>From about 2-3:30pm I was windsurfing from East Shore going west to the piling cluster located about 1/2 mile north of the lighthouse jetties. In that vicinity were several swallows, mostly barn, foraging on the water. I soon noticed that some seemed overweight and dark underneath, and soon found myself surrounded by several Purple Martins, at least three males and one female (hard to get an accurate count with them flying around). This may or may not be scopable from Hog Hole or Stewart Park, or be identifiable from there. But I did enjoy observing their flight pattern which is distinctly different from the barn swallows (and also NRW and one tree swallow): their flight was much more effortless, with gentler wingbeats like swifts or birdwing butterflies, and then coasting gently down to very close to the water, sometimes seeming like they're about to stick out their feet to tapdance on the water like storm petrels. And they didn't seem to mind me that much, flying to within five feet of me for great looks at the purple glistening in the sun.
At one point I noticed a barn swallow approach the piling cluster, though I did not see it land. I'm wondering if they might be nesting there. Suan -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
