Hi all, The New York State Young Birders Club (nysyoungbirders.org) held its monthly field trip to Cupsogue Beach on Saturday, July 9th, hosted by Huntington-Oyster Bay Audubon's Stella Miller and Brent Bomkamp. We found six tern species, highlighted by a first summer *Arctic Tern*. Below, a trip report written by Scott Wieman:
Most people don’t think of getting up at the crack of dawn to be at a parking lot on Long Island by seven thirty in the morning is the way to have fun. Especially a Saturday in the summer. But for a small group of youngsters, there was nothing they would rather do that morning. Our group gathered that morning in the northwest corner of the Cupsogue Beach State Park parking lot. Our main goal that morning? Terns. We gathered our members and, after a brief restroom break, started into the thicket of phragmites bordering the asphalt. The ankle deep muck that formed the trail ducked in a few shoes and claimed my right flip flop before we made it to the edge of the water. The majority of our group left shoes on the bank, and we all struck out across the shin-high water towards the flats. Part way to the flats, we stopped to scope the distant terns, picking up a few Black Terns and a single Pectoral Sandpiper from among the various terns and peeps spread in front of us. We worked our way closer to the flats, joking and talking as we slogged north through the mud and muck underfoot. We reached more solid ground on the south end of the flats and started scanning the tern flocks, getting treated with close looks of both Least Terns and a breeding plumaged Red Knot. From the flocks of Common and Least Terns, we spotted a pair of Roseate Terns and two Forster’s Terns. Then Brent pulled out an Arctic Tern from the flock and got the group on it. Shortly, groups of older birders were joining us and various members of our group were pointing out the arctic tern to some fairly senior New York birders, who soon confirmed the Arctic Tern ID. Soon, most of us headed back to the parking lot to disperse and head our own ways around eleven in the morning. All in all, it was a good morning on the Long Island mudflats. And bird list compiled by Brendan Fogarty: Cupsogue Beach County Park, Suffolk, US-NY Jul 9, 2011 7:30 AM - 10:45 AM 42 species Gadwall (Anas strepera) 3 Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 1 Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) 5 Great Egret (Ardea alba) 15 Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) 15 Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 1 Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) 2 Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) 1 Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris) 2 Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola) 15 Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) 1 Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 1 American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) 7 Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 20 Willet (Eastern) (Tringa semipalmata semipalmata) 40 Willet (Western) (Tringa semipalmata inornata) 5 Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) 1 Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) 5 Red Knot (Calidris canutus) 2 Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) 10 Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) 15 Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) 1 Dunlin (Calidris alpina) 5 Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) 75 Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) 5 Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 3 Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 20 Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) 10 Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) 20 Black Tern (Chlidonias niger) 5 Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii) 2 Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) 175 Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) 1 Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri) 2 Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 10 Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 5 European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 25 Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 2 Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus) 1 Seaside Sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus) 2 Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 20 Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major) 15 In addition, Michael McBrien and others had a productive seawatch after most had departed: he reported 70 Cory's Shearwaters, 5 Wilson's Storm-Petrels, and 2 Northern Gannets. Michael also observed a Western Sandpiper on the flats earlier in the morning, but unfortunately no one else was able to see bird in time. Thanks to everyone who attended! Benjamin Van Doren White Plains, NY -- 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/ --
