I spent the last hours of daylight on the shore at Jones Beach West End today. It was not intended as a birding trip, but I still managed to spy some interesting visitors. The local breeders were out in force, with several young Piping Plovers and Least Terns observed and Common Terns still ferrying fish. Large resting flocks of Sanderlings and plenty of feeding individuals were present, along with a few Black-bellied Plovers. Down by the jetty, I spotted a non-breeding plumage Black Tern, obviously dark-backed and short-tailed with a white forehead, flying around. A walk out the jetty turned up several Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers along with a Semipalmated Plover and a Spotted Sandpiper. Walking back to the lot along the surf I encountered three(!) Lesser Black-backed Gulls. All were 2nd or 3rd cycle birds, with brown mixed into their dark slate-grey upperparts. They were markedly smaller than the nearby Great BB's and Herring Gulls, which provided an easy comparison to confirm my ID suspicions.
Full Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24772814 Cheers! -Tim H -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES 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://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
