The fifth annual Northport Winter Bird Count took place this weekend, January 23-24. The Northport Winter Bird Count is a CBC-style census covering the area between the Smithtown and Northern Nassau CBC circles, from Fort Salonga to Huntington on the North Shore of Long Island. Eighteen observers recorded a total of 105 species -- a new high count -- despite winds that remained above 20 mph for the two-day period. The highlights, tallied during a Zoom compilation, are below:
*Greater White-fronted Goose*: Tung Ting Pond (Katie Kleinpeter, Pat Lindsay, Shai Mitra) *Pink-footed Goose*: Northport VA Golf Course (John Gluth) -- *note, this location is accessible only with permission from the VA police*. *Cackling Goose*: Fresh Pond, Caumsett SP, VA Golf Course Eurasian Wigeon: Fresh Pond *Barrow's Goldeneye*: Crab Meadow Beach (Mike McBrien) Virginia Rail: Fort Salonga (John Gluth) Iceland Gull: three, all at Crab Meadow Beach (Mike McBrien, John Gluth) Lesser Black-backed Gull: Crab Meadow Beach (Mike McBrien) *Glaucous Gull*: Crab Meadow Beach (Mike McBrien) *Red Crossbill*: Mill Dam Park, Centerport (Shai Mitra) Pine Siskin: Huntington (Tim Healy) *Common Redpoll*: private feeder, Centerport Also notable was a litany of half-hardy species, which are scarce by late January. These included Killdeer, Brown Thrasher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Chipping Sparrow. A huge thanks to the observers on this count, many of whom had not birded this area until the count started five years ago. Given our species total and highlight list, they are now very familiar with one of the less-birded parts of Long Island. And a shout-out to the Northport Birding Club for their assistance in running the event. The cumulative species total for the count stands at 132. Brent Bomkamp Eatons Neck -- 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/[email protected]/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/ --
