"I'm sharing my photos and stories of my bird watching adventures on Long Island. I also feature my sightings from around the USA and other countries when I travel. I hope you enjoy them." - Rob (from Massapequa)
There was a continuing Shrike and Red Shouldered Hawk that I tried to find the other day so I had some free time and went with Snouty to find it. We lucked out and found the Shrike but not the Red Shouldered Hawk. I only saw a Shrike once before and it was far away so it was nice to see this one up close.
Word got out that a Northern Lapwing was seen at Santapogue Creek where the Long Billed Dowitchers winter. Weird thing is I was thinking about Northern Lapwings a few days before. I remember there were 2 seen years before at Montauk. I drove as fast and safely as I could to the creek where other birders were and had seen it but it flew off to the nearby golf course after being harassed by a gull. (stupid gull) I drove around a little around the golf course out of desparation to find it without luck. I went back to the creek and was ready to give up but decided to try one last drive by the golf course. Luckily I refound the Lapwing on the southeast corner of the golf course. It was a really cool looking bird.
There has been a continuing Common Gallinule at Mill Pond in Bellmore that apparently returns each winter. I went to look for it and got lucky - it was out in the open and now has more color on it's bill since last year. I then drove to Nickerson to try for a continuing Glaucous Gull but didn't find it. As a consolation prize I found a Snow Goose mixed in with some Canada Geese in a pond by the Jones Beach Amphitheater.
I took the day off from work and I'm glad I did because I wasn't feeling well today, but not bad enough to chase a few potential life birds. I took the drive to Staten Island for a continuing Gray Kingbird. I chased this bird a few times in the past (Hecksher, Jones Beach) but missed both times. When I got to Great Kills Park, I walked around a lot without any luck, but luckily as I was driving around I saw a few birders by the road who had the bird in their sight. If it wasn't for them I would have missed the Kingbird since it wasn't moving and blended in with the branches. On the way back, I stopped at Greenwood Cemetery for a continuing Henslow's Sparrow. I had some trouble navigating around but finally found the area where it had been seen. I walked up a hill on a hunch where another birder alerted me that I was about to step on the bird! I circled around a small grassy area and couldn't believe how the sparrow was so low to the ground. I got some good looks at it and left after a little while. There was some drama about the bird because some birders were getting too close to it and seemed to be disrespectful of the grave stones. While some birders seemed too close, it didn't seem to bother the sparrow - he even hopped on someone that was sitting on the ground : )
There were recent reports of a continuing LeConte's Sparrow at Croton Point Park so I took a chance to go see it with Snouty. The location is basically a landfill covered with grass next to the Hudson River. When we arrived, there were other birders on the scene but they hadn't found it yet. I decided to look around where others weren't checking and had a hunch about a spot that was cut into the grasses. I saw a sparrow that had an orangey head that dove down quickly but I had to assume it was another one of the multiple Savannah Sparrows that were around. Sure enough the LeConte's Sparrow popped up and Snouty confirmed we found it. It stayed up for a little while and I called to the other birders to come over. (yo!) Unfortunately just one over birder saw it for a quick second and that was the last time it was seen.
Over the weekend, I went to the Jones Coast Guard Marina because a Vermillion Flycatcher reported at Cape May that was heading north along the coast. I didn't see anything rare - most noteworthy were lots of Kinglets, 2 White Crowned Sparrows, and a Field Sparrow. I tried looking for the continuing Yellow Headed Blackbird at Nickerson again - I found a flock of Cowbirds, Starlings, Red Wing Blackbird but no Yellow Headed - I think I'm done chasing this bird. Before I left the house, there were some Kinglets in my yard, 2 Cooper's Hawks flew by and a thrush was in my neighbor's tree - I'm assuming Swainson's.
There was a continuing Says Phoebe at Caumsett St Park for 2 days so when my day off Saturday came around, I drove over before sunrise with Snouty to try to see it. When we got out of the car we heard an owl hooting. Another birder was on the scene, but the bird had not yet been seen. We got worried because we 2 saw Red Tailed Hawks, a Merlin and Kestrel fighting so we were worried the bird might hide or worse. We also saw and heard some Ravens. After going around the general area where it was seen, another birder reported it was there at it's "usual" spot behind the restrooms on the fence posts. I saw it briefly from a distance but the sun was shining in my direction. I could tell it was the bird because it seemed larger than our Eastern Phoebes. I went around for a better angle where along with other birders, we were treated to great views and the morning sun made for nice photo lighting. We saw the bird catch some bugs and also pluck some of it's feathers. Cool bird - it was a bird I wanted to see for a while.
