This morning around 8:00 a.m. as we were kayaking across Bellport Bay, we encountered a lone Wilson's storm petrel, flying by, just a few feet above the water; it stopped several times to forage. Next, we spotted an adult gannet, marking fish and diving, as well as an osprey, heading west. Even given post-storm conditions, it is the first time I have spotted a petrel north of the barrier beach island. Our new, if temporary, inlet is still going strong.
Good birding, Peg Hart On Oct 31, 2012, at 1:16 PM, Nadir Souirgi <[email protected]> wrote: > James Knox and I spent the the first half of Oct 29th and most of Oct. 30th > scanning the Hudson River for storm birds. Unfortunately, viewing access > became a real challenge as NYPD closed off the entire end of Dyckman St. and > were heavily patrolling both Inwood Hill park and the Dyckman Ball Fields by > 11:30am on the 29th and by noon on the 30th. I mention this only because it > was apparent that many other locations along the Hudson and East Rivers > granted views as good as ours but with fewer, or in some cases, no access > restrictions. In fact I just got word that they are all currently closed off > to the public as of 10:30am today. Something to consider as birder's will no > doubt be scouting for optimal viewing locations around NYC today and in > expectation of future storms. The highlights of the species seen include: 2 > Jaeger Sp.(likely both Parasitic),1 Red Phalarope, 3 Royal Terns and 7 > Bonaparte's Gulls. Owing to the fact that the Jaeger was a lifer for me and I > have extremely limited experience with this genus, I am reluctant to Identify > beyond Sp. However, James and I were able to observe one of the birds in > direct comparison to Ring-billed Gulls and to which it was clearly smaller, > both in terms of wing-span and length. A small flock of 4-5 of these mobbed > the the obviously exhausted Jaeger and forced it to alight on the water where > it remained, bobbing in the chop approximately 100 yards from the Palisades > for a good 45min. We then observed it take flight northbound on the Hudson > and then land again beyond view about a mile away. Also observed was a > similarly plumaged bird flying southbound at a clip and just a foot or so > above the river an hour earlier. Both appeared to be primarily black at that > distance, showing white primary bases, a white belly but lacking any obvious > white or even paleness to the nape/neck/throat. Actually the head/chest > appeared uniformly blackish. As there were no reports of Long-tailed, and at > least one bird was too small to be a Pomarine, I'm left with Parasitic. > Interestingly, I was unable to come across any images of Jaegers showing this > specific plumage aspect. I'd really appreciate any insight regarding this > topic from more experienced birders. We also had a Red Phalarope peeling down > the middle of the Hudson and out running a Liberty Line ferry making its way > back to NY Harbor. Judging from the timing of things, I imagine this is the > same bird that Joe DiCostanzo first viewed from his window looking down on > Spuyten Duyvil Creek. These observations were made from the northern point of > the Dyckman Ball Fields. We eventually made our way down to the 125th St. > Pier, which was taped off but not policed which had a small flock of > Bonaparte's Gulls feeding in the vicinity. The Royal Terns were observed > moving north along the Palisades side of the river from the Dyckman Pier on > the 29th before access was denied. Here is the complete list of species > observed, mostly from the Dyckman Pier/Ball Fields except where otherwise > indicated: > > 10/29/12 > Common Loon > Double-crested Cormorant > Great Egret (Spuyten Duyvil Creek) > Black-Crowned Night-Heron (7 observed by James at Sherman Creek) > Mallard > White-winged Scoter > Black Scoter > Canada Goose > Brant > Great Black-backed Gull > Herring Gull > Ring-billed Gull > Royal Tern > American Robin > Common Grackle > > 10/30/12 > Common Loon > Red-throated Loon > Double-crested Cormorant > Mallard > American Black Duck > Red-breasted Merganser > Black Scoter > Canada Goose > Brant (100's) > Dunlin > Red Phalarope > Jaeger Sp. > Great Black-backed Gull > Herring Gull > Ring-billed Gull > Laughing Gull > Bonaparte's Gull > Forester's Tern > Common Tern (observed by James, 125th St. Pier) > Bald Eagle > Cooper's Hawk > Red-tailed Hawk > Peregrine Falcon > American Robin > Black-capped Chickadee > Tufted Titmouse > Yellow-rumped Warbler > Song Sparrow > Field Sparrow > Chipping Sparrow > Dark-eyed Junco > Pine Siskin > Brown-headed Cowbird > European Starling > > Safety and Luck to all, > Nadir Souirgi > > > > > -- > NYSbirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- -- 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/ --
