This morning I drove Dune Road from Westhampton to Shinnecock Inlet, under exceptionally pleasant conditions for birding: it was almost windless and relatively "warm" (by current standards). I checked the ocean at almost every viewpoint. A single Red-necked Grebe was a short distance east of Quogue Village Beach, and a pale Rough-legged Hawk was over the marsh near Dolphin Lane. On the bay at Shinnecock Inlet, the tide was extremely low. About 70 seals (mostly or all Harbor, as far as I could tell, given limited knowledge and considerable distance) were hauled out on a sandbar to the northeast. I saw fewer than 100 Common Eider on the bay, most quite distant. However, a very large flock of birds, well over 5000, extended seaward, somewhat east of the eastern jetty. Most were very distant, and identification would have been fairly difficult if there had been wind. Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks predominated, but there were at least 1000 Common Eider, as well as many feeding gulls and a fair number of Common Loons. (I saw no Red-throated Loons today, and my impression is that they are quite uncommon this season.) I did not see King Eider, but had limited time to work the large flock, much of which, moreover, took flight and settled very far out when a boat approached.
At the fields east of Riverhead, small flocks of geese were flying over, but almost the only ones on the ground were in a very large, dense flock on Roanoke Avenue, south of Reeves Avenue. I could find only Canada Geese, but had only about 20 minutes to search. Doug Futuyma Stony Brook -- 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/ --
