This morning at low tide, the previously reported Marbled Godwit was present in Shinnecock Bay. Today it was a bit farther east than previously reported, frequenting the deep water around the easternmost mussel bed. It was best viewed from the Old Ponquogue Bridge lot. Also present in the area were 2 Whimbrels.
A brief seawatch at the inlet produced single Great and Cory's Shearwaters, each briefly pausing to inspect the activity following an incoming fishing troller. Later in the day, after the downpours ended, the sandbar at the Jones Beach Coast Guard Station held a large concentration of shorebirds, including 345 Am. Oystercatchers, 19 Western Willets (3 juvs), and 2 juvenile Eastern Willets. Three young Yellow-crowned Night Herons were also seen nearby. Despite large puddles submerging most of the NW corner of the West End 2 lot, the Lark Sparrow still continued around 3:30pm. It seems to be wandering around quite a bit. We originally found it near the northwest corner of the lot, but it was flushed into the picnic areas multiple times by passing vehicles. It slowly worked its way down the west side of the lot. A bit later we found it much farther east, feeding just north of the concession stand. It continued feeding a bit east of the hedge island until it flew back west. Just before we left, we relocated it again along the south edge of the expansive puddle near the western exit to the lot. During the time we were in the lot, we shuttled back and forth between the Lark Sparrow and the large gull flock on the eastern side of the lot. In this flock, we found 8 markedly different Lesser Black-backed Gulls over the course of our visit. The flooded Field 7 parking lot at Hecksher State Park held a large number of shorebirds, highlighted by a single White-rumped Sandpiper, as well as a Glossy Ibis Good birding, Michael McBrien -- 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/ --