The 26th started out with a dead battery on the Prius. It needed a jump from our mechanic, who advised a good ride before shutting it off ! I decided on a jaunt out east on Sound Ave, where in Jamesport, I came upon 16 Turkey Vultures slowly circling eastward (the largest # I've seen in awhile, with none in, and about, the Roanoke Ave Roost in Riverhead.
I then participated in a Physical Therapy session back in Riverhead, before setting out in search of the fairly local Roseate Spoonbill, reported from Cold Spring Harbor, Suffolk Co and its neighbor, Laurel Hollow, Nassau Co. I made a quick stop enroute at the VA Hospital in Northport, finally arriving at the Fish Hatchery/ST.John's Church, where 2 birders (names unknown) pointed out the distant, partially hidden, white object that so many have traveled so far to see ! By walking to the back of the church, and looking out to the s/e end (?) of the adjoining pond, you were afforded a closer viewpoint. There were ~ a dozen birders there, one being Shai Mitra...who immediately offered me his scope, pointing out that the bird was a juvenile. After Shai had to leave, the bird took 2 short flights along the e/s (?) of the pond, getting closer to us and providing better views of the bill shape & color, the bird's plumage and it's flight jizz. The 3rd time the spoonbill took off, it left the pond and headed west ! Cheers, Bob P.S...In the future, the answer to a trivia question might be Shai Mitra & Pat Lindsay - the question might be "what couple had 3 seperate Roseate Spoonbill sightings inside of 2 days in N.Y.S., with 100's of miles between the 1st bird, and 2nd/3rd birds ? P.S.x 2..With thanks to Pat Aitken, whose post to the listserve was the first info. I received on *Ajaia ajaja* ! -- 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/ --
