation Area the E. Meadowlarks seen recently apparently had moved on, but I did encounter a large flock (~25) of FIELD SPARROWS, an immature male NORTHERN HARRIER, and an AMERICAN WOODCOCK, which I managed to flush from the same spot going in and coming out of the preserve. The Hampton Bays Common Raven pair did not make an appearance during the 15 minutes I staked out the water tower. I next birded Dune Road from Shinnecock Inlet to the Post Lane bridge. Highlights were 3 different AMERICAN BITTERNS and a male AMERICAN KESTREL. Hard's Lake in Southaven County Park was mostly frozen and held few geese, none of them a Greater White-fronted. Lastly I made a quick stop at the Bellport Marina to see if any interesting gulls were about. But the bay was frozen and the docks were completely devoid of any gull species. eBird reports (with photos) for Smith Pt., Eastport, and Dune Rd.can be viewed here: http://ebird.org/ebird/ny/view/checklist?subID=S12748332 http://ebird.org/ebird/ny/view/checklist?subID=S12748074 http://ebird.org/ebird/ny/view/checklist?subID=S12748254
-- 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/ --
