Hempstead Lake State Park' 24 Dec Joe Giunta and I (Sy Schiff) did a pre CBC scouting trip this morning. After parking at field #3, we walked up to the traverse road and scanned the big pond. At the extreme north end we found our first target bird, an adult BALD EAGLE. In the pond were a dozen COMMON MERGANSERS.
We proceeded to Smith Pond which exhibited the usual duck species. It included RING-NECKED DUCKS and a PIED-BILLED GREBE. On the shores we picked out 3 Great Blue Herons and 4 imm. BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS. A BELTED KINGFISHER flew by. Next stop was the woods and ponds north of the parkway. Here we found a RED-TAILED HAWK and a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK circling overhead. Land birds included 8 EASTERN TOWHEES, 6 GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS, 4 WOODPECKER species, BROWN CREEPER, a winter troop of woodland birds, CAROLINA WRENS, AMERICAN ROBINS and 2 FOX SPARROWS. The last species of the morning were a pair of COMMON RAVENS flying by pursued by an AMERICAN CROW.. You're welcome to join us Saturday to help us relocate and count these guys. Sy -- 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/ --
