After learning that West End II at Jones Beach was open, I birded the area this morning. The highlights were several flocks of WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS that flew overhead with a few PURPLE FINCHES in the mix. Only one flock of the WW Crossbills touched down very briefly in the pines at the turn around near the West End II parking lot, but just as they landed they were up and away. The number of White-winged Crossbills observed in flight were as follows: 25, 1, 9, 5, 2, 1.
There were also a small Swallow movement, which were very high up; during my observation, I only noted Tree as the lone species. Later with the tide lowering enough to show some of sand bar near the Coast Guard Station, I counted the following: 210 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS, 347 DUNLINS, 49 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, 1 RED-KNOT and 7 SANDERLINGS. With the high tide this morning, I was concerned about the sand bar. However, while it seemed lower than usual with a small cut appearing near the middle, it appears intact. Hopefully, some more sand will get washed up to shore up the bar. >From Jones Beach, I visited Sunken Meadow State Park where I spent a few hours canvassing the area; not many birds around and my only highlight was an adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL in parking lot 2. Locally, this morning I had a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT in the backyard. The second excellent yard bird for the week; on Wednesday, I observed and photographed a male EVENING GROSBEAK at the feeders. Good Birding on Long Island! Andrew Baksh Queens, NY www.birdingdude.blogspot.com -- 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/ --
