The Sunday field trip to Jones Beach West End encountered far more land birds than the trip I led there on Saturday, but they included mostly Yellow-rumped Warblers, Golden-crowned Kinglets (and 1 Ruby-crowned), small flocks of Tree Swallows, and passing flocks of American Robins and Red-winged Blackbirds. There were moderate numbers of Hermit Thrushes and Eastern Phoebes, a single "Yellow" Palm Warbler, and rather low numbers of Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated and Song Sparrows, as well as several Savannah Sparrows. One Purple Finch was heard. The Coast Guard sandbar held fewer Black-bellied Plovers, Red Knot (about 6) and Dunlin than yesterday, and no Golden Plover, but there were 5 Semipalmated Plovers and 1 Greater Yellowlegs. The 2 Royal Terns seen yesterday did not appear while the group was there, but 3 had been seen by other observers earlier. A 45-minute sea watch yielded some very distant Northern Gannets, a few small flocks of Black and White-winged Scoters, and several loons of both species. A fair number of migrating Sharp-shinned Hawks (ca. 15) passed overhead, as did 4 American Kestrels and 3 Northern Harriers. A very strong wind may have kept many birds under cover.
Doug Futuyma -- 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/ --
