On a bird trip last evening to the LI Dwarf Pine Plains, entitled "Goatsuckers Galore", sponsored by Alula Birding and Natural History Tours, we heard six whip-poor-wills but no chuck-will's widows. They were all calling from the southwest quadrant of the DPP west of County Route 31 and south of Sunrise Highway, accessed by a broken-up gravel road that intersects with CR 31. The patchy cloud cover, extensive enough to prevent the moon from regularly shining, probably dampened the goatsuckers' from singing.
Besides the whips, another highlight was the presence of a pair of vesper sparrows (presumed breeders?) feeding and flitting around in the short grass that surrounds the model airplane runway located on the e/s/o County Route 31. Vesper sparrows have become an uncommon breeding bird on Long Island so it was nice to be able to watch the birds in some detail. We were able to enjoy some close and unobstructed views of these "bay-winged buntings" when they landed on the runway. Also had a horned lark sitting on the runway. John Turner President Alula Birding & Natural History Tours www.alulatrips. 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/ --
