Henslow's Sparrow, Chuck-wills-widow, and Yellow-throated Warbler ... a Big Memorial Day of Birding

Some Aggressive Year-Listing in New York State

Saturday, May 27 - Cupsogue and Dune Road, Suffolk County

I had three free mornings over Memorial Day this year, the afternoons and evening were chock-a-block with social commitments but the morning were mine, and I was determined to use them.  So up at 5am on Saturday and off to Cupsogue County Park for a morning of coastal birding and hopefully a pile of year birds.

First order of business was a sea-watch.  I am pretty rusty these days as I don't sea-watch nearly as much as I used to, but it didn't take long to get my 'eye in' and there really wasn't all that much happening out there to be honest.  Best seabird by far was a single Sooty Shearwater that whipped by heading East, otherwise the view was just Common Terns, Northern Gannets and Common Loons.  A Black Tern did make a quick appearance, but my hopes of Arctic Tern drew up blank, both here and at the tern roost later.

Dunlins are amazingly cute in breeding plumage

So there are two options to get out to the Shorebird/tern roost at Cupsogue - a short walk through knee-deep muck that sticks to your feet, smells for days, and is full of sharp fragments of clams - or - a slightly longer walk along sandy beaches that involves fording several slightly deeper channels.  I chose the latter and was glad I did because I got to spend some intimate time with some very tame shorebirds.

White-rumped Sandpiper and Ruddy Turnstone

Beyond the common shorebirds and a whole lot of Common Terns and Black Skimmers, there really wasn't a whole lot to see.  I did get a Little Blue Heron (always good in Suffolk County),  Clapper Rail, and a singing Seaside Sparrow.  Not bad in total though, 48 species and a very pleasant start to the weekend.

Barn Swallow and Short-billed Dowitcher

Next stop was Dune Road where I saw a lot of the same things but added a few goodies at Triton Lane where Saltmarsh Sparrow finally surrendered to the year list (after several previous attempts) and I saw another two Clapper Rails (three seen Clapper Rails in a day is never bad).  So by the time I had to head back for a lunch appointment I'd seen 60 species, 7 year birds, and was pretty happy with how this plan was working out.

Common Tern and Red Knot

Sunday, May 28 - Quogue, Suffolk County and Shawangunk, Ulster County

So I thought up this plan, while drunk, on Saturday night.  I got up at 3am (!) and drove over to Quogue to 'do' nightbirds.  First stop was the Dwarf Pines Preserve in West Hampton and in perhaps one of the most shameless pieces of year-listing I've ever done, I pulled into the parking lot, lowered the windows, heard some Eastern Whip-poor-wills, closed the windows, and drove off.

For the next stop in Quogue, I at least gave my target bird the respect of getting out of the car.  Chuck-will's-widows are much scarcer than Eastern Whip-poor-wills in New York State, with perhaps only a hand-full of breeding pairs on Long Island.  The site I stopped at was a traditional site and a 'chuck' had been heard here earlier in the month - I'd also heard this species here on my big year in 2012 - so I was pretty optimistic.  Sure enough, as soon as I got out of the car I heard the "widdle-widdle" call of a Chuck (well that's how they sound to me anyway, I guess the 'chuck' bit doesn't carry as far as the widdles).  All going according to plan ... so back in the car before 5am and a three-hour drive North to Ulster County .... did I mention I was drunk when I though up this plan?

Henslow's Sparrow 

OK, so the Henslow's Sparrow found at Shawangunk earlier this week was bothering me and I really, really, wanted to see this bird ... not sure why, but I did, birding is funny that way.  Perhaps because I'd been there last Saturday and not found it (it was found a few days later on a trail we didn't bird), and perhaps just because they are awesomely cool and I've only ever seen a couple before in 25+ years in New York.  Whatever the reason, I really wanted to see this bird, so off to Shawangunk National Grassland I went, for the second time in two weeks, but this time starting before dawn and a few hours drive further away to the East.

Given that I'd promised to be back for brunch, and had a 4-hour return drive, this trip had to be surgical; I literally had a 30-minute window to get the bird and get back in the car ... and ... it worked out perfectly.

Another shot of Henslow's Sparrow

I got to Shawangunk, and started to hike out to the area that the bird had been seen, but before I even got to the site I could hear the bird singing, and when I got there, a line of giant camera lenses pointed directly to the bird.  Easy!  Plus ... I got bonus Dickcissel and Upland Sandpiper year birds and was back in the car for the drive home after 30 minutes.  Ruthless ... the perfect twitch.

Henslow's Sparrow is a very cool bird though .. they are ...  well .... 'complicated'.  They have a wide range but are nowhere common.  They have ultra specific habitat requirements, which seems to be grassland burned 4 years ago, nothing else will do ... mow the grass every year, no Henslow's.  Then they also have this adorable little song, the bird throws every ounce of it's energy and contorts it's whole body into this song, and what comes out is ... well sort of "twislik" ... how could you not love this species ....

Dickcissel

Monday, May 29 - East Hampton and Great River, Suffolk County

Raining, a lot at 5am, so I really should have gone back to bed, but of course I didn't and ended up getting cold and wet checking three local shorebird spots and seeing ... well not a lot.

Horned Lark

Had time for one last stop on the way in though so, after battling epic Hamptons traffic (Memorial Day and the rain made it perhaps the worst I've ever seen), I nipped in to Bayard Cutting Arboretum in the hopes of getting New York State's only singing Yellow-throated Warbler.

As soon as I got out of the car I could hear a Yellow-throated Warbler singing so I walked across the road and (this so often happens unfortunately) ran into a photographer and his son, who were playing a recording of the bird.
"The bird is right here" he said, and it was, right above them in the tree.
"So why are you playing tape to a breeding bird?" I replied.  "In fact to New York's only pair of breeding Yellow-throated Warblers?".
He sort of mumbled, said he though it was a migrant and that he would stop ... but by the time I got back to the car I could hear him playing again.  This guy with his (hobbyist) mid-price camera gear, was obviously totally focussed on getting a decent shot of this bird, no matter what the cost .... for what end?  A Facebook shot?   Not like this was his livelihood ... but cameras do strange things to people.   A sad way to end a great weekend of birding.  But it was a great weekend of birding.

Early January on Long Island

A few days of Year-Birding to start 2017

Sunday, January 1 - Montauk and Shinecock

I think by now I can categorize it as a ritual.  I have started my year list in perhaps 7 of the last 15 years with a sunrise sea-swatch at Montauk Point, and it never disappoints as a great way to start a year of birding.  This year was relatively mild, and after a quick stop en-route to add Great Horned Owl, the day started there with a beautiful sunrise over the Atlantic as it got light enough to distinguish the birds.  And there were plenty of birds ... highlights including thousands of scoters of all three species, hundreds of Common Eider and a scattering of other sea-ducks, loons and grebes.  Specialty birds also put in an appearance with a couple of Black-legged Kittiwakes, a Red-Necked Grebe, nearly 75 Razorbills and a fly-by DOVEKIE (plus a Gray Seal).  Not a bad start.  23 species in all, and the year-list 2017 was officially on it's way.

After Montauk I worked my way back West, stopping at a number of local spots picking up more species at each of them.  Highlight for me was a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE at Further Lane Fields in East Hampton (it's hard to tell but the picture below is a mansion lawn, not a  grassy field ... it's a big lawn and a big mansion).

Greater White-fronted Goose in a Canada Goose Flock

By lunch time I'd worked my way to Shinecock Inlet where a couple of Harlequin Ducks and a Glaucous Gull were both good close views.  The local Snow Buntings were also quite confiding, but unfortunately, the only Snowy Owl of the day stayed at a very respectable distance.

Harlequin Ducks

Can you spot the Snowy Owl?

Glaucous Gull

I finished the day off back at the house in Northwest Harbor watching my feeders and drinking wine on the deck, coming out again just after dark to hear my local Eastern Screech Owl become Owl species number three for the year.  Not a bad way to start 2017.

Monday, January 2 - Robert Moses State Park and Cammann's Pond

Up early, but unfortunately I had to head back to the City with the dogs in the car, allowing me only two or three quick stops on the way back in.  Stop one was Robert Moses State Park where I managed to dip a couple of Ross's Geese that had been present for several days but had apparently moved on.  There was a nice consolation though in the form of a single Lapland Longspur, a bird I rarely see more than one or two of in New York in the average year.

Lapland Longspur

Last stop of the day was Cammann's Pond in Nassau County, where I'd dipped a BLACK-HEADED GULL a few days earlier.  No problems this time though as the bird was on the water near the parking lot and I saw it before I'd even turned off the engine.  A new species for me for Nassau County (#214) and a bird I missed altogether in New York in 2016, so I was happy to call it a day and had back to the city with a nice haul of 92 species on the year list.

Black-headed Gull

Not a bad start to the year ....

Happy New Year (List)!

Three (half) days of birding Suffolk County to start 2016 ....

So this year I will bird more, I will take more photographs, and I will blog more.  I also plan to lose weight, quit smoking, drink less, and be a better person.  Perhaps there's a chance that some of these will stick past the first week of January ....

Friday, January 1st - Montauk

I love starting my year list in Montauk, and I love to start it sea-watching.  I must have started year lists at the same spot, freezing behind the concession stand, peering through my scope, on at least five occasions.  It's a great way to connect with nature and the elements and, if you can ignore the crowds of Korean Christians who gather at the Point for a Sunrise service of some sort, a proper outdoors experience.

This year, the sea-watching was quite good.  Hundred of Red-throated and Common Loons and a good mix of perhaps 5,000 sea-duck of 6 species.  I even managed 65 Razorbills my "annual" Dovekie, getting good scope views of one on the water.  Just when I thought it could get any better, I saw a puff of 'smoke' over the water and, swinging my scope around quickly, saw a large back and a pointed dorsal fin arch through the water.  Too big for a Bottlenose Dolphin, plus they done't blow.  No question what this was - a Minke Whale!  Only my second ever from land at Montauk.  It really did start the year off very well.

As the temperature started to climb, gloves came off, and I really started to enjoy a very good day of birding at Montauk.  Next on the 'good bird' list was an Ash-throated Flycatcher, a scarce Western wanderer that had been found by the folks doing the Christmas Bird Count the week before and had stuck around long enough for me to see it fairly easily.

Ash-throate Flycatcher - Fort Hill Cemetery, Montauk, Suffolk County, NY

 While I was there though, I got some disquieting news - someone was reporting a Black Guillemot from the Point.  This is my nemesis bird at Montauk, despite all the hundreds of hours of sea-watching there, I have never seen one.  And they NEVER stick around!  By the time I got the email an hour had passed and so I was sure that I'd missed this one too, but while I was debating whether to backtrack and try for the Guillemot, another email came in - drake King Eider at the Point!  Oh boy, I should probably have stayed put at the point rather than running around chasing passerines.  So back in the car and over the Point for round two of sea-watching.

By the time I got there, there was of course no sign of the Guillemot (I'm cursed with this species on my local patch), so I joined up with some other birders and kept scanning, picking up a nice consolation prize when a drake Harlequin Duck came into view.  Once regular at Montauk, they've been scarce there of late so I was happy that I'd come back and found it.  Then, while the other birders were looking for the Harlequin, I finished my scan and bam - drake King Eider.  Such a spiffy bird, and another one not guaranteed at Montauk every year.  This one I did manage to get everyone onto - lots of smiles all around.

Happy with the ducks and feeling like I could head off again, some other birders told me about a nearby Lark Sparrow (another unusual Western wanderer) that I hadn't even heard about.  This bird was truly co-operative though and gave crippling views close to the road.  All in all I was very happy with my new year list and headed back to Northwest Harbor fully satisfied with a good start to the year.

Lark Sparrow - Deep Hollow Ranch, Montauk, Suffolk County, NY

Saturday, January 2nd - Montauk / East Hampton

My plan for the second had been to head back West along Long Island to look for a Tufted Duck and other waterfowl that had been reported during the week but, given how good Montauk was the day before, and still hoping to catch up with the Guillemot, I decided to go back to the point.  I met up with Isaac Grant at the Concession at 8am and started the whole sea-watch thing again.  And what a difference a day makes - no Dovekie, no King Eider, no Harlequin, no Ash-Throated Flycatcher, no Lark Sparrow, and needless to say, no Guillemot!

Razorbill and Iceland Gull - Lake Montauk Inlet, Suffolk County, NY

 We really couldn't come up with anything all that good.  All the basic birds were there but none of the goodies from the day before.  The only new species we added all morning was an Iceland Gull that I'd somehow overlooked the day before.  It wasn't a bad morning, it just paled when compared to the mega list of birds that I'd assembled on Friday.  Nothing really seemed to be cooperating very much.

To add insult injury, the gloves were definitely back on today as the temperature had dropped and the wind had increased somewhat.  Not the best weather to be looking for flycatchers and indeed passerines of any sort were few and far between.

I even tried twice to see the Snowy Owl reported at Hick's Island but couldn't find it.  The only consolations were some Tundra Swans and a Greater White-fronted Goose at Hook Pond.

In the end I gave up early and went back home feeling like I should have stuck with the original plan.

Sunday, January 3rd - Western Suffolk County

Decided to stay local this morning and so just worked the Northwest Woods and Sammy's Beach near the house.  There weren't an awful lot of birds to be seen, although first of season Common Goldeneye and Brown Creeper were welcome, but it was a very pleasant morning to walk in the woods and I enjoyed the quiet time.  I had dinner plans in the City though, so I had to make a move and decided to try to do a quick stop for some good birds that had been seen in Western Suffolk County during the week.  I had the dogs in the car with me so I couldn't stop long but I figured I had perhaps a half an hour to spare so I could maybe make one, perhaps two stops if the birds cooperated.

First stop was Capri Lake where a TUFTED DUCK had been hanging out with a mixed Scaup flock. Finding the pond was fairly easily and as I parked I met up with Joe Giunta and crew and headed over to the lake.  As we walked up to the pond though a birder who was leaving had bad news - all the scaup, and presumably the tufted duck, had just flown off the lake.  Seeing as I was there already, we decided to check the lake anyway and maybe get some year birds and it was a good job that we did because the first bird we saw, floating in the middle of the lake with six Lesser Scaup, was the TUFTED DUCK.  Nice bird, and only two minutes spent so I had time for a one more stop.

Long-billed Dowitchers - Santapogue Creek, Suffolk County, NY

Next stop was a quick hit to get a group of over-wintering Long-billed Dowitchers at Santapogue Creek.  Long-billed Dowitchers are surprisingly difficult in coastal New York, outnumbered thousands to one by Short-billed Dowitchers in migration they show up only in very limited numbers in Spring and Summer.  On the other hand they are much kore likely to show up late in the Fall and sometimes even overwinter, this flock having been present since November.  Although it took me a few minutes to find the site, the birds were easy to see and while I was there Menachim Goldstein gave me directions to a nearby Dickcissel.  Did I have time for one more stop?  Why not ...

Dickcissel - Southards Lake Park, Suffolk County, NY

That bird also surrendered quickly and was quite tame, almost oblivious to the hikers and cyclists passing quiet close to it.  Another 3 minutes on-site, and done.

So three stops in a half hour, three good species, and off back to the city.  A really good start to the new year and some nice species for my 'home' county.  On to new things ...

The Big Dipper

Two big misses in New York State

One of the truisms of birding is that the more you look the more you see, and conversely, if you don't go birding you don't see very much.  Recently my schedule has kept me tied to the City with occasional trips to East Hampton and, not-surprisingly, I've ended up missing some good birds as a result.

On May 16th Shai Mitra and Pat Lindsay found a BAR-TAILED GODWIT at Jamaica Bay (and not the bird previously reported from New Jersey).  They stumbled into the bird right next to the main trail on the West Pond and got the word out quickly allowing a handful of first responders to get distant looks at the bird before it flew off a short-time later (other birders were still en route and missed it).  I had birded the morning in Central Park and then headed to the office, getting word of the bird's arrival and departure simultaneously when I checked my email in the afternoon.  It would have been an ABA bird for me so I spent 7 hours there the next day, birding the rising tide in the hope of a repeat performance, but lightening did not strike twice.

The next week, during the week, a LITTLE EGRET was found at Gardiner County Park in Suffolk County.  Another potential ABA bird but this time I knew I had no chance of chasing it until Sunday - a combination of work and house guests meant that I couldn't possibly get away until that day so nothing to do except hope that the bird stuck around.  The signs were good when the egret remained loyal to the same site a second day but, perhaps inevitably, it didn't stick around for the weekend (as least as far as we know).

My consolation that weekend was some nice local birding, enjoying breeding birds and some late migrants near my house in NorthWest Harbor.  I did see breeding Least Terns and Piping Plovers with young, the full-suite of 30-or-so species that breed in and around the yard, and two new birds for my yard list, a WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW and a surprise BROAD-WINGED HAWK.  Very pleasant local stuff and for the record I did, as always, check each of the 5 Snowy Egrets at the local marsh very carefully ....

White-crowned Sparrow - new for the yard list and
Scarlet Tanager - two males singing close to the yard this year 

Convinced that my bad luck had settled in, I really debated whether I should chase the next good bird that came along.  When Deborah Allen found a FRANKLIN'S GULL at Plum Beach in Brooklyn this week I wondered if I'd even try to go and see it, especially after my 5 failed attempts at the Mew Gull in Brooklyn this Winter.  The signs looked better for this one though as the Franklin's Gull seemed to have paired with a Laughing Gull and was being seen regularly during the week.  Plus I'd seen the species before in New York State - a good bird but not one I desperately needed so I figured my chances might be better.

As it turned out, this twitch was easy.  I walked up to the site, saw a group of birders with scopes, walked over and was soon on the bird.  It was a bit distant for good photos but I was able to grab a few record shots and had a nice chance to study Laughing and Franklin's Gulls side by side.  All very pleasant, and even though it took me over an hour to drive the 5 miles back to the City (gotta love New York in Summer), it was a nice trip and hopefully a sign that my luck is turning.


My photos were distant and not really very good but for some better photos check out Andrew Baksh's blog post here.

Yard Birding: Nor'Easter Nemo - snowed-in for days.

So busy with grown up stuff all last week but watched the approach of Nemo (since when did Nor'Easters get names too ?) with interest.  Some of the locals got out birding on Thursday and Friday but didn't see much other than larger than normal numbers of Black-legged Kittiwakes out at Montauk Point.  I thought I might get out too over the weekend but any illusions I might have had of birding were quickly squashed when the storm actually hit.  We had 2-feet of snow overnight on Friday and, given my unplowed 150-foot sloping driveway, that was pretty much it as far as birding was concerned.  Nothing to do except stay in and relax all weekend.

White-breasted Nuthatch at the feeders in the yard.

On Saturday morning I got up early to look at the snow and shoveled a path to dig out and refill the feeders.  Two of the feeders had actually been brought down by the storm so I had to dig them out and re-hang them.  The effort was worth it though as I've had huge numbers of birds coming in over the weekend.  From nowhere we now have a flock of 80-100 House Finches at the feeders for the last two days (not quite Redpolls but cool nevertheless).  I rarely see more than a few House Finches out here so I have no idea where this multitude came from and they just appeared with the snow along with a flock of White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos.  While I have no rare birds to report, we do have 200+ birds at the feeders at any given moment right now, and who knows how many Chickadees and Titmice are cycling through as like most people I think I vastly underestimate the numbers of roving birds that swing by once or twice a day.  It's really quite satisfying to realize that we're feeding this many birds.

The birds didn't seem to care that the feeder wasn't in it's usual place.  This
is the only suet feeder so as soon as I dug it out the woodpeckers appeared
and didn't wait for me to re-hang it.

So I've kept putting out pounds of seed and I'm hoping that we're making a difference in what must be a really tough time for the local birds.

Downy Woodpecker - we had 8 at the feeders at one time yesterday so who
knows how many visit during the day.

Still waiting for a Common Redpoll or a Crossbill at the feeder but in the meantime just feeling a real responsibility to 'keep the seed coming' as the birds seem to be so needy given the weather.  The finch flock seems to be spending the whole day close to the feeders and I've noticed Juncos roosting in the ornamental evergreens right up against the house (for heat?).   Hoping the finch and sparrow calls will attract other things that happen to pass through the neighborhood.

We tend to ignore House Finches but a flock of 100 is actually pretty neat.
We'd probably get all excited if this was an irruptive Northern finch.

Yard Birding: Eastern Screech-Owl ...

When I first bought the house in NorthWest Harbor six years ago one of the first things I did was to establish a feeder station and hang a bunch of bird-boxes and bat-boxes.  In fact the bird-boxes went up before most of the furniture was delivered.  We've had a very mixed record with both, attracting Eastern Bluebirds, Tufted Titmice, Black-capped Chickadees and (unfortunately) House Wrens to the bird boxes but have yet to have bats use their custom-built homes.  That's not to say that mammals don't use the boxes however as I frequently find White-footed Mice in the chickadee box and gray squirrels took over the owl box as soon as we hung it up.  I suspect if we found a large enough box we could get Raccoons to move in too but I think we have quite enough trouble with them already.

Two years ago, in an effort to actually see the Eastern Screech-Owl that we so often hear in the yard, my partner Ryan hung an additional three owl boxes in likely looking spots.  For the first year or so we diligently checked them and changed the sawdust as instructed but, as so often happens, they soon got left to their own devices.

Eastern Screech-Owl (2 shots)

Then yesterday afternoon, a lovely mild day after a freezing couple of days out here, I happened to glance out the kitchen window and noticed that the black entrance hole on the front box was missing (the entrance hole usually stands out from a distance).  Now I've been fooled before, thinking that there was an owl in a box only to grab bins and see that the hole had been stuffed full of oak leaves by a squirrel.  This time though, there really was a Screech-Owl in the box, and a red-phase owl to-boot.

The owl seemed to be enjoying the weather and popped up a few times that afternoon.  While it watched us when we were in the driveway it didn't seem all that concerned, but then again it's probably watched us many times from various roost sites without us knowing.  Although I tried to stay focussed to see it fly-out, other things distracted me and I missed it.  Still, hopefully it'll be around for a while so I'll have other chances ...