[nysbirds-l] Sands Point Preseve (Nassau); 16 sp. warblers
It was warm, humid, and fairly active in the Sands Point Preserve this morning. I found 16 species of warblers, all visuals, and many were in the mid to lower levels of the foliage. I had spectacularly close views of Magnolia (singing), Blackburnian (singing), multiple Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, and Cape May. Most warblers seemed to hang around for a long time. Full eBird list here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45718472 Least flycatcher was singing by the pond, and there were multiple Great Crested Flycatchers and Eastern Wood Pewees calling/singing. A Spotted Sandpiper was working the edges of the pond; this is an unusual location for this species. The Bank Swallow colony is active again in the bluffs and I found 2 nests of Baltimore Oriole. Thrushes were evident with 6 Swainson’s and 2 separate Gray-Cheeked. I watched one of the latter at close range for a while. As it foraged in the middle of a paved road in the woods, it would occasionally jump straight up into the air as if a spring went off underneath it. I don’t know what it was doing and I’ve never seen this before. I came across several large masses of winged ants/termites on fallen logs in the woods. I watched a very orange Scarlet Tanager steadily gorge itself on one of these masses. At one point it was joined by a Catbird and an Ovenbird, all feeding within inches of each other on the same blob of insects. The pond now has a small Snapping Turtle. It was sunning itself with all the sliders. I don’t see many of these in this location. Many years ago, we had a large one get into this pond and it ate every single Wood Duck duckling that year. The preserve staff managed to finally catch and relocate it to the salt marsh. Notably absent today was any sign of cuckoos, visual or audible. (However, I did see one zip across the LIE on my way in this morning, not to species, along with all the cuckoos in the cars around me). Finally, I stopped off at my mother’s home on Manhasset Bay. Just before the storms moved in, I watched a ragged looking Common Raven being chased byan American Crow, and a Fish Crow. It was a great visual comparison of the size of all three species!! (Neither crow vocalized but one was so much larger than the other that I’m assuming American & Fish; the raven was croaking). Cheers! GQ -- 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] Sands Point Preseve (Nassau); 16 sp. warblers
It was warm, humid, and fairly active in the Sands Point Preserve this morning. I found 16 species of warblers, all visuals, and many were in the mid to lower levels of the foliage. I had spectacularly close views of Magnolia (singing), Blackburnian (singing), multiple Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, and Cape May. Most warblers seemed to hang around for a long time. Full eBird list here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45718472 Least flycatcher was singing by the pond, and there were multiple Great Crested Flycatchers and Eastern Wood Pewees calling/singing. A Spotted Sandpiper was working the edges of the pond; this is an unusual location for this species. The Bank Swallow colony is active again in the bluffs and I found 2 nests of Baltimore Oriole. Thrushes were evident with 6 Swainson’s and 2 separate Gray-Cheeked. I watched one of the latter at close range for a while. As it foraged in the middle of a paved road in the woods, it would occasionally jump straight up into the air as if a spring went off underneath it. I don’t know what it was doing and I’ve never seen this before. I came across several large masses of winged ants/termites on fallen logs in the woods. I watched a very orange Scarlet Tanager steadily gorge itself on one of these masses. At one point it was joined by a Catbird and an Ovenbird, all feeding within inches of each other on the same blob of insects. The pond now has a small Snapping Turtle. It was sunning itself with all the sliders. I don’t see many of these in this location. Many years ago, we had a large one get into this pond and it ate every single Wood Duck duckling that year. The preserve staff managed to finally catch and relocate it to the salt marsh. Notably absent today was any sign of cuckoos, visual or audible. (However, I did see one zip across the LIE on my way in this morning, not to species, along with all the cuckoos in the cars around me). Finally, I stopped off at my mother’s home on Manhasset Bay. Just before the storms moved in, I watched a ragged looking Common Raven being chased byan American Crow, and a Fish Crow. It was a great visual comparison of the size of all three species!! (Neither crow vocalized but one was so much larger than the other that I’m assuming American & Fish; the raven was croaking). Cheers! GQ -- 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/ --
