I spent some time this morning looking at shorebirds on a high tide in the West End Marina. While walking back to the gazebo from the eastern spit I saw Stan (a West End regular - sorry Stan, forgot your last name) talking to Tom Burke and Gail Benson, the distant conversation being followed by a remarkably quick movement of the participants toward their vehicles. Tom stopped to tell me that Stan had just found two Black-necked Stilts (photos taken) at the WE2 swale. We arrived at the swale approx. ten minutes after Stan’s observation - no Stilts. Present, however was a young Peregrine Falcon chasing anything with wings. A search of the ponds east of WE2 (ponds flooded) and areas between the dunes with standing water was fruitless. Any flooded pond or depression could hold these birds, so be on the lookout.
On a more positive note, and if anyone besides me has not already seen this bird, the Yellow-throated Warbler continues at Bayard Cutting Arboretum, where he was seen and heard this morning and early this afternoon. My afternoon observation consisted of hearing the bird singing the moment I got out of the car. The bird was singing from the top of a conifer near the active Osprey nest (listen for the racket) on the east side of the main entrance road. The bird moved frequently, working his way north along the east side of the road toward the toll booth, finally crossing the road to the west side. Cheers, Ken Feustel -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --