The Queens County Christmas Bird Count was held yesterday in suboptimal conditions but our hale and hearty birders performed admirably anyway, with 112 species recorded on count day.
Our big misses were Killdeer, Pied-billed Grebe, Wilson's Snipe, Fish Crow, Eastern Towhee, and Northern Gannet. Good finds included the (reported to this listserv already) Pink-footed Goose in Lake Success (first for the count on count day), an Eastern Phoebe in Greentree, an Iceland Gull at Alley Pond Environmental Center, two Palm Warblers in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, and a Northern Saw-whet Owl in Charles Memorial Park. Also, Bald Eagles have returned to Willow Lake Preserve. Seven Orange-crowned Warblers is a new count high but most species numbers were depressed due to the very rough weather. On a more somber note the Rockaways party stumbled across a body in Bayswater Point State Park in far southeastern Queens, a most unwelcome first for the count. Thanks to everyone who participated, especially the new participants, several of whom were doing their first-ever Christmas Bird Counts, and the sector leaders, who soldiered on, in some cases with teams much-reduced by illness. And thanks to Nancy Tognan, Arie Gilbert, and Ian Resnick, who all did important work in making sure the compilation dinner ran smoothly. Good Birding, Corey Finger P.S. Next year's count will be on Sunday, 15 December. Mark your calendars! -- 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/ --
