In a more extended day of shorebirdig than I had intended, I began at 7:45 at Cupsogue County Park, where I encountered Dick Belanger. From the end of the path that leads from the 4WD track west of the parking lot, we spent over an hour scrutinizing the birds on the exposed, fairly distant sand/mud bars, and then about an hour on the flats north of the parking lot. There were few birds (only 7 ROYAL TERNS being at all noteworthy) on these flats, even well after the tide had started to rise. In contrast, the distant sandbars held probably more than 1000 shorebirds, dominated by BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS and SANDERLINGS (well over 200 each), with high numbers of SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS and at least 55 RED KNOTS and 15 PIPING PLOVERS. Much of our time was spent on the phalarope I reported this morning. After the report was posted, we got better looks at critical features, and I amend the "apparent" to "definite" adult RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. (Features included the postorbital "phalarope" bar on white face, white forehead with darker crown, thin black bill, short dark legs, streaked back, and gray sides of upper breast.) Also of interest were about 15 male BOAT-TAILED GRACKLES, all with the short tails that result from the odd moult and replacement of all rectrices simultaneously, that grackles (and I think some other blackbirds) often exhibit. We also saw 5 CLAPPER RAILS.
A ride down Dune Road to Shinnecock Inlet yielded little of interest except 22 ROYAL TERNS at Tiana Beach. At Mecox Bay, I viewed the continuing MARBLED GODWIT, seen from the east side of the cut (which is closed). I counted 92 FORSTER'S TERNS and 1 BLACK TERN. The Riverhead sod fields were not very productive. (Much of the acreage is unsuitable for shorebirds at this time, having been stripped to bare earth; moreover, some former sod area is in corn and vegetable crops.) I found 1 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER west of Route 105, north of the intersection with Northville Pike, and finally located 2 adult AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS east of Osborn Avenue, between Sound Avenue and Reeves Avenue. At this point, I noticed Arie Gilbert's post about a Sandwich Tern at Sagg Pond, so went in search. I didn't see Arie's bird. Clearly terns were actively moving: within minutes of my arrival, many of the COMMON and FORSTER'S TERNS had flown out to the ocean. I did see an adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. The cut at Sagg is also closed. I stopped again at Mecox Bay as I headed home, on the chance that the Sandwich Tern had moved there. No luck on that count, but the long-lingering RED-NECKED GREBE was there, as well as a few common shorebirds. Doug Futuyma Stony Brook, NY dfutu...@gmail.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/ --
