The 113th Montauk Christmas Bird Count [NYMK] was held on Saturday (15 Dec 2012). Although there were some gaps among the regular participants this year, we fielded six eager teams who fanned out across the abundance of great territory that remains at this extreme eastern tip of Long Island. Collectively the count tallied *132* species for the day, plus Ipswich Sparrow (distinctive subspecies of Savannah Sparrow); a very respectable total.
Four additional species were added for count week: GLAUCOUS GULL, BLACK-HEADED GULL, COMMON MURRE and BLACK GUILLEMOT. On count day there were two new additions to the already lengthy circle list: CACKLING GOOSE and BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE. Although one or two Cackling Geese have been present in the circle in recent winters, they've always managed to avoid detection on count day until members of the 'Point South Party' found one among the Canada Geese grazing on a Deep Hollow pasture. The Boat-tailed Grackle, a very notable find on the South Fork east of the Shinnecock Canal at any time of year, was flushed up from the tidal saltmarsh at the southern tip of Gardiner's Island. Other highlights included 4 RED-NECKED GREBES, a record showing of 58 DOVEKIES (seen by multiple parties from vantage points in Montauk), 2 EURASIAN WIGEON (males at Rita's stable and Gardiner's Island), 2 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS (Gardiner's Island), single SNOWY, SHORT-EARED and SAW-WHET OWLS and continuing flocks of RED and WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLLS. There were new high counts of GREATER YELLOWLEGS (7), AMERICAN PIPIT (34) and RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH (168), with a good count of HAIRY WOODPECKER (13), the latter two being consistent with the general influx of northern woodland species this fall. Otherwise song bird numbers were generally lower than normal, especially on Gardiner's Island, and is perhaps a reflection of the relatively mild weather so far. For instance, Brown Thrasher, Gray Catbird and Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler were all well below recent averages. To the disappointment of many, the juvenile BROWN PELICAN that had been lingering around the Montauk Inlet for a week or more, disappeared just before the count period and has not been reported since. Doubtless the final numbers from the count will undergo some minor adjustments. A big 'thank you' to all of the hardworking participants and to Robert Goelet and his staff for enabling us to census Gardiner's Island and to Frank Quevedo and his staff at the South Fork Natural History Museum for hosting the compilation. All-in-all it was a great day to be out in the field. The next count is slated for Saturday 14 Dec 2013. Please consider joining us. If interested, send an email and we'll add you to the database. Compilers: Angus Wilson, Karen Rubinstein and Hugh McGuinness -- 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/ --
