[nysbirds-l] Heckscher State Park (Suffolk Co.): 2 AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS (Monday, 10/18)
Yesterday afternoon (Monday 10/18—sorry about the late post) the were 2 basic-plumaged AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS at Heckscher State Park. They were part of a mixed shorebird flock on the beach south of the pavilion of parking field #8. In addition to the AGPLs there were 35 Black-bellied Plovers, 1 Semipalmated Plover, ~15 Sanderling, and 3-4 Dunlin. At least 2 Greater Yellowlegs were in the eastern end of the interior marsh. Elsewhere in the park Yellow-rumped Warblers abounded, but Sparrows were relatively scarce, with only 7 species seen and only Song being numerous. The other species were E. Towhee (1), Field (1), Swamp (1-2), White-throated (several), White-crowned (2), Dark-eyed Junco (several). There was one flyover female Purple Finch. There were large numbers (3500-4000) of Starlings present. This gathering was seen coalesced into one large flock but also a varying number of smaller subsets. One of these (containing ~750 birds) was observed actually pursuing, not just evading, a Merlin that entered their airspace. It seemed to be a case of safety in numbers AND intimidation through numerical superiority. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Heckscher State Park (Suffolk Co.): 2 AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS (Monday, 10/18)
Yesterday afternoon (Monday 10/18—sorry about the late post) the were 2 basic-plumaged AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS at Heckscher State Park. They were part of a mixed shorebird flock on the beach south of the pavilion of parking field #8. In addition to the AGPLs there were 35 Black-bellied Plovers, 1 Semipalmated Plover, ~15 Sanderling, and 3-4 Dunlin. At least 2 Greater Yellowlegs were in the eastern end of the interior marsh. Elsewhere in the park Yellow-rumped Warblers abounded, but Sparrows were relatively scarce, with only 7 species seen and only Song being numerous. The other species were E. Towhee (1), Field (1), Swamp (1-2), White-throated (several), White-crowned (2), Dark-eyed Junco (several). There was one flyover female Purple Finch. There were large numbers (3500-4000) of Starlings present. This gathering was seen coalesced into one large flock but also a varying number of smaller subsets. One of these (containing ~750 birds) was observed actually pursuing, not just evading, a Merlin that entered their airspace. It seemed to be a case of safety in numbers AND intimidation through numerical superiority. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
