Western Kingbird, Deep Hollow - 31 Oct 2009

The handsome WESTERN KINGBIRD continues in Deep Hollow near Montauk (Suffolk Co). Look for the bird around the edges of the horse pasture south of Rt 27. This morning it was flycatching from trees on the slope on the eastern (most distant) side and favored the area right of the very obvious bank of solar panels where there is a new fence (41.0543, -71.8945). The kingbird also ventured out into the open field and used the various fences that run north-south as a vantage point from which to snatch flies from the many fresh dung piles. I should mention that Vicki Bustamante refound this bird during the week, after it was first reported by Michael McBrien (per Shai Mitra) last Monday.

At Montauk Point, decent numbers (600++) of Atlantic Gannets continue with some impressive feeding frenzies, presumably over migrating herring. I noted a lingering CORY'S SHEARWATER with one of the feeding groups. Upwards of 350 Common Eider were scattered around Point and were in fact evident at many spots around the peninsula. A female KING EIDER (most likely the bird I found near here last weekend) was in the surf off Ditch Plains (41.039,-71.9105). An immature GREAT CORMORANT was on the jetties at Montauk Inlet and another was in Fort Pond.

Lastly, Patricia Lindsay and Shai Mitra found a (Richardson's) CACKLING GOOSE on Further Lane between East Hampton and Amagansett (40.9622, -72.1599) and it was still there at the front of the Canada Goose flock when I went past at 1 pm.

Ditch Plains: Northern Fulmar, King Eider and much more

I figured the strong onshore winds (S to SSE, 25-30 kts) and wet conditions might bring some seabirds inshore and indeed there were masses of gulls, gannets and seaduck all along the ocean side of the South Fork. By far the largest concentration occurred to the east of Ditch Plains, off Caswells Point. Access is limited along this stretch and so I walked about 1/2 mile east of the trailer park and then scoped from a ladder running up the steep bluff. The main throng was a little distant to study properly but I estimated somewhere between 5,000-7,000 Laughing Gulls, 800 or more Northern Gannets, and good numbers of other gulls. The highlight was a NORTHERN FULMAR that flew along the beach towards the action at or less than 100 yards out. I got scope filling views of this somewhat ratty pale-morph individual. A female KING EIDER was in the surf with a group of Common Eider and was acting suspiciously like the female that spend the last two winters along this stretch.

*** Ditch Plains/Caswells Point, Montauk ***

NORTHERN FULMAR - 1 (pale morph, headed east just beyond surf line)
CORY'S SHEARWATER - 2+ (could well have been more but hard to make out in the distant feeding frenzy and rough seas)
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE - 3 (all 1st basics)
ROYAL TERN - 3 (2 ad. 1 juv)
PARASITIC JAEGER - 3 (all juvs)
jaeger sp. - 1
Common Eider - 250+
KING EIDER - 1 (fem., first of the season)
PEREGRINE -1 (was perched on bluff then headed out into the mass of seabirds)

*** Montauk Point ***

CORY'S SHEARWATER - 2 (working back and forth over the reef just east of the lighthouse)
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE - 1 (1st basic)
COMMON TERN - 2
PARASITIC JAEGER - 2
SNOW BUNTING - 2 (on the beach, first of the season)
Common Eider - 600++
Black Scoter - 2,500
Surf Scoter - 200
White-winged Scoter - 150

I encountered Common Eider at almost every ocean vantage point between Amagansett and Montauk Point and would guess that the recent bad weather has moved them around a bit. Laughing Gulls were also everywhere with 500-600 bathing or roosting on Fort Pond in Montauk and a continuous stream of birds going back and forth from the ocean. Despite two visits I couldn't pull out anything more interesting among them. One thing I have never seen before is skiens of scoter, mainly Blacks, flying low over the town of Montauk headed towards the ocean. Flocks were also rounding the Point and crossing Gardiners Bay in a similar direction as viewed from Culloden Point. I wasn't sure what to make of this but now looking at the reports of scoter from inland sites, I wonder if these weren't newly arriving migrants rather than birds that have been here a few days?

Elsewhere, 2 SEMINPALMATED PLOVER continue in Deep Hollow on the southern most pasture, and an adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was on the beach at Fort Pond Bay. The restaurant at Montauk Point seems to have closed for the season. I looked for the Lark Sparrow (seen as recently as Wednesday by Vicki Bustamante) but the area was being used for a BBQ (poor choice of day!) and no sparrows were in evidence. Lastly, a SORA was calling from the small freshwater pond below the restaurant.

Montauk: Lingering Cory's Shearwater and Common Terns - 18 Oct 09

The combination of a really strong easterly wind (40 knot gusts), tempestuous seas and driving rain made birding, shall we say, a little difficult this morning. First I seawatched from Main Beach in the Village of East Hampton (Suffolk Co.). Good numbers of Laughing Gulls and Gannets were just visible in the gloom as they fed on bait fish some distance offshore. A steady procession of gulls would fly into the beach for a break and then head out again giving some chance to look through them. I got no sense that there was a seabird flight, simply birds moving around as they fed or rested. Highlights were an unidentified JAEGER, 2 ROYAL TERNS and 4 COMMON TERNS.

I then ventured out to Montauk Point, where the weather seemed even worse but at least there was some shelter from the rain at the restaurant. Again, no evidence of a movement but plenty of birds to look at, including an estimated 800 COMMON EIDER and a comparable number of scoter. The highlight was a lingering CORY'S SHEARWATER that made repeated forays through the flocks of feeding gulls and sea duck. Also 2 COMMON TERNS. Red-throated Loons were more in evidence but no alcids or kittiwakes yet.

Three adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were on the beach at Montauk Point. Another adult was on the shore at Fort Pond Bay, where 4 Ringed-neck Ducks and a Lesser Scaup have returned to Tuthill's Pond. Two additional LESSER BLACK-BACKS were on the field off Further Lane in Amagansett, making a total of 6 for the morning. A couple of AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS linger on Hick's Island in Napeague.

Lark Sparrow at Montauk Point - 17 Oct 09

Posted to NYSBIRDS by Hugh McGuinness

Dear NY Birders,

Today I led a small band of intrepid birders for the South Fork Natural History Society on a trip to Montauk Point. Despite the blustery weather we were not disappointed as the day dawned sunny, and remained so for several hours. The fierce east wind had pushed numerous seabirds north of the point and by the time we arrived at 8am, many of them were rounding the point heading to sea. NORTHERN GANNETS, LAUGHING GULLS and BLACK SCOTERS passed in abundance. Just north of the concession stand we found a VESPER SPARROW.

We next headed to Teddy Roosevelt Co Park, where we found a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW and a BLUE GROSBEAK among a modest size flock of sparrows that included 5 WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS.

At the end of our walk, we received a call from Angus Wilson who had located a LARK SPARROW on the north side of the new bathrooms at Montauk Point, so we returned for leisurely views of this obliging bird. Shai Mitra and Pat Lindsay saw the bird an hour or so after we left, so perhaps the bird will hang around. Angus also conducted an extended, if frigid, seawatch at the point, and he'll probably report his results in his own impeccable style.

At the south end of the horse farm, there were 3 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS, one of which could be mistaken for a Baird's, in the KILLDEER flock, which also contained 3 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS.

After my trip was done, Angus and I visited Hither Hills State Park campground where we discovered a brightly-colored DICKCISSEL among the church of House Sparrows on the western loop.

All in all a surprisingly successful day of birding given the weather conditions.

Hugh McGuinness

Slow morning around Montauk Point - 4 Oct 2009

Sunday's weather was wonderful but the birding was a bit slow. In the morning, Hugh McGuinness and I walked the pony trail up the northeast side of Deep Hollow in search of the rare warblers seen the day before but found only a sprinkling of commoner migrants (Magnolia Warbler, American Redstart, Nashville Warbler, Parula, 5+ Palm Warblers, 5-10 Northern Orioles, 2 Winter Wren, 10+ White-throated Sparrows and 3 Eastern Phoebe). Four Blue-winged Teal were on a pool in horse pasture and a migrant American Kestrel tussled with crows. We noted a couple of Solitary Sandpipers on the pools, with another near the cow feeding lot on the south side of the highway. The waters off Montauk Point were placid and spectacularly birdless! A few (c.50) Laughing Gulls, 10+ Surf Scoters, and a couple of distant Gannets were all I could find in about 40 mins of scanning. Given the activity along the beach on Saturday, I was surprised not to see any sterna terns. Did they finally leave with the front? The first skeins of cormorants flying in across Block Island Sound was a sign of autumn. Time to watch out for Great Cormorants. A Merlin hunted around Turtle Cove but had nothing to chase beyond dragonflies. I briefly checked the pools along West Lake Drive, Rita's Horse Farm and Montauk Inlet but saw nothing of note. Maybe next weekend will be more exciting?

Movement of larids, including another good showing of Parasitic Jaegers - 3 Oct 2009

This morning, I seawatched for two-hours from Main Beach in the Village of East Hampton, Suffolk County. As forecast, the rain was heavy and unrelenting but the on-shore winds were not as strong as I’d hoped for. Consequently, the visibility was often limited to a few hundred yards, but occasionally improved revealing many more birds further out. Regardless, there were a decent number of larids moving eastward along the shore, primarily COMMON TERNS, LAUGHING GULLS and RING-BILLED GULLS. Laughing Gulls have been relatively scare on the South Fork so far this fall but now seem to be working their way east, as is typical for Oct and Nov. Perhaps because of the limited visibility, I did not see any shearwaters and surprisingly few seaduck. Interestingly, I re-sighted the albino Common Tern from last week indicating that some of the terns at least are lingering in the area rather than moving through.

The gulls and terns were pausing to snatch slender bait fish (likely sandlance, Ammodytes americanus), which seemed to be quite abundant. With this amount of activity, I was not surprised to see some PARASITIC JAEGERS (conservative estimate of 22 different birds). As with last weekend, this number seems well above average. One hapless Common Tern was chased onto the water by a squadron of five jaegers. That’s when you know it’s time to chuck up your breakfast!

** Main Beach, East Hampton (9:05-11:05 am) **
Black Scoter - 20
Northern Gannet - 38 (mix of ages)
Double-crested Cormorant - 7
Laughing Gull - 910+++
Ring-billed Gull - 370+++
Herring Gull - 60
Great Black-backed Gull - 9
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL - 1 ad. (flying on beach)
Common Tern - 410 ++
Forster’s Tern - 18
PARASITIC JAEGER - 22 (16 ads/near ads and 6 juvs)

** Sagg Mains, Bridgehampton **
Forster’s Tern - 20

** Mecox Bay Inlet, Watermill **
ROYAL TERN - 3
Forster’s Tern - 5
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER - 1
Greater Yellowlegs - 2
Tree Swallows - 5,000 (massive cloud of birds roosting in the phragmites beds on either side of the inlet)

Unprecedented Parasitic Jaeger flight and N. Fulmar - 27 Sep 2009

The passage of the low pressure system and associated front produced heavy rain overnight and through most of today. With the limited visibility, I opted for seawatching from the shelter of the beach club house at Main Beach in the Village of East Hampton (Suffolk). There were lots of Common Terns and Laughing Gulls feeding offshore, and it soon became obvious that there was a strong eastward push of PARASITIC JAEGERS. Over the next 4 hours I counted close to eighty birds moving eastwards, often in ones and twos but sometimes small flocks (5-11 birds). There seemed to be an equal mix of juvenile-types and adults/near-adults. A few of the adults still had full-length tail streamers. Some of the young bird were quite dark and one was pretty much as dark as they come – dark brown/black like a Sooty Shearwater, with very reduced pale patches on the underwing and no evident flash on the upperwing. Around 11 am, I was joined by Hugh McGuinness and we continued to carefully pick through jaegers. Hugh spotted a storm-petrel moving west very quickly but it was gone before I could connect with it. Around 11:30 am, jaegers started appearing from the west (circling back?) and we clicked off 43 different birds. At the end of the count period, my tally was 88 PARASITIC JAEGERS traveling east, with an additional 16 jaegers left as unidentified, and 43 Parasitics traveling west [presumably duplicates]. Needless to say we looked very hard for the other jaeger species, but saw no convincing candidates and I feel comfortable calling all of these birds as Parasitic.

In addition to the jaegers, there was a trickle of CORY’S SHEARWATERS moving east and whilst watching a trio of birds in the middle distance, a light-phase NORTHERN FULMAR powered up behind them, a rare and pleasing sight from shore! My bird of the day, however, was all white Common Tern that passed up and down the beach several times. This is the first example of an aberrant colored tern I can recall seeing with my own eyes. It’s plumage was an immaculate ivory white and suggestive of a true albino, had a pink bill and pink legs - very striking! We watched it at length as it foraged with other Common Terns, sometimes alighting on the sand. Interestingly, it did not attract the attention from the jaegers nor was it harassed by the other terns. The proportions seemed identical to the other Commons – hence the ID as a Common – but we noted how the bird often _appeared_ larger that the others; a familiar trick of the eye that bedevils observations of white birds.

Once the offshore movement slowed down, I trekked out to Montauk Point but found the viewing difficult in the heavy rain and mist. All of the jaegers I noted during an hour-long watch were moving rapidly from the north side of the Point and they seemed anxious to get out into the ocean proper. Could these birds have traveled down Long Island Sound? At the time of writing, I've not seen reports of jaegers from further west along Long Island and can add that none were seen by Tom Burke and Gail Benson stationed near the Shinnecock Inlet (20 miles southeast) around mid-day. So were where the birds coming from or going to?

*** Main Beach, East Hampton ***
8:50-13:00, heavily overcast w. persistent rain.

COMMON EIDER – 1 (fem. west with scoter)
White-winged Scoter – 1
Black Scoter – 82 (mostly west)
Surf Scoter – 10
dark-winged scoter sp. - 1
Green-winged Teal – 1 (fem)
NORTHERN FULMAR – 1 (light-phase traveling east w. 3 Cory’s)
CORY’S SHEARWATER – 17 (mostly moving east)
[storm-petrel sp. – 1 speeding west (likely Wilson’s)]
Northern Gannet – 63 (most west, mix of ages)
Laughing Gull – 70
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE – 1 (1st basic, west)
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL – 1 ad. (roosting on beach)
Common Tern – 250++
Forster’s Tern – 3
PARASITIC JAEGER – 88 (east, 50:50 split of juvs to ads/near ads, 43 traveling west).
Jaeger sp. – 16

*** Montauk Point ***
14:05-15:05, heavy rain with limited visibility.

COMMON EIDER – 2 (fem types)
White-winged Scoter – 28
CORY’S SHEARWATER – 6
GREAT SHEARWATER – 1
Northern Gannet – 12
Laughing Gull – 300++
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL – 1 (ad. flew around Pt.)
Common Tern – 250
Roseate Tern – 2
PARASITIC JAEGER – 9 (mix of ages)

*** Maidstone Golf Course, East Hampton ***
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL – 1 (ad.)

*** Further Lane, East Hampton ***
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL – 1 (ad.)

*** Gerard Drive, Springs ***
Common Loon – 6
Northern Gannet – 4

Additional stops at Napeague Bay (Lazy Point), Hither Hills, Montauk Inlet, Star Island, Rita’s Horse Farm Pond and Deep Hollow did not yield anything of note.