So once again I wasn't at the right place at the right time for a Sandwich Tern. That's always the way it is - except after Hurricane Irene. What I did do was turn to some local things. I remembered that someone (I think I know who) had reported Cliff Swallows nesting in the Alley Creek area in northeastern Queens a few years ago. So I wanted to follow up on that. After standing along the creek, north of Northern Blvd. for a little while, I finally caught sight of two individuals (and possibly a third). All appeared to go to the bridge that runs over the creek on Northern Blvd. I think it's okay to divulge that, if in fact they're nesting there. With thousands of cars driving over them every day, I don't think a few birders are going to be a problem. I should point out that I have never seen them from the easily accessible platform south of the APEC nature center. It does seem that you would have to do the sometimes dicey crossing of Northern Blvd. But it's an alternative for Queens and Long Island residents that want to see Cliff Swallows and would prefer to avoid the Throgs Neck Bridge crossing.
Another note. There's a breeding plumaged drake Ruddy Duck still in the creek, left over from winter. Steve Walter Bayside, NY -- 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/ --
