I began my day at Connetquot in search of the reported Prothonotary Warbler and Least Bittern. I covered the region very thoroughly for several hours with many other birders but found no sign of either target. It was still a nice morning, with sightings including Yellow-throated Warbler, several Yellow-billed Cuckoos, and unexpected Hermit Thrushes. A pair of Black Scoters still lingers at the Jones boat basin, seen before a burst of rain sent me home.
Brendan Fogarty asked me to join him on a seawatch when the precipitation stopped, and we set up shop at Jones Field 6 for more than 3.5 hours. Thanks to strong winds and patches of dense fog, it turned out to be a very worthwhile venture. 2 Royal Terns, 3 Sooty Shearwaters, 1 Cory's Shearwater, 2 distant, unidentified shearwaters, 3 Northern Gannets, and 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls of varying age classes were the seabird highlights. We were also treated to a Humpback Whale frolicking on the horizon, breaching and fin slapping intermittently for about an hour. We headed home just ahead of the downpour. What a day! http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S30094219 Cheers! -Tim H -- 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/ --
