Western Wanderers - hoping for lots this Fall ...

Still wallowing in the Summer Doldrums but there are signs that migration may be starting up again.  Warbler migration is slowly picking up, with more species being reported daily from Central Park, and shorebird migration continues to crawl along.  New York State year-bird #332nd was a shorebird; a MARBLED GODWIT seen at the Ponquogue Bridge flats on Friday, but I'm still hoping for 4 or 5 more species before we're done.  I'm also still hoping for a hurricane in the hope of getting some of the goodies we all enjoyed here last year in August - no sign of one so far though.

Also on the passerine front, the Fall can produce a wide range of Western wanderers on Long Island so I'm naturally hoping that we have a good season.  The first of the season here, a LARK SPARROW, showed up at Jones Beach a few days ago and, while it wasn't a year bird, I dropped by to see it today. The bird was feeding in the weeds growing from cracks in a concrete parking lot and was very confiding.  I pulled the car up about 50 feet away from it but it came closer and closer during the 15 minutes I watched it, eventually allowing for some decent photographs.  Let's hope there are more Western birds coming along behind this one.

Lark Sparrow at Jones Beach