Spring migrants trickling through - 23 Apr 2010

Only a handful of reports this week but presumably migrants are still trickling through. Watchers in the New York City area have been lamenting the very early leafing of trees in the city parks (making canopy feeders hard to spot) and the fact that migrants have paused only briefly before moving northwards. Anyway, the South Fork should start seeing local breeders such as Green Heron, Least Tern, Chimney Swift, Great-crested Flycatcher, Wood Thrush, Yellow Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler and House Wren beginning to arrive in the next few days. Blue-winged Teal should be in peak passage as well but I only know of 2 reports, the 4 birds Hugh McGuinness had on Hook Pond earlier in the month and the 2 that John Shemilt and I saw offshore on Wednesday. My sense is that this attractive duck has declined significantly as a migrant through coastal NY over the past decade. The fringes of fresh or brackish water ponds are probably the best places to look but many also travel along the coast mixed with scoter flocks.

**Recent Reports**

On Monday (19 Apr) Luke Ormand photographed a Little Blue Heron off Dune Road just east of the Docker's Restaurant. On Wednesday (21 April) Hugh McGuinness found a first year (i.e. 2nd calender year) Bald Eagle on Long Pond in Sag Harbor. Evidently there is something very attractive about this pond to eagles and Hugh had a different individual there as recently as 11 April. The Caspian Tern that showed sporadically at Mecox Inlet last weekend has now become two Caspians. This is perhaps the peak time for the species in our area, with Royal Terns predominating in the late summer and fall. Dave Shore noticed two Eastern Kingbirds in East Quogue (22 Apr).

**Predictions & Queries**

-- Anybody have WORKING email addresses for Chris Roberts, Carl Safina and Larry Penny? I'd like to add them to the recipient list.
-- American Bittern - Did anyone see one along Dune Rd this year?
-- American Golden Plover - Worth keeping in mind, one was found at the eastern end of the Jones Beach strip last weekend (Cedar Beach) and a scattering in central NY. Be mindful of Black-bellied Plovers in transitional plumages.
-- American Woodcock - I've not received any reports this year but I'm sure there were plenty displaying in suitable habitat. Can anybody help me out?
-- Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - perhaps along Dune Road either side of Shinnecock Inlet?
-- Whip-poor-will - One already heard mid-island and also in RI, so keep your ears open after dark.
-- Orange-crowned Warbler - recent reports from a number of coastal sites but alas none from the South Fork this year.

Lastly, a Swallow-tailed Kite was noted across the Sound in Barrington, Rhode Island this week, so there's hope....(of course, no worries for Vicki 'lucky' Bustamante ;)) )

Sooty Shearwater, Fulmar, Puffin and other pelagics - 21 April 2010

Today John Shemilt and I took advantage of the calm weather to venture offshore from Shinnecock Inlet on Long Island (Suffolk Co). We viewed this was an exploratory trip, not knowing quite what to expect so early in the season. We headed SE over shelf waters to the slope of Continental Shelf and encountered an intriguing mix of 'winter' and 'summer' seabirds along the way. Among the highlights were a Sooty Shearwater and four Wilson's Storm-Petrels, all extremely early by my reckoning. These Southern Hemisphere breeders usually arrive in mid-May peaking in early June. It's conceivable the shearwater wintered in the Northern Hemisphere but this seems less likely for the storm-petrels. A Common Tern standing on a wooden plank some 57 mi from the inlet was my first of the season and I noticed that it was banded (a Great Gull Island bird perhaps?).

Common Loon - 36
Red-throated Loon - 12
loon sp. - 7
Black Scoter - 11
Blue-winged Teal - 2
NORTHERN FULMAR - 3 (c.72 mi SE inlet, 2 standard light morph, one with white blotches)
SOOTY SHEARWATER - 1 (31 mi SE inlet, very early migrant or bird that over-wintered in N Hemisphere?)
WILSON'S STORM-PETREL - 4 (c.70 mi SE inlet, very early arrivals)
Northern Gannet - 70+
Double-crested Cormorant - numerous around inlet mouth.
Great Cormorant - 3 imm. (1 on jetty tower and 2 inside bay)
RED PHALAROPE - 4 (molting into alt.)
LITTLE GULL - 2 (alt. ads)
Bonaparte's Gull - 75 (majority ads in alt. plumage)
Laughing Gull - 1 ad. (seen with Razorbills!)
American Herring Gull - numerous
Great Black-backed Gull - numerous
COMMON TERN - 1 ad. (57 mi SE inlet, standing on a plank doing it's best to imitate an Arctic Tern)
RAZORBILL - 77 (mix of 1st yr birds and ads getting into alternate plum.)
ATLANTIC PUFFIN - 4 (two with reasonably well developed bills and white on face)
Short-beaked Common Dolphin - 5+

My warmest thanks to John Shemilt for his hospitality and willingness to do all the 'driving'! John has a great fondness for these waters and his willingness to share just a small fraction of his knowledge made the passages across the infamous 'dead zone' more than bearable.

After returning to land I took a quick run along Dune Road noting 6 EASTERN WILLETS and a CLAPPER RAIL.

Razorbill flight, Wilson's Snipe in Wainscott - 18 April 2010

Waterfowl, including loons and number of RAZORBILLS were still moving eastward yesterday morning, despite the NW wind. Hugh McGuinness joined me during a 1-hr count from Amagansett (9:05-10:05 am) and we logged the following:

Northern Gannet - 112
Common Loon - 43
Red-throated Loon - 94
loon sp. - 32
Atlantic Brant - 21
'dark-winged scoter' sp. - 95
Black Scoter - 27
Surf Scoter - 42
White-winged Scoter - 2
Red-breasted Merganser - 1
Long-tailed Duck - 3
Common Eider - 1
Double-crested Cormorant - 491++
Great Cormorant - 1
Laughing Gull - 3
RAZORBILL - 48

Elsewhere, a harrier flushed a flock of 18 WILSON'S SNIPE from the marshy edge of Wainscott Pond (scoped from roadside). The sand flats at Georgica Bay, Mecox Inlet and Sagg Mains were somwhat uninspiring, however, we did find a NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW (local FoS) hawking insects over a side branch of Mecox Bay near Horsemill Lane, a lingering pair of COMMON MERGANSER north of Bridge Lane on Sag Pond and a SNOWY EGRET at Sagg Mains.

Inexplicably, we discovered a relatively fresh BEAVER pelt lying on the ground at the end of Horsemill Lane. Naturally, we'd be interested to know where this came from!

I revisited these spots in the late afternoon, finding a CASPIAN TERN and one adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL on the flats at Mecox and two WILSON'S SNIPE flew over the cow pasture at the Mecox Dairy headed towards the bay. An AMERICAN KESTREL was on the South Fork Country Club Golf Course off Old Stone Hwy in Amagansett. At Shinnecock Inlet, crooning BOAT-TAILED GRACKLES are conspicuous in the marshes and dunes either side of the Ponquogue Bridge. Several pairs of Great Egrets are already sitting on nests on the island to the east of the bridge and a few Snowy Egrets were scattered around the bay. Two imm. GREAT CORMORANTS were roosting on a buoy in the bay, where several hundred COMMON EIDER continue.

Caspian Tern, Mecox - 17 April 2010

This morning a single CASPIAN TERN and three adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were on the sand flats at Mecox Inlet (Watermill, Suffolk Co) along with a 1000+ Sanderling and usual mix of winter shorebirds. 2 LESSER YELLOWLEGS were on muddy extension of Georgica Pond and another was on a rain pool in Springs. The adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL ('Larry') continues at Lazy Point in Napeague and is now fully white headed. Generally there were few signs of landbird migration, however, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS (local FoS's) at Long Pond in Sag Harbor and Bendigo Road in Amagansett were of note. Two SNOWY EGRETS were on Fresh Pond in Amagansett - egrets are still scarce out here and female AMERICAN KESTREL continues off Town Lane.

There was a decent waterfowl flight along the ocean throughout the morning. Unfortunately things were winding down when I stopped to do an hour seawatch from Amagansett (12:58-1:58 pm) but I still tallied the following (2,343 individuals of 12 species) heading east:

Northern Gannet - 118
Common Loon - 107
Red-throated Loon - 74
loon sp. - 14
dark-winged scoter sp. - 890
Black Scoter - 240
Surf Scoter - 260
White-winged Scoter - 2
Red-breasted Merganser - 11
Green-winged Teal - 2
duck sp. - 150
Double-crested Cormorant - 463
Great Cormorant - 1 (in with the Dc Corms)
Laughing Gull - 8
RAZORBILL - 3 (2 and then 1 half hour later)

I was seeing skeins of cormorants all morning, most traveling over land rather than water. Out here most flocks cut across the peninsula making a bee-line for New England.

Least Sandpiper and Boat-tailed Grackle on Sag Pond - 4 Apr 2010

There were some nice birds on the exposed sand flats at Sagg Mains in Sagaponack (Suffolk Co.) this morning including 2 LEAST SANDPIPERS, a Piping Plover, a 1st-yr ICELAND GULL, 2 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS (a basic-adult and a 3rd yr) and 3 Great Egret.

After a while I was joined by Hugh McGuinness and we soon found a LESSER YELLOWLEGS with 2 Greater Yellowlegs. Among the ducks, a male Lesser Scaup was in company of a female Greater Scaup and a male COMMON MERGANSER lingers. As we continued scanning, the nasal squawking of a male BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE caught our attention. It was striding around on the wet mud singing for attention. The species is very irregular east of Shinnecock Inlet, where they have been fairly scarce this winter. Seeming to sense that it was out of place, the grackle promptly took flight and headed west!

At Mecox Inlet, a different 1st-yr ICELAND GULL (paler wing tips than Sag bird) was on the flat along with 6 Piping Plover. I noticed a number of Red-winged Blackbirds and cowbirds flying west along beach and 2 Horned Larks also went low over the end of the inlet without stopping.

Offshore, the lifting fog revealed a steady push of eastbound waterbirds headlined by skeins of scoter (estim. 2500/hr) and Red-throated Loons (estim. 200/hr). Unfortunately the fog quickly gave way to dazzling sunshine making it difficult to identify anything but the closest birds.

Lastly, Vicki Bustamante reports that the CATTLE EGRET was still present on the south side of Montauk Hwy (Rt. 27) at the western (not eastern as I incorrectly stated yesterday) boundary of Hither Hill State Park. I searched again for the Sandhill Cranes in Sagaponack without success. I've still not seen any Snowy Egrets this far east, nor heard of any Rough-winged Swallow reports.

Eastern Kingbird, Cattle Egret and a fistful of offshore goodies - 3 Apr 2010

There were a scattering of migrants on the South Fork of Long Island today but generally it was typical early April birding, albeit in delightful weather. Bruce Horwith probably tops the billing on land, with an EASTERN KINGBIRD in Shadmoor State Park. The snazzy CATTLE EGRET spent the entire day on the side of Montauk Hwy and was enjoyed by many - a drive by bird if ever there was one! Vicki and Chris Bustamante saw it as late as 5 pm this evening.

In the morning Vicki had an immature WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW on the east side of the Deep Hollow Ranch pond, one of the first reports this far east. I marched several of the trails that cut across Montauk Point finding very little except a lone TURKEY VULTURE and 2 HARLEQUIN DUCKS (ad. and imm. males) off the rocks at the end of the Seal Haul Out Trail. These birds were discovered by Luke Ormand yesterday. Three WILSON’S SNIPE were on the pools at Teddy Roosevelt State Park. Also in Montauk, the LITTLE BLUE HERON continues on Little Reed Pond. Cooper's Hawks seem to be in an amorous mood at the moment with display flights being noted in Camp Hero SP (me), Long Pond (Hugh McGuinness) and along Cranberry Hollow Road (Jorn Ake), where there were also some singing PINE WARBLERS.

However, John Shemilt steals the show with some great pelagic birds seen whilst fishing at the Coimbra wreck, which is 28 nautical due south of Shinnecock Inlet. During the trip they found 1-2 LITTLE GULLS (photographed) mixed in with Boneparte's Gulls, 100 RAZORBILLS, 5+ DOVEKIES (photos), 3 MURRES (likely Common's), and a stunning 25+ ATLANTIC PUFFINS (photos). Clearly there is still plenty of activity off shore!

I've not heard any reports of the Sandhill Cranes from today but apparently two birds were just found on Block Island (fide Shai Mitra via Hugh McGuinness), so perhaps 'our' birds have moved on. Any news that refutes this would be most welcome.

Cattle Egret on Montauk Hwy near Hither Hills State Park - 2 Apr 2010

Luke Ormand just emailed to say that he'd found a CATTLE EGRET feeding in the marshy area on the south side of Montauk Hwy (Route 27), just west of the fork that splits the new Montauk Hwy from Old Montauk Hwy. This is along the stretch of road between the villages of Amagansett and Montauk in Suffolk Co. To my knowledge, there have been no additional sightings of the three Cattle Egret reported by Bob Adamo and Dick Belanger on the eastern shore of Shinnecock Bay near Southampton.

Gannet flight, Little Blue Heron and King Eider - 29 Mar 2010

Although the undoubted stars of the weekend were the confiding SANDHILL CRANES in Sagponack, there were interesting birds to be found elsewhere. The brisk SE winds brought a good inshore flight of NORTHERN GANNETS and scoter heading eastwards throughout the day. The gannets were almost exclusively adults or near-adults, presumably intent on returning to their breeding colonies on Bonaventure Island in Quebec and beyond. I did two, 1-hr seawatches during the day, finding a similar mix of birds in each, but with a slight drop in the flow of gannets and uptick in the numbers of scoter as the day wore on. The first and coldest count was from Amagansett (8:23-9:23 am) and the second from Ditch Plains (1:55-2:55 pm).

Red-throated Loon - 37/54
Common Loon - 2/8
Horned Grebe - 3/4
Northern Gannet - 665/482
Black Scoter - 180/1002
Surf Scoter - 195/770
White-winged Scoter - 22/10
dark-winged scoter - 160/25
Common Eider - 7/36
Long-tailed Duck - 6/2
Red-breasted Merganser - 2/22
RAZORBILL - 2/0
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE - 1 (ad.)/0

Other birds of note were an adult LITTLE BLUE HERON at Little Reed Pond in Montauk, a female KING EIDER off Gin Beach in Montauk, 8 PURPLE SANDPIPERS on the jetties at Montauk Inlet, a TURKEY VULTURE over the south end of Accabonac Harbor in Springs and the adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL at Lazy Point in Napeague, which I thought had departed (not seen over previous 2+ weeks) until Anthony Collerton's reported it again on Saturday.

Sandhill Crane, Little Blue Heron, Red-necked Grebe - 27 Mar 2010

The 2 SANDHILL CRANES (seemingly a male and female pair) were in the cornfield off Daniel's Lane in Sagapoback, just SE of Bridgehampton. This field is between Fairfield Pond Ln and Gibson Ln.

I took a quick look at a few East Hampton (Suffolk Co.) spots this chilly afternoon. Highlights were a splendid adult LITTLE BLUE HERON on the marsh at Landing Lane in Accabonac Harbor (could this be Vicki Bustamante's Montauk bird?) plus a Great Egret and a Greater Yellowlegs. A male PIPING PLOVER was hunkered down on the outer beach at Gerard Point. The wintering shorebird flock around the inlet included 8 Black-bellied Plover, 45+ Ruddy Turnstone, 20+ Dunlin and a few Sanderlings. A good number of oystercatcher (16+) and Osprey (7+) seem settled into the harbor area.

A quick seawatch from Atlantic Ave in Amagansett produced a RED-NECKED GREBE, growing numbers of Red-throated Loons (76++) and small numbers of the usual winter stuff.

Sandhill Cranes in Sagaponack - 27 Mar 2010

This morning Peter Matthiessen (fide Hugh McGuinness) found two SANDHILL CRANES on a corn field along Daniel's Lane in Sagaponack. This field is between Fairfield Pond Rd and Gibson Lane. They had disappeared within an hour or two but some searching we refound them roosting on the narrow spit at the south end of Sagg Pond. This is visible from the town beach parking lot at the south end of the pond. Between naps, the cranes were actively chasing Great Black-backed Gulls. These are presumably the pair that were seen and photographed last weekend by Evan Marks.

Also on the pond are the two adult TUNDRA SWANS (getting late) and an adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. Some 27 teal (presumably all Green-winged Teal) were in the cove near the cranes. An adult BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON was working the edge of the pond. Five COMMON MERGANSERS were on the pond, north of Bridge Lane.

No PIPING PLOVERS were evident at Sagg (just 10+ Killdeer) but 5 were at Mecox Inlet.

Dovekie off Montauk Point - 14 Mar 2010

The passing storm left the South Fork of Long Island (Suffolk Co.) bruised and battered, with flooded roads, lots of damaged or felled trees and a few downed telephone lines. The ocean swell was majestic as viewed from the Montauk Point restaurant overlook, with 20-30 ft rollers passing over the reef in front of the lighthouse. Viewing conditions were OK at first but as the wind dropped a light fog settled in over the entire area. Surfers found good waves off Culloden Point on the north side of the peninsula.

The highlight of my morning was a DOVEKIE that flew right into Turtle Cove (south side of Point), made a wide circle and flew out again! It was close enough to see the tiny bill and dusky underwings. I scanned the area for a further hour but did not relocate it. Other birds of note off the Point were 3 RAZORBILL, 2 different adult KUMLEIN'S ICELAND GULLS and a 4th-winter type LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. Many large gulls were cruising up and down the shoreline making quick work of edibles that had been ripped up off the bottom. Three Bonaparte's Gulls off Camp Hero were only ones I saw today.

Of local interest, thirty-three RING-NECK DUCK were on Tuthill's Pond (almost connected to the ocean by flooding) and four CANVASBACK were on Fort Pond. The 2nd basic-type GLAUCOUS GULL that I saw yesterday was back on Further Lane in East Hampton and 4 TUNDRA SWAN were with 3 Mute Swan in fields between Highland Terrace and Sag Main Street in Sagaponack.

Nor'easter brings Glaucous and Iceland Gulls to the South Fork - 13 Mar 2010

Todays Nor'easter pounded the eastern tip of Long Island and birds were few and far between. The storm still rages as I type. The high winds, heavy rain and volume of spray/sand in the air made seawatching a challenge to say the least. When I could see beyond the crashing surf, there seemed to be little activity. On the ponds, waterfowl numbers seem low and I could not find anything of note among the lingering flocks of Canada Geese.

Not too surprisingly, most of the Great Black-backed Gulls had moved inland off the beaches to wait out the weather and flocks stood huddled in fields and other open areas. Looking through these, I found an adult GLAUCOUS GULL on Bridge Lane in Sagaponack, and just before dusk a 2nd basic-type GLAUCOUS GULL on Further Lane in East Hampton. This latter bird, a predominantly white individual, flew in as I was watching an adult KUMLEIN'S ICELAND GULL bathing in a rain water pool. A couple of Bonparte's Gulls were on Shorts Pond in Bridgehampton, the first time I've seen the species there. Ironically, we've reached a point where I find the absence of any Lesser Black-backed Gulls among these storm displaced gulls more surprising than if one or two were present.

Flyby Thick-billed Murre off Montauk Point - 8 Mar 2010

Yesterday, I seawatched from Montauk Point (Suffolk Co.) for a couple of hours (Sun 7 March, 7:11-9:15 am). Numbers were low but the diversity was good. Strong sunshine made the viewing to the south difficult.

The highlight was a THICK-BILLED MURRE that came round the point from the south and headed out over Block Island Sound. This was at 7:22 am. The solid dark hood was immediately apparent but it was only until the bird was directly east of me that I could see its short bill, seemingly unmarked underwings/flanks and dumpy profile. The upperparts looked similar in color to the Razorbills but truthfully, the light was probably not good enough to distinguish black from dark brown. One thing I noticed was the slightly slower cadence of the wing beats compared to a Razorbill that followed essentially the same track a few minutes later. Altogether, I counted 46 RAZORBILLS, with a maximum of 20 together in a flock that plopped down on the water over the reef. There were 11 additional 'large alcids' that were too distant and poorly lit to identify safely.

Other birds of note were a 1st-year BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, growing numbers of LONG-TAILED DUCK (otherwise scarce from this spot) and several flights of CANADA GEESE (>600) and ATLANTIC BRANT (74 total in six flocks) headed NE towards RI and MA. Several flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds took flight from the point and headed out over the sound. One exception in this migration pattern was an American Crow that I watched for a while as it made a beeline from Block Island west toward the Point. Once it made land fall, the crow turned north and followed the coastline with what seemed like genuine purpose (a messenger crow perhaps?).

At Montauk Inlet, 6 GREAT CORMORANT (5 ad., 1 juv.) were on the jetty towers, 5 RAZORBILL passed offshore and a 1st-basic KUMLEIN'S GULL was roosting with other gulls on the spit just inside the harbor. An immature RED-SHOULDERED HAWK was soaring low over the trees on the west side of Fort Pond and 2 REDHEAD were with Ring-necked Ducks on Tuthill's Pond. The adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL continues the rocks on the west side of Fort Pond Bay. Eleven PURPLE SANDPIPERS were on the rocks east of Ditch Plains. Common Eider were present at every stop but I could not find a King among them.

Overall, numbers of Red-throated and Common Loons were down compared to the past few weeks but HORNED GREBES (total 155) made a good showing, typical of early March. A couple of weeks ago there were Bonaparte's Gulls all along the ocean front but these seem to have moved on.

Montauk area gulls - 21 Feb 2010

With a brisk WNW wind and brilliant sunshine I ended up doing a lot of beach walking today. There were at least 450 Bonaparte's Gulls working along the ocean between Montauk Village (Suffolk Co.) and Ditch Plains. Among them, I found an adult BLACK-HEADED GULL, likely the same bird I saw out here last weekend. It was feeding in the surf off the middle of Shadmore State Park. This winter I've noticed a marked paucity of first-year birds, today I counted only 14 (3%). A priori, this would suggest a poor 2009 breeding season but I know that the ratio of adults to young varies with location so it seems unsafe to draw conclusions from this one area. It would be interesting to know if others have observed something similar elsewhere?

Otherwise there wasn't too much to see. I even slogged all the way along the sand to the Warhol Estate but could not find a King Eider or a Harlequin Duck. The only birds of note along in this section were three RAZORBILL (a pitiful number this winter) and 12 PURPLE SANDPIPER, roosting on the large triangular bolder east of the Ditch Plains Trailer Park.

The 2 wintering adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were at their usual stations on Fort Pond Bay (rocks at the western corner) and on Lazy Point in Napeague. At Montauk Inlet, there were 3 KUMLEIN'S ICELAND GULLS, two first winter birds and a second winter. Lone Great Cormorants were on one of the jetty towers at the inlet and on the ice of Oyster Pond.

I spent a lot of time looking for vultures but saw none - too windy perhaps? Likewise I was unable to find the Great Egret that Carl Starace and party found at Napeague yesterday. The egret is a darn good bird out here in February - I haven't seen one since November.

Black-headed Gull and King Eider off Ditch Plains nr Montauk - 14 Feb 2010

The combination of a brisk and chilly wind and bright sunshine made for less than idea ocean viewing off Montauk Point (Suffolk Co.) this morning. Shortly after 8 am, I scoped from the restaurant overlook for a half hour but only managed 8 RAZORBILLS and a couple of BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES. The only other birds of note were four American Wigeon and a lone Brant that nudged around the rocks below the overlook.

Things were a better off Ditch Plains (east of Montauk Village) with at least 22 Black-legged Kittiwakes and 60 or more Bonaparte's Gulls. The behavior of the gulls suggested they were feeding over Razorbills and after watching for while, I saw three of the alcids pick up and fly a few yards before flopping down into the choppy sea. An adult BLACK-HEADED GULL flying west long the surf line with a Bonaparte's made for a pleasant surprise, as did a female KING EIDER in Cavett's Cove - this requires a half mile hike east along the beach. A few PURPLE SANDPIPERS were on the weed covered rocks. Small numbers of Razorbills and kittiwakes were evident from a number of vantages along the south shore between Montauk and Amagansett and I suspect there are good numbers some distance offshore. Oddly, this was a day for Horned Grebe to stretch their wings - I saw at least 12 individuals in flight. As a nocturnal migrant, it is only once in a while that one sees Horned Grebe fly and more than once I've been momentarily baffled by the white secondaries and long foot projection of such birds.

Unfortunately, there was no repeat of the afternoon alcid flight from yesterday. A 45 min watch from Amagansett turned up a paltry four birds. Late in the afternoon, Hugh McGuinness and I counted 9 COMMON MERGANSERS in the patches of open water on Hook Pond in East Hampton as we looked through the roosting geese. A young male Northern Harrier made several circuits of the pond.

Large alcid flight off East Hampton including Dovekies - 13 Feb 2010

There was an impressive and somewhat unexpected flight of large alcids off the south shore this afternoon, with groups of birds flying westward sometimes in fairly large groups (max. 65). Many were quite far out and thus only identifiable as large alcids, but all of the closer birds were all clearly RAZORBILLS. As indicated below, I counted more than 700 in a 1 hour sample. The one exception was a trio of tiny DOVEKIES flying together with three Razorbill. A good number of BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES, a species that often feeds over Razorbills, were also drifting west. Some of these birds seemed to be coming up off the water and I suspect there were considerable numbers of alcids, scoter and gulls on the water about a mile or more offshore and essentially invisible unless they took flight. Perhaps this is why there were comparatively few Razorbills off Montauk Point this morning, as per Doug Futuyma's report? Winds were from the northwest (~10-15 mph) and visibility was excellent with minimal heat shimmer. It will be interesting to know how far west the flight extended (e.g. Shinnecock Inlet, Smith Point SP or Robert Moses SP).

A 1 hour (2:15-3:15 pm) spot count from the beach in Amagansett tallied the following:

Red-throated Loon - 3
Horned Grebe - 15
Northern Gannet - 18
Common Eider - 12
Black Scoter - 10
White-winged Scoter - 360
Surf Scoter - 25
scoter sp. - 200
Red-breasted Merganser - 1
RAZORBILL (or large alcid) - 703
DOVEKIE - 3
Herring Gull - 15
Great Black-backed Gull - 5
Ring-billed Gull - 4
Bonaparte's Gull - 59
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE - 49 (only one 1st-basic, rest ads.)

Also of note were two HARBOR PORPOISE feeding a short distance off the beach in Napeague (White Sand Motel). A Red-throated Loon was fishing with them and seeing the loon alongside emphasized just how small these porpoises are compared to dolphins. Lastly, the adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL ('Larry') continues at Lazy Point on the NW side of Napeague Harbor. There were no geese on the field at Further Lane when I passed by and nothing of note among the geese I could see on the lawns around Hook Pond.

Unprecedented Razorbill flight off Montauk Point - 24 Jan 2010

Observers gathered at Montauk Point this morning were treated to an absolutely remarkable flight of RAZORBILLS. They were quite literally the most numerous bird on view, with the peak numbers passing between 7:30 and 8:30 AM. Tom Burke tried to keep a continuous count but began to flag at 2,500! Using a clicker I tallied 1,344 passing through my fixed scope view in a 20 min count and have thumb cramp sto prove it. All told, we estimated a minimum of 4,000 Razorbills, quite possibly more.

As I said, they were the most common bird. Small flocks were coming round the point from the south, but the majority seemed to be traveling towards west across Block Island Sound and then turning north to pass in front of the restaurant overlook. Significant numbers also followed a more direct line from the north end of Block Island towards Shagwong Point. Many birds passed right in front of the overlook giving superb views, sometimes landing in the water. For most of the time the light was very good and I feel confident that the vast majority of the birds could be accurately identified to species. In other words, we weren't missing other alcid species.

With so many Razorbills it was not surprising that the numbers of BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES were equally special. Patricia Lindsay took charge of the tally and I believe she settled on something like 300 (!!), the vast majority (>90%) being adults. Other species seemed incidental by comparison but included a gleaming white GLAUCOUS GULL (2nd basic) roosting on the beach below the restaurant overlook, and the usual assortment of loons and seaduck. Two, possibly three, adult male KING EIDER were on the southside of the Point, as viewed from Camp Hero. Another male KING EIDER was off Ditch Plains. Two ICELAND GULLS and a handful of Razorbills (actually 45 or more) were off Montauk Inlet, the gulls frequenting the beaches on the west side of the inlet. Single adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were in their usual spots on Fort Pond Bay in Montauk and Lazy Point in Napeague. Whilst counting waterfowl on Napeague Harbor, Hugh McGuinness and I picked up a single RED KNOT (very notable on the East End in winter) amongst a flock of Dunlin.

The goose flock on Further Lane was much depleted when we stopped there in the early afternoon and we could not pick out any unusual species. More geese were on the ice at Hook Pond along with 26 COMMON MERGANSER.

Co-observers of the morning flight included Hugh McGuinness, Tom Burke, Gail Benson, Patricia Lindsay, Doug Futuyma, Andrew Baksh, Dave Klauber and Seth Ausubel. A very exciting morning and I wouldn't be surprised if I've forgotten some noteworthy sightings.