Jones Beach West End 15 Feb Pleasant morning at the beach ushering in the coming Spring. Few birds, but lots of RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES. Mixed in with one group were 3-4 BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, all feeding together in a small pine near the turnaround. An adult male "gray ghost" NORTHERN HARRIER was hunting in the median. Two pair of WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS were working on pine cones oblivious to several of us as we walked up to them. We heard them before we saw them directly in from of us. In the shade, the females blended in appearing almost invisible while the males' red bodies were striking as the sun hit them. After poising for photos, the 4 took off flying east.
A flock of SNOW BUNTINGS and a pair of HORNED LARKS were in front of the west end #2 parking lot and 2 KILLDEER were on the lawn surrounding the flag pole at the Nature Center. Early migrants were an AMERICAN ROBIN and a RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. Sy Schiff -- 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/ --
