Resisting the urge to bird some of my local parks, I instead opted for some barrier beach birding.
My first and last stop was at Jones Beach where I birded with Tom Burke and Gail Benson for most of the morning into the afternoon. The highlights were: Adult RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, seen in the median just after the entrance to the Coast Guard Station before it disappeared and was never re-found again as far as I know. DICKCISSEL, skillfully picked out in flight by Tom Burke during the early morning hours when the morning flight was cooking (the bird never put down although at one point it appeared it might do so). COMMON NIGHTHAWK, found by Dave Klauber as he almost stepped on it resting on the ground in the median. CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, found by Tom Burke and Gail Benson, it hung around near the 1st exit from the West End II parking lot providing a few of us with very nice looks but then disappeared and was not seen again well into the afternoon. PHILADELPHIA VIREO, one possibly two as Tom Burke and Gail Benson found one near the same area as the Clay Colored and then Sam Janazzo, with Dave Klauber might have had another or the same bird in the median across from where Tom and Gail had theirs. As far as warbler activity, one could easily be fooled if you drove the circle and listened and looked for birds. You had to get out and do a little "ground and pound" to get the birds but they were there feeding quietly in the median although NOT in any significant numbers. The warbler list includes but not limited to (since others may have seen additional species), the following. Black-throated Green Black-throated Blue Magnolia Northern Parula Ovenbird (seen by others) Black and White American Redstart Common yellowthroat Prairie Cape May Prairie Palm (both eastern and western) Pine Yellow Northern Waterthrush (picked out in flight by Tom Burke by its chip note) The presence of Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Kingbird, Least Flycatcher, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Red-eyed Vireo, Swainson's Thrush among the other regular birds added to the overall bird activity in the area. Sparrow activity was almost non existent save for the CLAY-COLORED, Song and a few Savannah's, the latter found later in the afternoon. As far as flight movement, there was a steady stream of Tree Swallows all morning with small numbers of Barn Swallows interspersed in the mix. There were small numbers of song birds in the mix as well but they mostly appeared to keep on moving and did not put down. No apparent movement of hawks detected and no shorebirds on the bar to study in the midst of all the boat activities near the Coast Guard Station. Andrew Baksh Queens, NY www.birdingdude.blogspot.com Sent from my iPad -- 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/ --
