Just before 3:30 this afternoon at Bayard Cutting Arboretum (Great River, Suffolk Co.), while tallying ducks, geese and swans for the NYSOA Waterfowl Count, I found a VIRGINIA RAIL. It was feeding along the south shoreline of the cove that extends off the Connetquot River south of Breezy island (park map: http://www.bayardcuttingarboretum.com/Media/map.gif). The rail methodically moved toward the mouth of the cove, diligently probing into the nooks and crannies in the mud of the undercut bank below the stand of phragmites lining that side of the cove. The rhizomes of the reeds that stabilize the bank provided adequate footholds for the rail to clamber over and hang onto when wind-driven, slush-filled waves lapped at the shore. The rail also occasionally swam shore distances. The bird was in plain sight for the entire 10+ minutes I stayed to observe it, by far the longest amount of time I've had this species in view. The coordinates of the shoreline where the rail was are: 40.733142, -73.160742. The best vantage point to observe this spot are at: 40.733818, -73.161434. Waterfowl seen earlier in my stay included Greater Scaup (33), Lesser Scaup (1), Common Goldeneye (3), Common Merganser (27), and Hooded Merganser (9).
-- 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/ --
