Sue and I spent the morning and early afternoon birding at Caumsett State Park where we encountered a nice mix of late migrants and new arrivals. Late migrants included five Blackpoll Warblers ( feeding on the berries of the invasive vines porcelain berry and mile-a-minute), a Pine Warbler, a Yellow-breasted Chat and a Red-eyed Vireo. New arrivals this fall (for us) included Tree (4) and Fox Sparrows (2), as well as five Purple Finch. We found small flocks of Eastern Bluebirds throughout the park, eventually tallying thirty-six individuals. Big numbers of Robins were making their way through the park; we did not stop to count all the birds passing through, which must have numbered in the thousands. However, we did record a modest seven hundred and ten. Canada Geese numbers are growing at the park - we observed an estimated 995 birds that were constantly on the move with all the park patrons and horseback riders present causing them to fly. No unusual geese were found, however. Five Rusty Blackbirds were present in the migrating robin flocks. All in all a beautiful day in a beautiful park.
Ken & Sue Feustel -- 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/ --
