After seeing this morning's reports of significant bird movement, but being stuck going to work, I was able to swing past Jones Beach west end at lunchtime. What was most interesting was the sheer volume of migrants around the Coast Guard station. So many passerines were moving around that I actually had to duck to avoid 2 different GC Kinglets and my FOS RB Nuthatch as I stood along the edge of the parking lot by the CG Sta.
YR Warblers were the most abundant, but E. Phoebes, N. Flickers, and GC Kinglets were also strongly represented. Brown Creepers were in, and several RB Nuthatches were heard. RC Kinglets were present in smaller numbers than GC. Other warblers included Common Yellowthroat, Pine, Black-and-white, Black-throated Blue, eastern and western Palm. A Red-eyed Vireo bathed in a puddle, giving me the rare chance to look down on one of these birds, rather than the usual overhead views. The hedgerow area produced several each of Chipping, Field, Savannah, White-throated and Song Sparrows and one White-crowned Sparrow. I didn't have any of the Pine Siskins that were present earlier, but a lone Bobolink was a bit of a surprise. Raptors included a Kestrel, Cooper's Hawk and a couple of Merlins. All were perching and seemed quite interested in the busy scene and accompanying potential meal opportunities. Two Royal Terns did a fly-by and the Skimmer flock was around 65 birds, including mostly adults. Black-bellied Plovers and Ruddy Turnstones were on the sandbar, but all shorebirds were flushed before I could look for anything more unusual. Tree Swallows swirled overhead, easily numbering into the thousands and impossible to count as they moved about, occasionally swirling into a funnel and giving me the feeling of one of those David Attenborough documentary moments. Nothing terribly rare, but an inspiring hour of birding. Thanks, Tim Dunn Babylon NY Sent from my iPhone -- 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/ --
