An adult Arctic Tern made a brief appearance at Cupsogue this evening, appearing at 4:10 and flying off toward the inlet at 4:17--but not before feeding over the shallow, in-rushing tide with a flock of Common Terns, just a few meters from me. Wish I had the SLR today, but at least I managed distant digiscoped shots of the bird at rest.
Birding was challenging under a brisk nw wind, but shorebirds were definitely on the move. I counted 95 Short-billed Dowitchers, most of which were actively flying east to west in small flocks. Notably, all the flocks consisted mostly of bright, breeding-plumaged birds, whereas the 50 or so gray first-summer birds that have been lingering here in recent weeks were no longer present. Also noted were a Whimbrel and small numbers of Least Sandpipers and Greater Yellowlegs. The local Eastern Willets are starting to gang up. The one Western Willet present was apparently stimulated by them, or by some annoyance shared with them, and spent a lot of time calling. I tried to video this, but had trouble with wind noise. The only segment that captured the Western Willet reasonably well was one that lacked nearby Eastern Willets calling. Other highlights included one Roseate Tern (a brief appearance before the Arctic Tern arrived) and one Royal Tern still in full breeding plumage (which arrived just before we left). Shai Mitra Bay Shore ________________________________ Take a picture. Write a caption. Win a prize. Where’s Danny the Dolphin today?<http://www.csi.cuny.edu/wheresdanny/> -- 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/ --
