Hi Shai, I'll believe they are are citronella ants which frequently swarm in large numbers on warm Autumn days. People often mistake them for termites.
Best ~ Patricia Manzi > On Sep 8, 2016, at 10:55 PM, Shaibal Mitra <shaibal.mi...@csi.cuny.edu> wrote: > > Hi Brendan, > > I saw two groups of gulls feeding on flying ants in Brooklyn yesterday > evening (7 Sep), at Plumb Beach at 7:10 and at Spring Creek Park at 7:20. > Laughing and Ring-billed Gulls usually predominate in these events, with > Common Terns and Herring Gulls also participating sometimes. The emergences > tend to be around this time, but it's interesting how synchronized they are > within a given year. > > Here's a photo of from 2009. An entomologist friend of mine once identified > the species involved, but I can't remember. > > https://www.flickr.com/photos/96951581@N02/29444884802/in/datetaken/ > > Shai Mitra > Bay Shore > ________________________________________ > From: bounce-120766208-3714...@list.cornell.edu > [bounce-120766208-3714...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Brendan Fogarty > [birde...@yahoo.com] > Sent: Thursday, September 8, 2016 8:04 PM > To: NYSBIRDS-L > Subject: [nysbirds-l] Am. Golden-Plover - Nickerson Beach 9/8 (Nassau Co) > > Hi everyone, > > Peter Post's plover continued apparently all day, bathing at an ephemeral > pool just south and west of the main Nickerson lot. 2 Royal Terns were > working just offshore and a Lesser Black-backed Gull was on the beachfront. > As I was driving out of the lot I had a naked-eye look at a medium-sized, > mostly dark shorebird which looked like a (likely the) golden-plover, flying > strongly east towards Pt Lookout and Jones Inlet. > > At Camp Anchor, a couple of beaches west of Nickerson (with the "mushroom" > pavillions), a large congregation of shorebirds feeding in the surf included > 130 American Oystercatchers, 160 Red Knot, and several billion Sanderlings. > > The most interesting experience was a sudden vortex of Laughing Gulls that > formed over the Nickerson ballfields around 6:45pm. Roughly 300 gulls and > some terns were feeding on a fairly dense emergence of small, termite-like > winged insects. And over the dunes at anchor around 100 Common Terns and a > few Laughing Gulls were performing a similar stunt. Larids flycatching is > very entertaining to watch. > > Best, > Brendan Fogarty > -- > NYSbirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and > Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > Archives: > The Mail > Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> > BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> > Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! > -- > -- > > 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/ > > -- > -- 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/ --
