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.

White-fronts and Cacklers on Further Lane and major Razorbill flight - 10 Jan 2010

Douglas Futuyma and Karen Rubinstein provided excellent accounts of the uncommon geese frequenting the one remaining field on Further Lane in East Hampton (Suffolk Co., NY). Yesterday we watched 4 first-winter GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE (little or no barring on bellies) and a single well-marked adult. Interestingly, the two Greater White-fronts that were here on Saturday were both adults! Thus, there must be at least 6, perhaps even 7, white-fronts in the area. I wonder how many are on Long Island at the moment? Just before sundown, the 4 youngsters were on the Oceanview Farm field just east of the village of Amagansett. This is just beyond the IGA supermarket on the north side of Route 27. Although there are sometimes a few Canada Geese or gulls here, this is the first time I've ever seen anything newsworthy. Whilst I watched, the geese were spooked by the LIRR train that runs along the back of the field and they flew back to Further Lane, landing on the partly obscured field between the lane and the ocean.

I spent much of the morning looking at waterfowl elsewhere. For the most part, the fields were gooseless due to hunting pressure but there were some 3,000+ on the ocean off Sagaponack. I spent a good deal of time going through these but could not come up with anything different. Shorts Pond on Scuttlehole Lane (Bridgehampton) was disappointing with less than a hundred geese, 11 SNOW GEESE and one Ruddy Duck. I noted that the Snow Geese here and off Further Lane are all adults. Does this mean that Greater Snow Geese had a poor nesting season this year? Does anyone have a sense of the adult to first-year ratio at Jamaica Bay?

After hearing about Doug Futuyma's many good finds out at Montauk Point, I zipped off in the that direction before the light gave out. A beautiful 1st winter KUMLEIN'S ICELAND GULL was at Lazy Point in Napeague and an adult male KING EIDER was floating with a small group of Common Eiders at Ditch Plains, where I also noted an adult BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE and 26 PURPLE SANDPIPERS. At Montauk Inlet, I stumbled on a 1st basic NELSON'S GULL (Herring x Glaucous hybrid), likely the bird found by Shai Mitra on Fort Pond during in the Christmas Bird Count. Doug, Mike Cooper and Vicki Bustamante all saw the 2nd winter Kumlein's Iceland Gull around the mouth of the inlet (seems to prefer the west side) and have commented on its unusually dark tail band. Critical study of other features still place this striking bird within the Kumlein's spectrum.


In an earlier posting Doug Futuyma (Stony Brook, NY) wrote: This morning, I did a seawatch at Montauk Point (sheltered from strong wind by the restaurant) from 7:10 to 9:50, with several short breaks. The weather was clear and cold (low to mid 20's); visibility beyond a few hundred yards was seriously compromised by therrmal distortion due to the very cold air.

Highlights of this watch were an approximate count of 120 RAZORBILLS that could be identified with confidence, plus at least 130 distant 'large alcids' that were presumably mostly Razorbills. Almost all were moving northward; some small groups alighted on the water, but seemed generally to take flight after a short while. I saw at least 35 BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES, some of which were very close; a considerable number of distant gulls, obscured by thermal distortion, were also probably Kittiwakes, based on jizz and
behavior. The numbers of both of these species can probably be augmented by some of those seen by Mike Cooper and members of Great South Bay Audubon, who were present for at least an hour, Large numbers of BONAPARTE'S GULLS were visible at all times, numbering in the hundreds; among them was one adult BLACK-HEADED GULL that flew northward. Fair numbers of all three Scoters and of Common EIders were present, but conspicuously scarce were Northern Gannet (2), Red-throated Loon (3), and Common Loon (3). (Common Loons were abundant at several other sites, e.g. Gin Beach.) I saw Common Eiders at every saltwater stop in the Montauk area.

A drake HARLEQUIN DUCK was on Lake Montauk at the north end, and another was at Ditch Plains. On the beach just west of the west jetty at Lake Montauk inlet, the second-winter ICELAND GULL reported yesterday by Angus Wilson, was present. Near the south end of Lake Montauk were ca. 60 Common Goldeneye and ca. 50 Greater Scaup.

Among the Canada Geese on the field at Further Lane (Easthampton) were 5 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE that Karen and Barbara Rubenstein were looking at when I arrived. Angus Wilson arrived soon afterward, and after considerable scrutiny he located a compact group of 7 CACKLING GEESE that were well hidden behind a dense flock of Canadas. These birds, presumably the same ones he reported yesterday, soon joined the steady exodus of Canadas toward the northeast.

An adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was on the ice on Lake Agawam in Southampton. The ducks on Halsey Neck Pond included ca. 11 Redhead and >100 Lesser Scaup; also 2 Pied-billed Grebes.

Stops at Culloden Point, Fort Pond Bay, Lazy Point (Napeague), Georgica Pond, and Mecox Bay (west side) yielded only common species.

Karen Rubinstein (East Hampton) followed: Searching for the 2 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE reported yesterday by Angus Wilson, my sister Barbara and I went to the Further Lane field in East Hampton around 11:00 AM Sunday. First one, then a second goose revealed its orange legs. Wanting better views, we waited and searched for the CACKLING GEESE. As the flock began to move around after about an hour, we found 4 GWFG together and shortly afterward a 5th GWFG a, a bit further away. The 6 SNOW GEESE were also still present.

We did not find the CACKLING GEESE, but around 20 minutes after we left, Angus and Doug Futuyma, who had joined us by then along Further Lane, did see them.

Gulls and Geese on a crisp winters day - 9 Jan 2010

Montauk Point was especially beautiful today with blue skies, crisp cold air and a coating of snow left from last week's storm. At Montauk Inlet, 2 KUMLEIN'S ICELAND GULLS (1st-basic and 2nd basic) were feeding with other gulls along the small beach immediately west of inlet and both visited the melt water pools in the empty Gosmans parking lot. Increasingly scarce on eastern LI, four CANVASBACK were using an opening in the ice on Fort Pond.

Out at Montauk Point, another 1st winter KUMLEIN'S ICELAND GULL and 2 adult BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE were among the cloud of gulls following the 'Hellcat' party boat as it came in from an offshore fishing trip. At least 4 adult BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES were milling around off the point with 30 or so BONAPARTE'S GULLS. Interestingly, Hugh McGuinness and party found a 150++ Bonaparte's here earlier in the morning, again with some kittiwakes mixed in. Where did they go and could there be something better mixed in amongst them? After some scanning, I picked up 4 RAZORBILLS flying over the more distant rips. Considering the excellent visibility, the number seems low. Certainly the numbers of loons and gannets have dropped significantly.

The field on the north side of Further Lane in Amagansett held a large flock of Canada Geese. By phone, Hugh McGuinness alerted me to the presence 3 CACKLING GEESE and 6 SNOW GEESE, the latter almost certainly the birds seen earlier by Karen and Barbara Rubinstein on a corn field behind Mary's Marvelous Cafe in Amagansett. When I arrived shortly before dusk, the Snow Geese were still there and quickly I found 2 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE that moved around as a pair. Hugh had seen these early in the morning on Hook Pond. Allowing for the late afternoon sun both white-fronts seemed orange rather than pink billed (a topic I want to discuss in another post). After a bit of searching I found a Cackling Goose that quickly morphed into a flock of 7 CACKLING GEESE, again moving through the Canadas as a cohesive group. This is the largest flock of (Richardson's) Cackling Geese (nominate subspecies hutchinsii) that I've witnessed on Long Island. Small flocks are more typical of western NY which is significantly closer to the Central flyway.

Extralimital - pale falcon brings excitement on a wet and gloomy day - 13 Dec 09

Around noon today, Tony Lauro found a large pale falcon hunting over the fields between Sound Avenue, Hulse Landing Road and Route 25A in Calverton near Riverhead (Suffolk Co.). Hugh McGuinness and I beat our way through the Sunday traffic and ever worsening rain to find Tony and a small crowd of Long Island birders looking at the falcon perched on a tall powerline pole. It was a fantastic looking (1st-year?) bird, very pale gray bordering on white. The falcon made a couple spectacular dives in pursuit of Mourning Doves and had apparently been doing this for a while. The tentative identification made by Tony and endorsed initially by all of us was a pale-morph GYR FALCON.

However, some felt that subtle aspects did not quite fit our expectations for a Gyr but more on this later. Our elation was short lived when we got a better chance to study the legs, which had been obscured in most viewsby the tops of the poles or by the bird's tail. Little-by-little we realized that it likely had leather ankle bracelets and this was confirmed as it came into land after one of its sorties. Drat! An escaped falconry bird. Tony Lauro took the disappointing news with grace and most folks soon headed for their cars to escape cold and unrelenting rain. Hugh and I lingered for a bit trying to get photo-documentation of the offending leg ornaments. Over the next 20-30 mins we witnessed a couple more flights including an amazing high speed streak right over the farm buildings were hiding behind. Escape or not, this is one fast bird!

Hugh first raised the possibility of a hybrid, possible a Gyr x Saker cross, rather than a pure Gyr, based on the sleeker profile and noticeably pale head. From on our collective but very limited experience, we also considered the constant activity of the bird to be a bit unusual. Was the bird really big enough to be a Gyr, even a male? Shouldn't it be hunting ducks rather than doves? Obviously these are subject criteria and as has been mentioned before, identification of hybrids (there are several popular combinations) is difficult. More research is clearly needed. The yellow rather than blue feet may also indicate a hybrid assuming that the aging is correct. There are two lessons here, first that large falcon ID is not necessarily straightforward and second, that birds need to be studied carefully; even something as seemingly obvious as the presence of leather straps around both legs may not be revealed immediately.


Anyway, we all enjoyed the bird tremendously and thank Tony for not only getting the word out immediately but for staying on the bird to make sure we all saw it - a true gentleman!

Greenland White-fronted and Canada Geese - 12 Dec 2009

Between errands I checked some of the fields around Bridgehampton, Mecox, Wainscott and Sagaponack for flocks of geese. In general, the numbers seem a bit low but perhaps the current cold spell will change that. The highlights of my search were two geese of Greenlandic origin. The first was a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, seen with c.250 Canada Geese in a field off Wainscott Hollow Road. There is some controversy about the field ID of eastern North American and Greenland populations but to my eyes, the bird shows characters attributed to the Greenland subspecies including a bright orange bill and heavy belly barring. It was quite aggressive, constantly snapping at any Canada Goose that came near and managed to keep a goose free zone around itself much of the time. The geese were feeding on freshly harvested maize on the east side of the road and the white-fronted seemed particularly adept at lifting the flattened steps to uncovered discarded cobs.

Shortly before that I found a marked Greenland-origin Canada Goose at the small pond in the apple orchard off Horsemill Lane in Mecox. This bird was banded as part of an exciting project studying the recent and rapid colonization of western Greenland by Canada Geese. This expansion is believed to be to the detriment of the nesting Greater White-fronts which are smaller and easily displaced from optimal nesting areas. The Canada Geese originate and return to the Atlantic coastal states of North America, whereas the white-fronts winter in western Europe, primarily Ireland and Scotland.

The individual I saw today (marked with a yellow plastic collar and leg band with G24 in black letters) is apparently an adult male that was first captured near Isunngua in western Greenland ('Lake T') on 17 July 2008. He (and for once I can justify using a pronoun to describe a goose) was not reported in the winter of 2008/09 but has already been sighted by Shawn Deuel in the Sagaponack area (9 and 27 Oct 2009). I'm not sure how many birds were marked by the project in the summer of 2008, but the team marked 118 Canada Geese and eight White-fronts in the summer of 2009. Finding these birds on the wintering grounds offers a fantastic opportunity for birders in New York and neighboring states to contribute to this important research.



You can read all about the project here.