Thank you Shai and Peter for these insights. What day do you recommend going out then to see what this devastating event dredges up? Saturday morning? (Sorry if you already mentioned).
Cheers, Purbita Saha On Wed, Sep 4, 2019 at 5:07 AM Shaibal Mitra <shaibal.mi...@csi.cuny.edu> wrote: > Dear Peter, > > It's amazing to hear these first-hand accounts of your experiences in past > storms! And yes, access could be an issue for any storm that directly > affects our area. But a major reason why I posted these summaries was to > show people with less experience the birding potential of storms, like > David, Fran, and Ernesto, that pass inland well to the west of us and pose > less of a direct weather challenge to us. I particularly recall Ernesto, > which after seemingly immense hype regarding direct threats to Long Island, > made landfall so far south and west that birders mainly ignored him. I > vividly recall driving over the bridges to the beach in the morning and > seeing Great South Bay's glassy, mirror-like surface--"it's a mill pond!" I > exclaimed to Pat, using indelicate expressions as well. Even so, we had > great birds that morning. Storms like dorian that churn past to the south > cause much more trouble and produce far fewer rarities for us than do > storms like David. > > Shai Mitra > Bay Shore > ________________________________________ > From: Peter Post [pwp...@nyc.rr.com] > Sent: Wednesday, September 4, 2019 12:39 AM > To: Shaibal Mitra > Cc: NYSBIRDS (NYSBIRDS-L@cornell.edu) > Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Hurricane Dorian > > All well and good, but the problem nowadays is access, access, access! Or > I should say lack of access! > > I spent most of the Sept. 7th, 1979, during hurricane David, at Robert > Mosses SP. Every 10 or 15 minutes a small flock of Sooty Terns would fly by > with an occasional Bridled. By the end of the day I totaled 90 Sooty and 3 > Bridled. Nowadays that beach is closed during hurricanes! > > On Sept. 27, 1985, during hurricane Gloria, the Jones Beach strip was open > in the morning but closed in the afternoon unless you could prove you had a > house on the strip. And it's been closed during hurricanes ever since. The > authorities I am told are afraid of looting. As a result I missed the 3,000 > Cape May warblers that day, but I was able to get out to Pt. Lookout where > a Northern Phalarope was spinning in a puddle in the parking lot. And where > I had my first intermedius Lesser Black-backed Gull for NY. > > During hurricane Irene, August, 27, 2011, I went to Central Park in the > morning hoping to see some storm blown birds. I ignored the signs that the > park was closed. The City is afraid that they will be sued if a branch or > tree hits or kills someone. There was nothing of interest on the Great Lawn > and the reservoir was covered in thick flog. I passed several police who > ignored me but I ran into the parks Director of Operations, whom I knew, > and who tried to evict me. Later that afternoon I tried my luck at > Riverside Park, where I ran into Dale Dancis and was later joined by > Ardith Bondi. I added both Sooty and Bridled Terns, Wilson's and Leach's > Storm-Petrels, Royal Tern, and White-tailed Tropicbird to my NY County > list. Ardith had a large dark swift which I couldn't get on. Unfortunate, > because there was a Black Swift seen at Cape May that day! (All of this was > written up in the Linnaean Newsletter). The following year, during > hurricane Sandy, one couldn't get near the Hudson River. They authorities > threatened us with arrest if we didn't leave. We had to hide as best we > could. But before being kicked out I added Oystercatcher and Black Scoter > to my NY Co., list. > > If it isn't the closing of areas it's the downing of trees/power lines. > During one hurricane years ago I got as far as Bridgehampton. Downed tress > blocked my way from going any further east or to the beaches. When I tried > going back home a recently downed tree blocked my return. I wound up > spending the afternoon in the Bridgehampton High School which had been > setup as a shelter. Free coffee and donuts.Tony Lauro and Paul Buckley > managed to make it to Montauk Pt., but had to use a chainsaw to get there. > > Peter Post > > > > On Sep 3, 2019, at 8:57 PM, Shaibal Mitra wrote: > > > The earliest models for Dorian’s track indicated a likelihood that the > storm would track almost due north and pass to the west of Long Island—or > at least parts of Long Island. This is the scenario that is likely to > produce tropical terns and other Gulf Stream birds onshore on Long Island. > With many people talking about Dorian and buzzing over the potential for > storm birds, I’ve pulled out maps and bird data for several storms that > passed west of or across Long Island near this date: David (1979), Fran > (1996), Floyd (1999), Ernesto (2006), and Irene (2011)—all of these were > productive for storm birds. > > > > For better or worse, at this point, it appears that Dorian will almost > certainly whip out to sea to the south and east of us, as so many tropical > systems do. Storms of this sort often interrupt the trans-oceanic > migrations of species that would otherwise pass over us (various > shorebirds, jaegers, Black Tern, etc.), but they do not bring tropical > terns, etc. > > > > (Note: my obvious desire to see storm birds has NO influence on the > weather and is not responsible for any harm or good wrought by any storm; > the storm will do what it does, and we may simply wish to be prepared for > the ornithological as well as other consequences). > > > > Shai Mitra > > Bay Shore > > > > > > 1979 Major Hurricane David > > > > > https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/atlantic/1979/Major-Hurricane-David > > > > From Richard L. Ferren, summarizing effects in Rhode Island: “A minimum > of 62 Sooty Terns, at least five Bridled Terns, and a Brown Noddy passed > Point Judith heading northeastward in the very late afternoon hours, with > additional Sooties audibly passing the point after dark. Other Sooties were > found dead at Napatree Point and seen exhausted inland at Kingston, while > eight oystercatchers appeared at Napatree. More Sandwich Terns were seen > the next day. Five Royal, 16 Black, and one Gull-billed Tern, and three > Black Skimmers were also seen. A flock of 68 Red and six Red-necked > Phalaropes at Galilee, and a Red-necked Phalarope and seven Black Terns > were seen inland at Richmond the day of the storm; eight oystercatchers at > Napatree the day after was then a large number. A final total of seven > Sandwich Terns was a maximum count for the state at the time.” > > > > > > 1996 Major Hurricane Fran > > > > > https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/atlantic/1996/Major-Hurricane-Fran > > > > morning: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S20370719 > > morning: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S20370663 > > evening: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S20467354 > > next day: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S20467579 > > > > > > 1999 Major Hurricane Floyd > > > > > https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/atlantic/1999/Major-Hurricane-Floyd > > > > https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S24442955 > > https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S27002826 > > > > > > 2006 Hurricane Ernesto > > > > https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/atlantic/2006/Hurricane-Ernesto > > > > https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S24420867 > > > > > > 2011 Hurricane Irene > > > > https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/atlantic/2011/Hurricane-Irene > > > > https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S8737686 > > https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S8737724 > > https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S8737900 > > https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S8737940 > > > > > > -- > > > > 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/ > > > > -- > > > > > -- > > 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/ > > -- > > -- 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/ --
