It is difficult to express what Ken and Sue's message meant to us. During the seven long months that the Robert Moses bridge has been closed, we literally have felt deprived of a sense organ, as though we've been partly blind and deaf to the movements of birds around us. Shai and I ventured out to Fire Island this evening with little concern for the poor weather (belts of fog and rain driven on a northwest wind, usually the worst wind direction for seawatching); indeed, we hardly cared what we saw as long as we were able to explore our old haunts.
Seeing that parts of Great South Bay were socked in with fog, Shai proposed his typically optimistic view that "It's just patchy; likely as not it'll clear out beyond the beach." Sure enough, visibility over the ocean wasn't bad at all, if one could get shelter from the rain. But before we could get started with our seawatch, Shai spied a bedraggled cluster of unkempt brown gulls in the lot and insisted on inspecting them. We drove over and, sure enough, there were three Lesser Black-backed Gulls in field 2. I've more or less tolerated Shai's compulsive attention to this species over the years--his "raison d'etre" as he always says, when we come across one or more on a slow day of birding. This time I can attest that the tag was apt; after lamenting the futility of his existence for seven months, he was so pleased to see them--just where they ought to be, if anyone were there to see them. I'd say that he was "chuffed as nuts" about it, if I knew exactly what that meant.... We found three more on the beach, a different one in the lot when we left, and another in field 5, rounding out a good tally of the spring push of immature LBBGs on LI. Our seawatch was interesting, especially given the unusual combination of foul weather and northwest winds. We figured we saw 14 Sooty Shearwaters, although birds were tacking to and fro quite a bit; perhaps twice as many Gannets, all but two immature, also milling about; and I saw a Parasitic Jaeger and a Roseate Tern, both proceeding eastward without hesitation, while Shai was attempting to photograph one of his beloved gulls. It was really good to be back. Patricia Lindsay Bay Shore ___________________________________ From: bounce-95301736-11143...@list.cornell.edu [bounce-95301736-11143...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Ken Feustel [feus...@optonline.net] Sent: Friday, May 24, 2013 9:35 AM To: NYSBIRDS-L@cornell.edu Subject: [nysbirds-l] Robert Moses State Park Sea Watch (Suffolk Co.) Encouraged by Derek Roger's reports of seabird activity at Smith's Point, we headed over to the beach to do a sea watch somewhere on the Jones barrier island. We were surprised to find RMSP open (Fields 2 & 5), and decided to conduct a sea watch from Field 2. We spent an hour looking, with only a lone Sooty Shearwater for our efforts. There were small numbers of Northern Gannets, and Common, Forster's, and Least Terns but not much else. There was much activity on and off the beach, as State workers were madly attempting to get the beach ready for Memorial Day Weekend. Besides an open view of the ocean just east of the traffic circle, the beaches appear to be in good shape (after much beach nourishment from dredging). Its nice to have one of the prime Long Island birding locations open again. Ken & Sue Feustel -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> The Mail Archive <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> Please submit your observations to eBird <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> ! <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> -- <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> ___________________________________ <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> Washington Monthly <http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/septemberoctober_2012/features/americas_bestbangforthebuck_co039461.php> magazine ranks the College of Staten Island as one of “ America’s Best-Bang-for-the-Buck Colleges ” -- 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/ --
