Highlights from a full day of birding out east in Montauk Long Island with Tom
Burke and Gail Benson.
Starting at the point with an early morning seawatch. Many Razorbills were
present providing nice views both sitting and in flight. All 3 Scoter species
were present in the thousands. Decent number of Bonaparte Gulls were seen early
but thinned quickly out as the morning wore on. Northern Gannets were quite
sparse and between Tom, Gail and myself, we might have seen a grand total of
"4" over an hour of sea watching. As far as land birds, there was a movement of
American Robins, sprinkled with Redwing Blackbirds in the area. Earlier, I had
put in a search for the previously reported Yellow-breasted Chat with no luck
but did coax out of the dense undergrowth 4 Eastern Towhees.
After receiving a report from Ken and Sue Feustel about the Thick-billed Murre.
Tom, Gail and I put in a search along with Shai Mitra, Pat Lindsay, Phil and
Holly Cambhi to no avail. After giving the Murre chase a break, 3 of us birded
the bluff at Camp Hero where after a long search, we picked up the continuing
drake King Eider. Our Eider search was interrupted by a message from the
Feustels who saved us "the blushes" by re-finding the Murre near the East Side
jetty of Montauk inlet.
After enjoying views of the Thick-billed Murre we went back to Camp Hero where
after a long search, we finally got views of the drake King Eider. This bird
was very difficult to pick out in the surf and distance.
A search for Red-necked Grebe did not pan out despite covering several areas.
Nevertheless, we did manage to pick up 1 adult and 1 sub adult Iceland Gulls
both seen near the inlet.
Another look at the inlet in the afternoon provided nice looks at the
Thick-billed Murre which we enjoyed with Gary Strauss. The Murre, was being
eyed by a few Great Black-backed Gulls. No doubt, thinking about adding a tick
to "their rare bird kill list."
A stop at Napeague was not productive with no sign of Larry the Lesser
Black-back or any "Owlthingie."
One last note, Karlo and Alison Mirth who we ran into. Reported a dark looking
Red-tailed Hawk. We kept an eye out for it but did not see anything suspicious.
Birders in the Montauk area might want to keep an eye out.
Cheers,
風 Swift as the wind
林 Quiet as the forest
火 Conquer like the fire
山 Steady as the mountain
Sun Tzu The Art of War
> (__/)
> (= '.'=)
> (") _ (")
> Sent from somewhere in the field using my mobile device!
Andrew Baksh
www.birdingdude.blogspot.com
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