This morning, Dick Belanger and I set out for Sagaponack. Once on territory, our preliminary stop, at the n/end of Sagg Pond, yeilded 3 Ospreys & a Ring-necked Pheasant. Checking all the fields on our way down to the s/end of the pond produced... "nada"! Of note, was the length of the pond's "cut", as it opens into the ocean- I have never seen it as wide! The cut, now basically covers the entire distance between the largest dunes on both the east & west sides of the pond. A farmer (whose family arrived on L.I. in 1634) who we met in the parking lot, felt this condition had to be corrected quickly, or the ecology of the pond could be damaged permanently.
Shortly afterward, we saw the cranes...or better put, we saw a birder looking at the cranes. The birds were in a cornfield , situated between Sagg Main St. and Gibson La. We were looking east from S/M/St. and couldn't see the cranes from our position- but Dick did see someone (with a scope) on the Gibson La. side, looking intently at something . We deceided to pay him a visit, and as we got about half way there, we passed Steve Schellenger (of South Shore Audubon) on his way to our side of the field. It seems,that although he found the birds, the view left something to be desired. We then followed him to the 1st street (e/side) s/o the intersection of S/M St. & Bridge La., finding a good vantage point looking into the cornfield (where the road takes a 90, and heads south). According to Steve, this spot offered a better view, than the one from Gibson La. After touring Daniels, Hedges, and Parsonage Lanes, Wainscott Pond, and Mecox Bay, we finally hit "paydirt" again, when on Dune Rd., Southhampton, we found 3 Cattle Egrets, all in high breeding plummage, with only their bills lacking the bright red coloring! We were on our way to the Suffolk Co. park on the e/side of Shinnicock Inlet, when we found the birds on the bay side, between the helicopter pad and the park entrance. Walking out to the inlet, the only animal we could find in it, was a single seal.We did, however, see approx. 350 C.Eiders out near the big sandbar, apparently still content to stay awhile longer in the bay, before heading north. We also had an additional 40 seals hauled out on the small sandbar, as well as our FOS Oystercatchers (2). 3 Great Egrets fed along Dune Rd. as we started to leave that area, also picking up our FOS Snowy Egrets (2) in the 1st creek w/o Halsey Neck La. After dropping Dick off at his car, while enroute to a dentist appointment in Wading River, I routed myself through the Calverton Grasslands and was treated to my FOS E.Bluebird. Speaking of treatment, it went well! In fact, all is well in my world today! Cheers, Bob -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
