Notes from 2015

Overall, 2015 was great!  I expected to see 10 lifers for the year but was lucky to see 43 bringing my United States life list to 282 species.  I got to see my main target birds for the year: Pectoral Sandpiper and Whimbrel.  I saw some really great birds including some sparrows and warblers, but some of the most notable would be Red Phalarope, Pomarine Jaeger, Tufted Duck, American White Pelican and definitely the famous Painted Bunting from Prospect Park.

Montauk, Hamptons, Riverhead, Mount Sinai: Ash-Throated Flycatcher

I started the day looking for the recently reported Ash-Throated Flycatcher.  I got to see it this time!  After 2 hours I found it along the west side of Fort Hill Cemetery.  At Montauk Point/ Camp Hero I saw the usual scoters, Common Eiders and Gannets.  At Lake Montauk I saw a mix of Common Goldeneye and Bufflehead.  At Gosman's I saw Common Loons, Great and Double Crested Comorants, and most likely a Peregrine Falcon.  I stopped at several locations in the Hamptons including Hook Pond and Sagaponack.  The most notable sightings was around Hook Pond where I saw 3 Snow Geese, a Cooper's Hawk, and Purple Sandpipers.  A search through the Canada Geese flocks in the Hamptons and along 25A by Riverhead didn't yield anything unusual until the end of the day where I spotted something white in a geese flock in a school field - was a Snow Goose and also saw a Greater White Fronted Goose.  Curiously, there was about a dozen yellow tagged Canada Geese - the most I saw together in one group.  I also check around Cedar Beach, Mount Sinai for a recently reported Razorbill that was close to shore, but only found Long Tailed Ducks.

Ash-Throated Flycatcher

Ash-Throated Flycatcher

Ash-Throated Flycatcher

Common Goldeneye, Buffleheads

Common Loon

Peregrine Falcon

Great Comorant

Great Blue Heron

Cooper's Hawk

Purple Sandpipers, Sanderlings

Purple Sandpipers, Sanderlings

Sanderlings

Snow Goose, Canada Geese

Greater White Fronted Goose

Canada Geese

Snow Geese

Jones Beach, Robert Moses, Lake Capri, Nissequogue

Despite a dreary rainy day I was able to see some notable birds,  The biggest surprise of the day was 23 Red Knots bathing in a puddle at the Jones Beach Coast Guard Station.  Red Breasted Mergansers were by Short Beach.  I stopped by Lake Capri only for a minute to look for the Tufted Duck - I didn't do a decent search since it was cold and raning but did manage to find a Redhead, American Black Ducks and Scaup.  At Nissequogue where the river meets Long Island Sound I saw a couple of Long Tailed Ducks.

Red Knots (and Black Bellied Plover)

Red Knots

Eastport

Tried again for the Ross's Goose - I did a good search of the lake with my bins and scope, but it just wasn't there.

Eastport

I tried again for the Ross's Goose again scanning every waterfowl possible - there was a good mix of ducks on the lake including Canvasbacks and a Redhead, but once again I missed my target bird.

Eastport, Dune Road, Montauk

I saw recent reports of a Ross's Goose in Eastport and Ash Throated Flycatcher in Montauk - I tried thinking I would get 2 easy lifers but didn't find them.  My consolation was finally a decent look and photo of my "nemesis bird" from last winter - an American Bittern.  I saw one last year but only for a second.  There was lots of action off Montauk Point and Gosman's Dock - lots of Scoters, gulls, both loons and some Gannets.  On several occasions the gulls mobbed the loons who were catching fish - the gulls also were diving into the water for fish.  Only other bird that stood out was a Bonaparte Gull by Gosman's.

Ring Necked Pheasants

Buffleheads

American Bittern

American Bittern

Gannet

Gulls and Loons

Scoters and Eiders

Bonaparte Gull

Capri Lake, West Islip: Tufted Duck

I saw a report of  Tufted Duck and I was on the road 15 minutes after it was reported - I saw it through a fence and it was somewhat hiding behind a small island but I wasn't complaining.

Tufted Duck

Tufted Duck

Cedar Beach Marina

I tried looking for a Gyrfalcon that had been at Cedar Beach (south shore) for a few days - didn't find it - just Harriers and Great Blue Herons.

Northern Harrier

Northern Harrier

End of the Wild Goose Chase (mostly): Cackling Goose

Last winter and the last few weeks I've been trying to chase reports of rare geese especially Cackling Geese - well, I finally saw them today.  Two were reported at Flushing Meadows around Meadow Lake.  After getting lost in the mess of nearby roads I got into the park and spotted a good size flock of Canadas - I scanned the flock and almost immediately picked out a Cackling Goose but it disappeared into the crowd.  I got out of the car and found 2 and got good views of them.

Cackling Goose

flock of Canada Geese with 2 Cackling Geese

Cackling Goose

Cackling Geese

Cackling Goose

Cackling Goose

Cackling Geese

Cackling Geese

The Prospect Park Painted Bunting

There has been a Painted Bunting seen in Prospect Park for about a week now - it's become so popular that it was reported in the New York Times, NY Post, CBS, Weather.com, etc.  I finally had a chance to go see it Sunday morning so I got on the road by 5:37am and took a drive - I got a decent parking spot next to the park and quickly began my search for it.  When I arrived I was the only one looking for it so didn't have the convenience of a big crowd to look out for.  I looked around the skating rink and decided to walk around some more since it wasn't even sunrise yet.  I went up the hill near the skating rink and as I was heading down the path towards a lawn (around sunrise/ 7am)I saw a bright flash of green - it was unmistakable - I knew I had the bird.  I got a few bad photos but moved too fast on the bird, spooking it to fly to a pine tree.  As I walked over to it I saw it fly back to it's original location.  I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice so I went into "stealth mode" and was able to get good looks at the Painted Bunting from a few feet away. Other birders came but eventually the Bunting went MIA.  Later on it reappeared higher up on the hill where it attracted a large crowd.  I got another look at it and took a few more photos. I left after that feeling content since I had some time to myself to enjoy the bird.

I also saw a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, a pair of Cardinals and lots of Song Sparrows.  There were a lot of Northern Shovelers on the lake, as well as Canada Geese and Coots. There was a large flock of gulls towards the other side - I didn't have time to look at them and assumed they were all common types, but later on someone reported a Black Headed Gull among them.  I ended the morning with a Red Tailed Hawk welcoming me back home at the Massapequa exit off the Southern State.

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Cardinal

some of the crowd

Northern Shoveler

Painted Bunting

Red Tailed Hawk