You have to love New York or should I say love Coney Island! Thanks to the wonderful posts from New York birders I waited to 2:00pm to make the drive from NJ. When I arrived at Coney Island at 3:20pm (low tide was 2:04pm) I was somewhat disheartened by the thousands of people on the beach. How would I ever find a rare bird? Lacking the usual clue of another birder I followed the advise of an earlier post and walked on the beach near the Ferris Wheel and the artificial palm tree spewing cooling water in the air. As I was admiring this "tree" a distinctive gull flew by and I was beside myself---even without bins I could tell that the bird matched the internet photos of a Gray-hooded gull. I watched it keep circling the palm tree and then land on a yellow pole before chasing after food near the boardwalk with a small group of Laughing Gulls. This went on for another twenty minutes during which I was joined by several other birders. I celebrated with a Nathan's hotdog and orangeade before one last stroll on the beach that produced two Boa snakes, each wrapped around the arms of some strolling beachgoers! It was truly a surreal day. Vincent Nichnadowicz, Princeton Jct., NJ --
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/ --
