Jones Beach West End, 20 February A RAZORBILL was feeding along the inlet rocks just before the = fisherman's parking lot. Beautiful close up views.
Approaching the inlet walking along the ocean, the sky was filled with = NORTHERN GANNETS (about 150) fishing and plunging into the ocean. I = followed a half dozen flying closely in a line (a bit different from the = usual random movements), so I followed them. The lead bird suddenly = pulled up and dove into the water followed one by one by the next 5. An = amazing precision performance. Made my day. Drifting back to the parking lot, we heard a singing HORNED LARK in the = upper swale. The lark flocks have thinned out in the last week. When I = heard the song.I realized the birds are not gone, but are on the nest = now. Lark breeding begins the first of February in the upper dunes at = the West End lot and in front of the Nature Center.. Waiting patiently, = we finally located the bird and showing its signature horns. Sy Schiff -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
