[nysbirds-l] Some Thoughts on Recent Bird Movements
Hi all, Bob Lewis's report of about seven Lesser Black-backed Gulls at Robert Moses SP yesterday would have caused a sensation just 20 years ago. I vividly recall Pat's and my excitement at finding four LBBGs in one day, including one of the first juveniles ever reliably recorded from Long Island, plus a presumptive hybrid LBBG x HERG, on 12 Oct 2002: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S24431327 https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S27002766 https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S27002767 Flash forward to today, and Bob's count highlights how few LBBGs remained just one day after Tuesday's storm roosts of 61 birds. This illustrates not only how much and how quickly things have changed, but also illuminates the manner in which these birds are occurring most abundantly on Long Island--not primarily as as winter residents, as we used to think, but as passage migrants and summering non-breeders. It was probably just bad luck that Bob found none at all at Jones Beach, where 61 (identical to the count at RMSP!) were present during the storm, but showing a very different age distribution: RMSP 5 juvs, 14 SY, 13 older imms, 28 ads JBWE 2 juvs; 20 SY, 24 older imms, 15 ads Experience has shown that Second-Year and Third-Year birds occur most numerously as summering non-breeders, but also to an unknown extent as migrants, whereas juveniles and adults occur in a more stereotyped fashion as southbound passage migrants: https://www.nybirds.org/KBsearch/y2009v59n4/y2009v59n4p337fogarty.pdf# https://www.nybirds.org/KBsearch/y2011v61n1/y2011v61n1p35-36mitra.pdf# My thought is that the RMSP birds comprised largely migrants, whereas the JBWE flock consisted of a mix of lingering summer birds plus migrants added in. Given these considerations, as well as the recent spate of juvenile northern gulls (Sabine's in Broome, Black-legged Kittiwake in Brooklyn and Suffolk, and Bonaparte's scattered sparsely around), I've been searching parking lots and puddles up and down the shores of Region 10 these past few days, hoping, perhaps, to find a Red-necked Phalarope (only failure so far). With Cackling Goose arriving in Queens on Sunday, Pink-footed Goose in northern NYS on Tuesday, and Ross's Goose in Rhode Island today, there's an strong scent of Greenland and the Arctic in the air. We used to debate whether late October Barnacle Geese were "too" early--apparently not! Shai Mitra Bay Shore -- 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/ --
[nysbirds-l] Some Thoughts on Recent Bird Movements
Hi all, Bob Lewis's report of about seven Lesser Black-backed Gulls at Robert Moses SP yesterday would have caused a sensation just 20 years ago. I vividly recall Pat's and my excitement at finding four LBBGs in one day, including one of the first juveniles ever reliably recorded from Long Island, plus a presumptive hybrid LBBG x HERG, on 12 Oct 2002: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S24431327 https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S27002766 https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S27002767 Flash forward to today, and Bob's count highlights how few LBBGs remained just one day after Tuesday's storm roosts of 61 birds. This illustrates not only how much and how quickly things have changed, but also illuminates the manner in which these birds are occurring most abundantly on Long Island--not primarily as as winter residents, as we used to think, but as passage migrants and summering non-breeders. It was probably just bad luck that Bob found none at all at Jones Beach, where 61 (identical to the count at RMSP!) were present during the storm, but showing a very different age distribution: RMSP 5 juvs, 14 SY, 13 older imms, 28 ads JBWE 2 juvs; 20 SY, 24 older imms, 15 ads Experience has shown that Second-Year and Third-Year birds occur most numerously as summering non-breeders, but also to an unknown extent as migrants, whereas juveniles and adults occur in a more stereotyped fashion as southbound passage migrants: https://www.nybirds.org/KBsearch/y2009v59n4/y2009v59n4p337fogarty.pdf# https://www.nybirds.org/KBsearch/y2011v61n1/y2011v61n1p35-36mitra.pdf# My thought is that the RMSP birds comprised largely migrants, whereas the JBWE flock consisted of a mix of lingering summer birds plus migrants added in. Given these considerations, as well as the recent spate of juvenile northern gulls (Sabine's in Broome, Black-legged Kittiwake in Brooklyn and Suffolk, and Bonaparte's scattered sparsely around), I've been searching parking lots and puddles up and down the shores of Region 10 these past few days, hoping, perhaps, to find a Red-necked Phalarope (only failure so far). With Cackling Goose arriving in Queens on Sunday, Pink-footed Goose in northern NYS on Tuesday, and Ross's Goose in Rhode Island today, there's an strong scent of Greenland and the Arctic in the air. We used to debate whether late October Barnacle Geese were "too" early--apparently not! Shai Mitra Bay Shore -- 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/ --
