25-26 Jan 2009 -‏ Cackling Goose in Sagaponack, Tundra Swans on Georgica Pond

Yesterday I helped with the East Hampton to Watermill section of the New York State waterfowl count, mostly stopping at ocean access points to count seaduck and loons. Unfortunately there really wasn't movement offshore and numbers were fairly modest. Birds of note found during the day included:

CACKLING GOOSE - 1 with a large flock of Canada Geese in a Sagaponack field off Sag Main Street near junction w Sagg Pond Ct.
TUNDRA SWAN - 3 on Georgica Pond. This family group seems to spend more time on Georgica Pond than nearby Hook Pond.
EURASIAN WIGEON - 1 on Hook Pond. Young male present since December.
WILSON'S SNIPE - 6 on a muddy creek running into Georgica Cove (southside of Cove Hollow Road)
PURPLE SANDPIPERS - 24 on the middle of the three ocean jetties at Georgica.
KILLDEER - 1 Mecox Bay (Bay Lane), relatively scarce in midwinter.

Today we had a flock of 28 PINE SISKIN at our feeder in Springs and a late afternoon visit to Napeague produced 'Larry' the LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL at its usual spot on Lazy Point and a good number of shorebirds on the flats exposed by the low tide: 150 RUDDY TURNSTONE, 190 DUNLIN, 220 SANDERLING and 4 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER.

The evergreen berries that seemed to have attracted the Bohemian Waxwing to the community at Napeague Beach have mostly been devored and may explain the complete absence of the waxwing and the Starling/American Robin flock it associated with. I understand the waxwing was looked for repeatedly during the week by Andy Baldelli and others, so presumably it has moved elsewhere. Likewise, the Western Grebe found by Jorn Ake in Amagansett on 9 Jan and seen again by Jorn and several others the next day has not been relocated in spite of intense searching by Hugh McGuinness, myself and others, so it too may have moved, although the beach is so extensive that it could still be in the same general area and should be watched for at any access point between Shinnecock Inlet and Montauk!

19 Jan 2009 - Bald Eagle on Gardiners Island

A few bits and pieces today.

PINE SISKIN - up to 6 on our feeder in The Springs.
COMMON REDPOLL - 1 briefly on the feeder.
BALD EAGLE - adult at south end of Gardiners Island, visible from Gerard Drive and from Promised Land Road. Sometimes perched on 'no landing' signs or flying around making half-hearted attempts to snatch one of the hundreds of ducks it flushed off the pond at the tip.
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK - light morph hunting at southern end of Gardiners Is. Probably the bird we saw heading across to Gardiners to Lazy Point on Sat.
CANVASBACK - 5 on Gardiners Bay off Gerard Point.
GREAT HORNED OWL - perched on the top of the trees at the edge of the Walking Dunes.

After looking unsuccessfully for the Western Grebe off Napeague Lane, Atlantic Ave and Mako I ended up at Montauk Pt in the late afternoon. The duck hunters were still there and had clearly pushed the majority of birds quite far out. Anthony's Dovekie was still present below the bluff at Camp Hero swimming widely around in Turtle Cove. A couple of distant razors were the only other birds of note. Gannet numbers seemed down compared to Sunday.

18 Jan 2009 - Dovekie, Thick-billed Murre and other winter waterbirds off Montauk

Hugh McGuinness and I birded the Montauk area today as part of the DEC/NYSOA January waterfowl count. The snow/sleet mix fizzled out by late morning. The relatively windless conditions, heavy overcast and lack of heat shimmer made for excellent ocean viewing. Our highlights included a DOVEKIE, a THICK-BILLED MURRE, 53+ RAZORBILL, 4 RED-NECKED GREBE, 3 KING EIDER, 4 HARLEQUIN DUCK, 2 BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, 19 PURPLE SANDPIPER, SNOWY OWL and SHORT-EARED OWL. Common Eider and scoter numbers seemed relatively low compared to previous weeks whereas the numbers of Common Loons and Horned Grebes remain fairly high. The partially leucistic White-winged Scoter first found two weeks ago was still present off the Consession Building. As noted in an earlier post by Anthony Collerton, the BOHEMIAN WAXWING we found yesterday continues on Shore Drive in Napeague and was seen by several parties during the day.

Details of the highligh speces are as follows:

DOVEKIE - single in Turtle Cove. Found yesterday by Anthony Collerton. Turtle Cove is on the south side of the point and today was best viewed from the bluff east of the Camp Hero parking lot.

THICK-BILLED MURRE - Whilst scanning from the concession building Hugh picked out a Thick-billed Murre on the edge of a Surf Scoter flock. Unfortunately it disappeared almost immediately but a couple of hours later what was presumably the same bird was seen again by Shai Mitra, Patricia Lindsay and Dough Futyuma from the southside of the Point and seemed to be heading back towards the north side. Remarkably, Shai et al. saw a second Thick-billed Murre in flight from Culloden Point but we were unable to relocate it later in the afternoon.

RAZORBILL - small groups were noted from vantages at Montauk Point and Camp Hero. A dead Razorbill was also noted floating on Lake Montauk.

RED-NECKED GREBE - One was observed from Gin Beach on the east side a Montauk Inlet and three from Culloden Point.

KING EIDER - at least two females were present off the Point and third was at Ditch Plains.

HARLEQUIN DUCK - A quartet at Ditch Plains comprised two adult males, an immature male and a female.

BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE - Two adults made brief appearances over the scoter flocks at Montauk Point before heading out into Block Island Sound.

PURPLE SANDPIPER - Fifteen roosting on a large bolder at Ditch Plains, two at the Montauk Inlet jetties and two on the rocks below Camp Hero.

At dusk we watched a SHORT-EARED OWL corsing over the dunes bordering Napeague Harbor and were pleasantly surprised when it stooped to dive bomb a SNOWY OWL perched on the top of a small tree.

17 Jan 2009 - Bohemian Waxwing in Napeague Beach

Whilst counting waterfowl in Amagansett and Napeague, Hugh McGuinness and I spotted a handsome BOHEMIAN WAXWING perched on an overhead wire at the intersection of Atlantic Drive and Shore Drive. I believe this is the first Bohemian on the island so far this winter. The waxwing gave superb views as it flew around the neighborhood returning repeatedly to a stand of fruiting evergreens behind the 2nd and 3rd houses to the east of the beach access road. The waxwing seemed to be traveling with a flock of 20-30 Starlings, rather than a similar sized flock of American Robins that were feeding on the same berries. This was all in a small community of beach side houses between Montauk Highway (Route 27) and the ocean, near the junction with Napeague Meadow Road ('Art Barge'). Although late in the afternoon, Karen Rubinstein, Barbara Rubinstein and Vicki Bustamante were able to join us in time to see the bird.

Nearby Napeague Harbor was almost completely frozen, with a variety of waterfowl concentrated in a small area of open water off Lazy Point. In addition to 'Larry' the resident LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, Karen and Barbara found an adult PEREGRINE with prey out on the ice. A ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was noted flying from Lazy Point towards Gardiners Island. In Beachampton, Hugh and I found three IPSWICH SPARROWS at the end of Napeague Lane and noted three RAZORBILLS on the ocean along with large numbers of Red-throated Loons. We could not find the Western Grebe seen in this area last Friday & Saturday.

In Southampton, a male AMERCIAN KESTREL was at the tree farm on the northside of Route 27, just east of the junction with County Road 39A. Sadly this species has become very scarce on the South Fork in the winter and was missed by both the Montauk and Sagaponack Christmas Bird Counts. Lastly, whilst driving on Montauk Highway in Waterwill, I was puzzled by a large bird that was weaving a few feet above the dense vehicular traffic much like an impatient motocyclist. Only as it flew past my driverside window did I realize it was an immature and apparently very confused GREAT CORMORANT! Moments later, a second GREAT CORMORANT (an adult this time) was seen flying over the vinyards of the Duckwalk Winery.

3 Jan 2009 - Razorbills, Cackling Goose etc

There was a nice mix of waterfowl today in East Hampton and Montauk (Suffolk Co.). Some 500 or more LONG-TAILED DUCK were displaying in Gardiner's Bay off Clearwater Beach in Springs. At Hook Pond in East Hampton Village, the immature male EURASIAN WIGEON continues and this morning was with 11 AMERICAN WIGEON, 5 NORTHERN PINTAIL, 6 COMMON MERGANSER and 3 GREAT CORMORANT - all gathered around a narrow openning in the ice. A MERLIN was hunting over the golf course during my visit. A CACKLING GOOSE was with Canada Geese on the field off Further Lane.

At Lazy Point in Napeague, 'Larry' the adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL continues at its regular spot, the narrow channel between the mainland and Hick's Island. For about 15 minutes, I watched a female NORTHERN HARRIER hovering low over the shallow water at the other end of Hick's. It repeatedly dropped with outstretched legs down onto the water, once or twice almost landing completely. I'm not aware that harriers ever fish (although Old-World Western and Eastern Marsh Harriers might) and the answer to this curious behavior finally came when the harrier lifted clear of the water clutching a dead female bufflehead, which it carried to solid ground.

At Montauk Point, the wind was fairly strong from the NNW and NW but sufficient shelter could be had in the lee of the restaurant. A one hour seawatch produced a fly-by RED-NECKED GREBE, 28 RAZORBILL and a female KING EIDER. As previous posts have indicated, the scoter numbers remain high. I estimated 3,500 SURF SCOTER, 1,500 WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, 150 BLACK SCOTER and 700 COMMON EIDER from this vantage point. Scanning from the bluffs at Camp Hero revealed a considerable number more to the SE of the Lighthouse, but by then I was too chilled to count them properly. Elsewhere, a dark ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was vigorously mobbed by crows just east of Montauk Village, two GREAT CORMORANT flew over Hither Hills State Park and at sundown another Merlin briefly buzzed a SNOWY OWL perched on a sand dune.

13 Dec 2008 - Cackling Goose in East Hampton

Late this afternoon, a CACKLING GOOSE (Richardson's) was with 150 Canada Geese on the field on the north side of Further Lane, halfway between East Hampton Village and Amagansett Village (Suffolk. Co., South Fork of Long Island). A nice variety of ducks were enjoying the open water at Hook Pond in East Hampton, including 10 Common Merganser.

Earlier in the afternoon, Jorn Ake found a 1st-winter Glaucous Gull feeding on a Red-throated Loon carcass on the ocean beach near the Indian Wells beach access, and seen again nearer the Atlantic Avenue access and also an adult Lesser Black-back Gull on the beach near Napeague State Park.

6 Dec 2008 - King Eider, Harlequin, Chat, Clay-colored Sparrow in Montauk

The calm conditions made for a pleasant day on the eastern tip of Long Island. Essentially any view of the ocean yielded nice looks at loons, scoter and Long-tailed Ducks. My totals from several spots between Amagansett and Montauk Point (MP) were 165 Red-throated Loons, 175 Common Loons, 2 Horned Grebe, 1000+ Common Eider (most off MP), White-winged Scoter 4000+ (ditto), Surf Scoter 2000+ (ditto), Black Scoter 100+, scoter sp. 2000+ and Long-tailed Duck 50. In the afternoon a nice male HARLEQUIN DUCK was flying in front of the MP restaurant with 2 WW Scoter and had been seen in the morning by Barbara Rubinstein and party and a full adult KING EIDER was pushed up by a passing fishing boat. A pair of Bufflehead, 5 Black Duck and a female Hooded Merganser were less expected duck for MP. Razorbills remain scarce this season (so far), although Hugh McGuniness and others saw 11 or so from the Point this morning. Despite the excellent visibility, I had no luck with alcids in the afternoon. Razorbills are often, but certainly not always, easier to find in the early morning from this location, so where do they go in the afternoon? Bonaparte's Gull numbers have dropped significantly since last week but a lingering adult Laughing Gull as encouraging for the upcoming CBC (20 Dec).

Other local notables are itemized below.

** Amagansett **
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT - 1 (northeast corner Bluff Rd & Atlantic Av)
Field Sparrow - 1

** Hither Hills SP **
Horned Grebe - 1
Common Eider - 18
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW - 1 (seen with Hugh McGuiness, Karen and Barbara Rubinstein)
Chipping Sparrow - 1

** Tuthill Pond, Montauk **
Ring-necked Duck - 1

** Montauk Manor **
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK - 1 juv (Foxboro Road)

** Montauk Point **
Common Eider - 1000
KING EIDER - 1 ad male
HARLEQUIN DUCK - 1 ad male
Bufflehead - pr.
Hooded Merganser - 1 f
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL - 1 1st-w
Laughing Gull - 1 ad.

** Ditch Plains **
Common Eider - 10
COMMON GOLDENEYE - 2 f (not many around yet, my f.o.s)
PURPLE SANDPIPER - 10
Dunlin - 1 (compared to other Dunlin seen at Accabonac in the morning, this struck me as a quite pale bird with a very long bill)

29 Nov 2008 - King Eiders, Fin Whale(s) and more, Montauk

There was a nice mix of late-fall/winter birds in the Montauk area this afternoon with impressive numbers of Common and Red-throated Loons, Northern Gannets and scoters offshore, and the highest counts of Bonaparte's Gulls I've had so far this season.

At Hither Hills State Park, the CLAY-COLORED SPARROW continues on the loop east of the campground entrance, along with 2 FIELD SPARROWS. A YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT made a brief appearance before diving back into the bushes near the eastern most shower block. At Culloden Point, 2 RED-NECKED GREBES were steaming around among the loons, and a single PURPLE SANDPIPER was on the jetties at Montauk Inlet.

The numbers of Common Eider and scoter continue to build off Montauk Point and whilst sifting through these I spotted 2 adult male KING EIDERS flying into the large raft gathered to southeast of the lighthouse. I understand three King Eiders were also seen in the morning. Unfortunately most of the seaduck are quite distant and best studied as they pick up and fly to compensate for the drift caused by the tide. A FIN WHALE was actively feeding directly south of the Camp Hero overlook. A MERLIN was noted coming in off the sea from the southeast. A paultry total of three LAUGHING GULLS (1 ad and 2 first winter) for the day confirmed the mass exodus triggered by last weekend's coldsnap. At Ditch Plains, the male HARLEQUIN DUCK continues in the rocky area east of the trailer park and a FIN WHALE (perhaps a second?) was feeding offshore. At least two SNOWY OWLS are being seen in the Town of East Hampton. There is evidently a fairly significant incursion into the northeast this year with a number on Long Island already and it will be interesting to see how many establish wintering territories or continue south. Please use common sense and view roosting owls from a distance to avoid unecessary disturbance.

16 Nov 2008 - Franklin's Gull off Montauk

The weather today was very different from yesterday with cooler temperatures, patches of clear sky and a strong westerly wind. In hopes of western strays brought by the shifting wind, I visited a number of spots between Bridgehampton and Montauk.

The highlight was a 1st-winter FRANKLIN'S GULL that passed in front of the restaurant at Montauk Point just before 2:00 pm. I was sifting through the steady stream of gulls, mostly Laughing and Herring Gulls, that were rounding the point from the south side on route to an immense feeding congregation some ways north of Shagwong Point. When I first picked the bird up, it was almost head on but struck me as something different from the Laughing Gulls. As it turned, I got a good view of the head with its prominent 'half' hood, and white eye arcs. When viewed alongside some Laughing Gulls (1st winters and adults), the slightly shorter wings, smaller body and more peg-like black bill were quite evident. The Franklin's landed on the water a couple of times near some feeding eiders but stayed for only a few seconds before taking flight again. Unfortunately, it continued passed my viewing point and disappeared once it rounded the edge of the beach. Although I spent most of the encounter studying the bird in the scope, I managed a squeeze of a couple of fuzzy photographs as a record. This has been real nemesis bird for me on Long Island, I can't bare to think of how many Laughing Gulls I have carefully looked at in search of this species. The degree of variation in Laughing Gulls is daunting once you start looking at them closely and thus a suite of positive characters is needed for a safe ID.

Other notables today were the greatly increased numbers of COMMON EIDER off the Point. I guesstimated around 1,000 passing the restaurant in 2.5 h of watching and a modest flight of GREAT CORMORANTS, with a flock of 36 whilst seawatching from Hither Hills State Park. Other winter seaduck are also building in numbers.

On terra firma, the CACKLING GOOSE continues at Deep Hollow Ranch, on the south side of the highway, and the 2 CATTLE EGRETS were at the Mecox Dairy, although they looked pretty miserable in the buffeting wind. I noted some flocks of AMERICAN GOLDFINCH and a few PINE SISKIN at Sag Mains, Peters Pond Lane, Hither Hills SP and Deep Hollow. Alas, I did not see a swallow of any kind.

**Mecox Dairy, Mecox Rd, Bridgehampton**
CATTLE EGRET - 2

** Sag Mains & Peters Pond Lane, Bridgehampton **
Merlin - 1
Pine Siskin -6

** Hook Pond, East Hampton **
Great Cormorant - 1
Atlantic Brant - 1 (1st-winter)

** Further Lane, Amagansett **
Snow Goose - 1 (adult)

** Hither Hills State Park **
Great Cormorant - 36
Laughing Gull - 500+ (all moving west)
Pine Siskin - 8

** Deep Hollow, Montauk **
CACKLING GOOSE - 1
Killdeer - 21
Pine Siskin - 5

** Montauk Point **
Common Eider - 1000++
Northern Gannet - 500 (plus several 1000 1-2 miles north)
GREAT CORMORANT - 2
FRANKLIN'S GULL - 1 (1st winter)
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL - 3 (1 ad. and 2 1st-yrs)

**Gin Beach **
Great Cormorant - 1
Palm Warbler - 1

15 Nov 2008 - Pomarine Jaeger and other seabirds off Montauk

A 2-hour gap between the heavy rain showers this afternoon gave me a chance to seawatch off Montauk Point (Suffolk Co.). The strong wind was from the south, bringing in a warm wet airflow. A very impressive showing of NORTHERN GANNETS and LAUGHING GULLs were feeding over the rip in front of the Lighthouse, with even greater numbers of both species some distance to the north in Block Island Sound proper. The highlight was a juv-like POMARINE JAEGER that swung in towards the Point just after 3 pm. It was one of those hefty rich-brown birds with very prominent wing flashes and I confess that I was convinced it was skua for the first minute or two, as I watched it assault some Herring Gulls. However, with better views of the body/tail proportions and head, I realized that it was actually a young Pom. The two-tone bill and barring on the undertail coverts clinched it. A few minutes later 3 adult-type, light-phase PARASITIC JAEGERS came in from the NE and set upon some Laughing Gulls. Whilst watching them drift off into the mist, I picked up a 4th PARASITIC JAEGER, this time a juv-type that remained in the area until I was forced away by a torrential downpour. Present in the melee were an adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, 2 first-winter BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES and a 'COMMIC TERN' (most likely Common Tern). Throngs of RED-THROATED LOONS rounded the point during the same wind/tide change that brought the jaegers. A GRAY SEAL munched a skate just beyond the casting range of the surf fishermen. The other spots I visited were quiet but of course, the weather was far from optimal.

** Montauk Point **
Green-winged Teal - 1 (on ocean off Pt)
Common Eider - 100+
All 3 scoter
Red-throated Loon - 170
Common Loon - 90
Northern Gannet - 3,000++
Double-crested Cormorant - 35
GREAT CORMORANT - 1
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE - 2 (1st winter)
Bonaparte's Gull - 50
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL - 1 ad.
Laughing Gull - 5,000++
Common/Arctic Tern - 1
POMARINE JAEGER - 1 (juv-type)
PARASITIC JAEGER - 4 (3 ad-type, 1 juv-type)

** Deep Hollow Pasture **
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL - 1 ad.
Killdeer - 38

** Lazy Point, Nappeague **
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL - 1 ad. ('Larry')

14 Nov 2008 - Cackling Goose near Riverhead

In Riverhead this afternoon, a CACKLING GOOSE (Richardson's) was with 200 or so Canada Geese in the fields between Horton and Roanoke Avenues just north of Reeves Avenue. At least 5 AMERICAN PIPIT were present also.

One CATTLE EGRET continues at the Mecox Bay Dairy in Bridgehampton. At Sag Mains, Sagaponack, a 2nd winter LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL and three Semipalmated Sandpipers (I couldn't turn them into Westerns) were present on the remaining sand flat with a single DUNLIN.

9 Nov 2008 - Cackling Goose, Pectoral Sandpiper, Parasitic Jaeger in the Montauk area

Hugh McGuinness and I seawatched from Montauk Point (Suffolk Co.,) this morning. There are still good numbers of Laughing Gulls feeding over the rips and Hugh found a light-phase PARASITIC JAEGER pestering them shortly before I arrived. He also glimpsed a swallow passing over the beach - always worth a second or third look at this time of year - but could not get a firm ID. Numbers of seaduck continue to increase and we logged more than 70 COMMON EIDER and 24 ATLANTIC BRANT as well as all three scoter, Long-tailed Duck and Red-breasted Mergansers. COMMON and RED-THROATED LOONS were conspicuous and were joined by 2 HORNED GREBES. The passerine flight was also quite noticeable with a flock of 30 PINE SISKIN at the Montauk overlook and numerous AMERICAN GOLDFINCH (200++), as well as YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, AMERICAN ROBIN, CEDAR WAXWING, COMMON GRACKLES.

At Deep Hollow, the CACKLING GOOSE reported from last week continues in the horse pasture south of the hwy together with 48 KILLDEER. We walked the paths of the Teddy Roosevelt County Park but did not find much of note except for a FIELD SPARROW, HAIRY WOODPECKER, several flyover PINE SISKIN and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. A TURKEY VULTURE buzzed the crows and Ring-billed Gulls on both sides of Deep Hollow. At Gin Beach (Montauk Inlet) the finch flight was more impressive, with flocks passing every few minutes. I was surprised to see several flocks of siskin, goldfinch and Yellow-rumed Warblers flying low over the water several hundred yards offshore. These were most easily picked out when silloueted against one of the many fishing boats. Overall, I would estimate more than 200 PINE SISKIN and 700-800 AMERICAN GOLDFINCH for the morning.

A late juvenile PECTORAL SANDPIPER was on the pond at Rita's Horsefarm with a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER and 60 COMMON EIDER and all 3 scoter species were just beyond the surf line at Ditch Plains. 4 WILD TURKEY were are Montauk Landfill with another in Hither Hills SP. A PALM WARBLER was at the Hither Hills camp ground but the howling westerly wind made birding increasingly difficult in the afternoon. Of local note, 3 ATLANTIC BRANT were at Louse Point in Accabonac, seen independently by Karen and Barbara Rubinstein as well, and a TURKEY VULTURE was over Springs/Fireplace Road in The Springs, this morning.

I'll end by saying that Hugh called shortly after 3 pm to say that the 2 CATTLE EGRETS are still present in the cow pasture at the Mecox Bay Dairy in Bridgehampton.

8 Nov 2008 - Cattle Egrets in Bridgehampton

Today there were 2 CATTLE EGRETS trailing the herd of Jersey dairy cattle at the Mecox Bay Dairy and visible from Mecox Road in Bridgehampton, Suffolk Co., Long Island. Mecox Bay itself is full and the only birds of note were a steady eastward flight of Red-throated Loons, many still in alternate plumage. In contrast, NORTHERN GANNETS seemed to be making a westward push. At Sag Mains in Sagaponach, the gull flock on the exposed sand flat included 3 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS (2 adults and 1 3rd year), a late juvenile WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER with DUNLIN and SANDERLINGS and a late AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER with 7 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. The Golden-plover seemed to favor the base of the distant spit where the pond first narrows. 2 SEMIPALMATED PLOVER were also on this spit. A 1st winter LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was a Georgica Pond. A juvenile SNOW GOOSE was with CANADA GEESE on the south side of Rt27 near the junction with Newlight Lane.

2 Nov 2008 - Vesper Sparrow, siskins, kittiwakes and very large gull numbers off Montauk

I spent the middle portion of the day visiting various spots near East Hampton, Long Island. A VESPER SPARROW, presumably one of the three found by Joe Giunta's SOFO walk on Saturday, continues at the Hither Hills State Park Campground along with a FIELD SPARROW and a small flock of CHIPPING SPARROWS. Several flocks of finches came bounding down the beach and I logged 150+ PINE SISKIN and 100+ AMERICAN GOLDFINCH in less than an hour. 10 COMMON EIDER were on the ocean - not a typical spot for them.

Theodore Roosevelt County Park in Deep Hollow was relatively quiet but I noted 8 AMERICAN PIPIT, 40 KILLDEER, 2 PURPLE FINCH and a BROWN CREEPER. I did not find anything of note on the horse pasture south of the highway at Deep Hollow but kept thinking I could hear the higher pitched honk of a Cackling Goose! Dave Klauber's report suggests I wasn't totally off base but I am puzzled why I could not lay eyes on the bird.

The numbers of gulls off Montauk Point are absolutely spectacular. Shortly after midday, LAUGHING GULLS were streaming past the restaurant in their hundreds, with many Ring-billed Gulls mixed in. Unfortunately most of the large gulls were cutting overland and I could not watch both streams. The highlight of the spectacle were 3 adult BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES passing together only a hundred yards from the restaurant deck. Several large feeding frenzies had formed southeast of the Lighthouse, but in the stiff and chilly NE wind these proved a little too far out to study properly. Even greater numbers of Laughing Gulls were feeding in dense clouds to the east of Shagwong Point and all told I settled on a very conservative estimate of 10-15,000 gulls, with 80-90% being Laughing Gulls! 8 SNOW BUNTINGS were on the buffs at Camp Hero and 15 PINE SISKIN were at Gin Beach. Lastly, I noted an EASTERN MEADOWLARK and 3 FIELD SPARROW along Promised Land Road.