[nysbirds-l] Barrier Beaches (Suffolk Co), post-storm: Cave Swallow, early migrants
I spent some of the day birding at Robert Moses SP (followed by a brief drive through other spots along the barrier beach), looking for any migrants in the wake of yesterday's storm. Despite a lack of numbers and diversity, there were still some interesting birds. The highlight was an unseasonable Cave Swallow, that was studied well as it flew down the dune line at Robert Moses Field 2, in the east-to-west trickle of swallows. It was obvious compared to the other swallows with its buffy orange rump patch, and readily distinguishable from CLSW by its contrasting beige/pale-orange throat creating a distinctive dark-capped appearance. There was also some evidence of migration likely due to the storm, such as a few Indigo Buntings along the barrier strip, a gnatcatcher feeding in the sand at the eastern tip of Captree (likely freshly-arrived off the ocean), and an early singing Common Yellowthroat at Oak Beach among others. I'm sure there could be more slingshots waiting to be found or still arriving off the ocean today and tonight. It is definitely some incentive to do some safe and responsible social-distance birding at a local patch over the next few days. Best,Mike McBrien -- 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] Barrier Beaches (Suffolk Co), post-storm: Cave Swallow, early migrants
I spent some of the day birding at Robert Moses SP (followed by a brief drive through other spots along the barrier beach), looking for any migrants in the wake of yesterday's storm. Despite a lack of numbers and diversity, there were still some interesting birds. The highlight was an unseasonable Cave Swallow, that was studied well as it flew down the dune line at Robert Moses Field 2, in the east-to-west trickle of swallows. It was obvious compared to the other swallows with its buffy orange rump patch, and readily distinguishable from CLSW by its contrasting beige/pale-orange throat creating a distinctive dark-capped appearance. There was also some evidence of migration likely due to the storm, such as a few Indigo Buntings along the barrier strip, a gnatcatcher feeding in the sand at the eastern tip of Captree (likely freshly-arrived off the ocean), and an early singing Common Yellowthroat at Oak Beach among others. I'm sure there could be more slingshots waiting to be found or still arriving off the ocean today and tonight. It is definitely some incentive to do some safe and responsible social-distance birding at a local patch over the next few days. Best,Mike McBrien -- 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/ --
