There was a very nice flight this morning of Red Crossbills at Jones Beach (and I would expect other coastal locations). From 8:00 to 1:00, around 330 were tallied by me and many helpers. Also, about 1640 American Goldfinches. A few Pine Siskins were still moving, but numbers are way past peak now. To be clear, this was a migration event. As word got around of the numbers being seen, people were showing up expecting to see crossbills all over the place. That's not how it works, at least for now. These are migrating flocks (of up to 30 birds). Some pass straight through, while some do stop off for up to a few minutes. Unfortunately for hopeful photographers, most of the stopping was being done in the highest pines at the West End turnaround. But there can be some good photo ops for the patient. I put up one picture on e-bird https://ebird.org/atlasny/checklist/S76508296 .
How many times today did I mention November 25, 2012? That was the day we were allowed back onto Jones Beach, after Sandy caused a closure while the last big irruption was taking place. Those that were there that day were indeed treated to crossbill flocks (White-winged, too) all over the place, and in smaller trees. We can only hope that it happens again. Next northwest wind forecast (in the morning, when it matters) is for November 24 (Tuesday). Steve Walter Bayside, NY -- 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/ --
