This afternoon I went to New Made Island with Anthony Graves to check on a Common Tern Colony that was first started last year after a habitat restoration project spearheaded by the Town of Brookhaven. Today there were 70-100 birds but no active nests were seen - only scrapes (though a thorough exploration of the island was not conducted). At least 8 Willets were seen (so it's possible some are nesting on the island) and some gulls were harassing the terns. Back on land in Brookhaven Hamlet, a Least Bittern was heard in its usual place but not seen as it was deep in phrag.
This evening I went kayaking in Flanders Bay and discovered a small colony of Least Terns nesting at parkland owned by Southampton Town. There were about a dozen scrapes and at least 2 nests with eggs. Common Terns were also present and appeared to be undertaking courtship behavior. I have contacted the State to see if this is a known nesting area as when I worked for Southampton Town we did not monitor this site and there is no signage/fencing. In Longneck Canal, many breeding barn swallows were seen and at least 2 nests were located underneath catwalks leading to docks. An Eastern Kingbird was once again seen, leading to the belief they are nesting somewhere along Longneck Blvd. Additionally, there is a Eastern Kingbird nest in a tree in the Brookhaven Town Hall parking lot. Photos of some of these birds can be seen here: http://birdsoflongisland.blogspot.com/2011/06/common-and-least-tern-colonies.html -- - Luke Ormand, Flanders www.birdsoflongisland.blogspot.com www.wildlongisland.blogspot.com -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
