Reading Doug Futuyma's recent report from eastern Long Island reminded me that I should have posted something regarding several interesting birds from last weekend.
Perhaps most notable was LI's first Snowy Owl of the season, found by Patricia Lindsay and me at Hicks Island, Napeague on Sunday. This bird appeared very large and darkly marked, probably a juv female: https://picasaweb.google.com/109808209543611018404/LongIslandFall2011#5677212244390371650 We called Angus Wilson, Willie, D'Anna, Betsy Potter, and Dave Gagne, with whom we had been birding earlier in the day, and the bird cooperated for them and for others through the day (Rich Fried say it fly off around dusk). Earlier on Sunday, highlights at Montauk Pt included: 2 Red-necked Grebes 3 Black-legged Kittiwakes 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull 20+ Razorbills 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (found by Starr Saphir and company) The pink-billed Greater White-fronted Goose was present at Deep Hollow, as was an orange-billed bird at Further Lane, East Hampton; additional Red-necked Grebes were seen at Culloden Pt (1) and Fort Pond Bay (2-3), and we saw 3 more Razorbills at Culloden. The family of 5 Whistling Swans at Hook Pond flew out to the west as soon as Pat and I arrived, around 2:40. We feared they had moved over to nearby Georgica Pond, where they would be difficult for the others in our caravan to see, but they had simply moved over to the small lobe of Hook Pond that is visible from the road, immediately north of Main Beach. On Saturday, Dave Gagne picked out the continuing Eared Grebe at Jamaica Bay. The rest of us had scanned the bay south of the West Pond briefly but moved on quickly to get out of the fierce sw wind. Showing true hawk-watcher fortitude, Dave hung in for a few more minutes and found the grebe in the same area it has been frequenting. Later on Saturday morning, our group visited Jones Beach. There, we joined Tom Burke and Gail Benson, who basically led us by the hand to see the 2 continuing Marbled Godwits (very distant across the inlet, owing to the low tide), an Orange-crowned Warbler, and Lapland Longspur in a big flock of Snow Buntings at field 2. A quick check of Capri Pond in West Islip yielded 6 Redheads. We found 2 more Redheads at Patchogue Lake, but were utterly unable to find the previously reported Eurasian Wigeon there. In the course of our searching (and mindful of a comment from Doug Futuyma that he had seen an exceptional tally of Ring-necked Ducks earlier at Eastport Pond) I carefully counted the Ring-necks at Patchogue Lake, which came out at 414! At this point, Willie asked whether this pond was a traditional spot for Eurasian Wigeon, to which I answered, "Not really; nearby West Lake is usually the more reliable spot." Pat and I departed at this point, only to be hauled back by a call from Willie et al.: they had found a/the drake Eurasian Wigeon at West Lake! All told it was a challenging, often slow, but generally productive weekend, enlivened by excellent company. Shai Mitra Bay Shore ________________________________ Change is in the Air - Smoking in Designated Areas Only in effect.<http://www.csi.cuny.edu/tobaccofree> Tobacco-Free Campus as of July 1, 2012. -- 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/ --
