Another quiet, too warm day at the Sands Point Preserve this morning (10/28). The highlight was 17 Wood Ducks on the pond at 8AM. This is a record high count for this location. Land birds were few but I came across a small movement of birds loosely associating with some White-throated Sparrows on a sunny spot of the cliff-side trail. They included not one but two Black-and-White Warblers, a yellow Palm Warbler, and a bright Nashville Warbler showing some faint red feathering on the crown. The only other passerines of note were a single Field Sparrow and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo that flew low,directly overhead.
I thought that a single American Crow flying by was unusual here; I just don’t see them much here anymore. Back in the 70s and 80s, there were substantial noisy flocks that could always be relied upon to find a roosting Great Horned Owl for you! There were finally some loons on LI Sound; 3 Common and 1 Red-throated. After the preserve, I trudged west to Prospect Point. Here, I added 380 Brant, 4 Green-winged Teal on the beach, 15 Surf Scoters flying east, 5 Black-bellied Plovers, and a Savannah Sparrow. Cheers, Glenn -- 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/ --