"Is this a migrant, already?" is my question of the day, too. My subject was a Common Merganser on Oakland Lake, Queens, where the species only occurs as a spring migrant. But things could be shuffling around because of ice (Oakland Lake itself is two-thirds iced up (interestingly, a lone Lesser Scaup appeared there last week)) or snow. I've noted Rough-legged Hawks and other raptors coming our way in past years (around late January) after significant snowfalls to the north. It would be a strange twist if the vultures appearing to be headed north are evacuating the big snowfall that fell to our south.
Steve Walter Bayside, NY ----- Original Message ----- From: fresha2...@aol.com To: NYSBIRDS-L@cornell.edu Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 1:13 AM Subject: [nysbirds-l] Brooklyn - Black Vulture Yesterday (Sunday, 2/7) just after 1:00 PM a Black Vulture coasted northwest over Prospect Park lake flying extremely high, and almost exclusively soaring. I know Turkey Vultures start migrating in February, but it is still pretty early in the month, and Black Vultures aren't yet common in the area (they're still downright rare in Brooklyn, even in peak migration) so it came as quite a surprise to me. It certainly looked like it was exhibiting migratory behavior. There were also ~1600 Ring-billed Gulls (counted and examined closely), including wing-tags A318 (a repeat) and A288 (a new one for me). Good Birding -Doug Gochfeld. Brooklyn, NY. -- 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/ --
