I must be living right, to have waited this long before trying, and still find this accommodating grassland-stalker ! With thanks to Joe Jannsen (a man I haven't met) whose posting yesterday got me "up and moving" ! At 1130 today, the Uppie was exactly where he said, "just e/o Oak Beach near pole #483 - viewed from the eastbound shoulder" ! I watched it walk & feed for ~ 15 minutes, and I second John T's earlier apprehension, as it moved fairly close to the s/s edge of the median, seemingly oblivious to the cars flying by !
I then headed for Jones Beach, with stops at both the Cedar & Gilgo marinas. At Cedar I had a Boat-tailed and a sighting I'll discuss further on. The marsh island off of Gilgo Marina held a huge, resting flock of Black-bellied Plovers, Sanderlings, Dunlins and who knows what else ! Arriving at the West End Coast Guard area, I found Sue & Ken Feustel, Bob Proniewych, Gary Strauss and Ed Brecher, who were about to leave, but not before telling me what they had just seen - thanks folks ! I then proceeded to find: the single Black Scoter; 2 Red-throated Loons; 2 Common Loons (all, but 1 common, were still in basic plumage, while that bird was nearing it's full alternate colors); 2 A.Oystercatchers; 2, of the 7 Foster's Terns they had; a Field Sparrow and a Lesser Yellowlegs later on in a marshy area on the back road n/o Parking Field 4 that leads to the Wantagh Parkway. On my own, I found a late Dark-eyed Junco near the C.G.Station and a singing Brown Thrasher in the median closer to the museum. When I first stopped at Gilgo I thought I had 7 Common Terns, albeit, on the early side,and so, after Ken had told me about the 7 Foster's they had just seen, I told him of my Commons, which, when he, in turn, remarked about the early date, I agreed, but told him I was fairly sure of the ID, This played on my mind, to the extent of causing me to doubt how thorough I had been earlier, ie, lighting, bill & primary colors, as well as my not using a scope. I then went back to the Cedar Marina, only to find zero terns. I then stopped back at the Gilgo Marina, and did find 15 terns, none of them Common, all Foster's...of this I am sure ! I've decided to not count the Common Terns, and wish to thank Ken for causing me to question if I had been careful enough in making the claim that I did. Cheers, Bob 😔 -- 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/ --
