We did a pre-bird count scouting expedition of the West End/Jones Beach area yesterday in late morning and early afternoon. Things were pretty quiet, birds of note included three White-crowned Sparrows on the western side of the Coast Guard compound, a single Razorbill in the mouth of Jones Inlet, and five Common Eider near the west jetty. Conspicuously missing were Bonaparte's Gulls, Crossbills, and Snow Buntings. While the warm weather is making for pleasant birding (on some days!) a blast of winter weather in New England and upstate New York might help push a few species further south.
I have included a gallery of Red Crossbill pictures on my flickr site. It is interesting to watch the flocks of crossbills feeding - if they sit still long enough. While recently watching a flock of Red Crossbills I noticed the Red-breasted Nuthach's following the crossbills, quickly picking up and eating pine cone seed remnants that had been dropped. Here on LI we have little opportunity to observe crossbill behavior, so this fall has been particularly interesting. Ken Feustel http://www.flickr.com/photos/kfeustel/ -- 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/ --
