Pack your gloves if you're birding: it's cold out there, folks! Jones Beach saw some movement this morning, with lots of Red-wings and a fair few finches passing overhead on their journey to the west. Hundreds of gannets were seen moving just offshore, and a noisy Great Blue Heron flew down the coast as well. Two Lapland Longspurs were located in a flock of Snow Buntings at the beach, and Horned Larks and a pipit were also seen nearby. Expected raptor species were on the hunt.
A brief stop at Hempstead Lake revealed groups of Hooded Mergansers and Ruddy Ducks on the main lake, along with a Red-throated Loon. This was my first sighting of this species at the park, and it was diving actively and feeding. After the first glimpse I lost it for several minutes and was wondering if I'd seen what I thought I'd seen! 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/ --
