[nysbirds-l] Montauk and west
This morning, I did a sea watch from the Montauk Point restaurant from 7:30 to 8:30 and then for about 40 minutes from Camp Hero. Numbers of SCOTERS may have increased since Brent Bomkamp's report about a week ago: there were at least 2000, perhaps closer to 3,000, among which WHITE-WINGED SCOTER seemed to constitute a higher fraction (perhaps 30 to 40%) than in the last few years. Both RED-THROATED and COMMON LOONS were abundant. The best sighting was an immature ICELAND GULL spotted by Ken and Sue Feustel on the water, close by, at Camp Hero. Ken also saw several fly-by RaZORBILLS, which I didn't get on. I stopped at many of the usual sites to the west. The only notable sightings were the 4 continuing TUNDRA SWANS on Hook Pond and a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE on Short's Pond, north of Water Mill. Doug Futuyma Stony Brook, NY dfutu...@gmail.com -- 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] Montauk and west
This morning, I did a sea watch from the Montauk Point restaurant from 7:30 to 8:30 and then for about 40 minutes from Camp Hero. Numbers of SCOTERS may have increased since Brent Bomkamp's report about a week ago: there were at least 2000, perhaps closer to 3,000, among which WHITE-WINGED SCOTER seemed to constitute a higher fraction (perhaps 30 to 40%) than in the last few years. Both RED-THROATED and COMMON LOONS were abundant. The best sighting was an immature ICELAND GULL spotted by Ken and Sue Feustel on the water, close by, at Camp Hero. Ken also saw several fly-by RaZORBILLS, which I didn't get on. I stopped at many of the usual sites to the west. The only notable sightings were the 4 continuing TUNDRA SWANS on Hook Pond and a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE on Short's Pond, north of Water Mill. Doug Futuyma Stony Brook, NY dfutu...@gmail.com -- 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] Montauk and west: Tundra Swan, Glaucous Gull, etc.
A 2-hour sea watch from the Montauk Point restaurant and Camp Hero early this morning was rewarded by a spectacular number of scoters (20,000 is a conservative estimate), of which at least 3/4 were Black; the rest were mostly White-winged, Surf being conspicuously sparse. At least several hundred Common Eiders (probably many more) were in the mix, but no King was discerned. Fair numbers of Common and Red-throated Loons, a fly-by Great Cormorant and an out-of-place Snow Goose, in the surf, were also seen. I saw no Razorbills or (surprisingly) Gannets. An immature Iceland Gull was near the beach at the south end of Lake Montauk (South Lake Drive), and another was at the west jetty. An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was on the water at the south end of Fort Pond Bay, as were ca. 25 Horned Grebes. Here I was joined by Brent Bomcamp and Stella Miller; we proceeded to Lazy Point, from which vantage point we saw no Snowy Owls. At Hook Pond in Easthampton, we found 2 Tundra Swans. Sagaponack Pond offered no notable birds, but at Short's Pond (on Scuttlehole Road, Bridgehampton), Brent spied a particularly petite Cackling Goose in the large flock of Canadas. At Shinnecock Inlet, Brent spotted an immature male Harlequin Duck. Just to the west, opposite Ponquogue Bridge, a huge number of gulls, feeding on presumably storm-tossed clams and other invertebrates, included an immature Glaucous Gull and a first-year Lesser Black-backed Gull. Michael McBrien kindly alerted us to the previously reported Snowy Owl on the island east of Ponquogue Bridge. Good birding, Doug Futuyma Stony Brook -- 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] Montauk and west: Tundra Swan, Glaucous Gull, etc.
A 2-hour sea watch from the Montauk Point restaurant and Camp Hero early this morning was rewarded by a spectacular number of scoters (20,000 is a conservative estimate), of which at least 3/4 were Black; the rest were mostly White-winged, Surf being conspicuously sparse. At least several hundred Common Eiders (probably many more) were in the mix, but no King was discerned. Fair numbers of Common and Red-throated Loons, a fly-by Great Cormorant and an out-of-place Snow Goose, in the surf, were also seen. I saw no Razorbills or (surprisingly) Gannets. An immature Iceland Gull was near the beach at the south end of Lake Montauk (South Lake Drive), and another was at the west jetty. An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was on the water at the south end of Fort Pond Bay, as were ca. 25 Horned Grebes. Here I was joined by Brent Bomcamp and Stella Miller; we proceeded to Lazy Point, from which vantage point we saw no Snowy Owls. At Hook Pond in Easthampton, we found 2 Tundra Swans. Sagaponack Pond offered no notable birds, but at Short's Pond (on Scuttlehole Road, Bridgehampton), Brent spied a particularly petite Cackling Goose in the large flock of Canadas. At Shinnecock Inlet, Brent spotted an immature male Harlequin Duck. Just to the west, opposite Ponquogue Bridge, a huge number of gulls, feeding on presumably storm-tossed clams and other invertebrates, included an immature Glaucous Gull and a first-year Lesser Black-backed Gull. Michael McBrien kindly alerted us to the previously reported Snowy Owl on the island east of Ponquogue Bridge. Good birding, Doug Futuyma Stony Brook -- 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/ --
