My final tally of *LESSER BLACK-BACK GULLS* for the day came to 34, with 14 fresh juveniles. The breakdown is as follows: 3+ on the Maidstone Golf Course (East Hampton), 13+ at Sagg Mains (Bridgehampton), 8 at Mecox Inet (Watermill), 1 on field along Sag Road, 1 at Hook Pond, 1 ['Larry'] at Lazy Point (Napeague), 6 on Fort Pond Bay (Montauk) and 1 at the Montauk Inlet. I'll need to sit down with my notes and photos to compile the ages of the 7 subadults.
This is definitely my all time high count of Lessers for one day in NYS, and the significance of the juveniles has already been expertly enunciated by Shai Mitra and Patricia Lindsay. At several roost spots it was obvious that gulls were coming and going constantly. With exception of a couple of distinctive new individuals, I may have under-counted at Sag and Maidstone, which I visited twice. Interestingly, at Sagg Mains the seven juveniles were scattered through the flock of roosting gulls but when one bird took to the wing they all did, lifting as a group out of the roost and flying over to the expansive surf zone where they fed by hovering and dipping to snatch disturbed items, much like Ring-billed Gulls. Otherwise, the fallout of the storm seemed limited. An early morning seawatch was frustrated by poor visibility and a marked lack of birds on the turbulent ocean. Highlights were 6 *CORY'S SHEARWATERS* and an unidentified jaeger. Gannets are beginning to move in and a few were noted at several stops. An estimated 60 *BOBOLINK *were feeding in the weedy fields on either side of Horsemill Lane on the eastern side of Mecox Bay and a *PECTORAL SANDPIPER* was with Forster's Terns and Sanderlings at Mecox. A couple of *PARASITIC JAEGERS* chased Common Terns on Gardiner's Bay, as seen from Lazy Point, Napeague. Here I noticed a couple of *COMMON LOONS* and subsequently learned form Karen Rubinstein that five were here earlier in the day. In Deep Hollow near Montauk, the adult *AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER* continues on the horse/cattle pasture along with 16 juvenile Semipalmated Plovers. Visibility was really dreadful by the time I reached Montauk Point due to the heavy rain and fog but one of the few birds I could see was a *BLACK TERN*coursing back and forth in front of the restaurant. -- Angus Wilson New York City & The Springs, NY, USA http://birdingtotheend.blogspot.com/ -- 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/ --
