I posted a picture of the Nickerson Beach (Nassau co.) Black-necked Stilt on my website at http://stevewalternature.com/ . It's one of 483 pictures I took - all from my car. The main reason for taking so many was the less than good lighting most of the morning. As I discussed with some people, adults stilts are not just black and white. In good light - which came through eventually -, they look glossy - as this picture kind of shows. The stilt was faithful to the one pool, repeatedly going from one end to the other. I advised a few people that had stepped out of their cars that they could be rewarded with close looks if they waited in their cars. They were indeed rewarded. So it's unfortunate to hear of different behavior this afternoon. I think I've heard that before - like with the puddle birds at Heckscher last year. The afternoon is when the trouble seem to occur, for whatever reason that is.
That sort of segues to another topic. Maybe a twofold problem. One is of the fragmentation of reporting. I went to Nickerson this morning, having heard on a forum I subscribe to about the American Golden Plovers found yesterday. But I talked to people today that didn't know about them, mainly because it was not posted to this list. That's a good species for April and deserves more pub. If you're a shorebird aficionado like I am, that's a rare opportunity to photograph - if you behave around them - Goldens in true non-breeding plumage (as opposed to fading alternate or juvenile). But then maybe, if it was posted everywhere, the non-bevahers would have arrived sooner? So I don't know. It's a conversation that's come up before, and likely will again. But a Black-necked Stilt surely has to be shared. And sorry if it got double posted. I never know if my own post is getting through. Steve Walter Bayside, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
