Lido Beach Passive Nature Area 19 Dec. This bay side salt marsh to the west of the Pt. Lookout marinas now shows little damage from the effects of "Sandy" except for 4 medium sized downed trees at the beginning of the trail leading to the bay. These trees were a favorite perch for Boat-tailed Grackles in spring and summer. Where the marsh previously was an almost solid expanse of marsh grass, there is now a significant increase in the number of pools of water scoured out by the hurricane. This looks positive for shore birding this coming spring.
One of the 2 Bay houses on the west side of Meadow Island, directly across the bay from the preserve, is gone, the other has damage. Several houses on Cinder Island, the island to the west of Meadow, also appear to be gone, but without a scope, I couldn't assess the damage Because of the high winds, there was little in the way of birds except for a friendly Black-capped Chickadee. Out in the marsh were Mallards, Black Ducks and a single SNOW GOOSE. A wind buffeted COOPER'S HAWK flew over. Following the sign to the Rest Rooms from the parking lot, you go by the maintenance yard which has a significant pile of clam shells. The pile was covered with gulls this morning, but nothing beyond Herring Gulls and a single Great Black-backed Gull. Worth a look. . -- 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/ --
