February 17 - Long Island birding

Today I went to several places on Long Island. At Massapequa Lake my friend Andy located the Eurasian Wigeon that had been reported here. It was tough to find in all the reeds, but eventually the bird moved out and we got some nice views of it.
credit: Bill Hublick


Later at Point Lookout, Andy once again had the quick eyes, and found a Red-Necked Grebe in the ocean.
credit: Steve Gantlett

February 9 - Tufted Duck and more Crossbills

Today I went on a long-distance trip to see an Old World species of duck that rarely visits Eastern North America. Known as the Tufted Duck this species appears similar to the common Ring-Necked Duck or Lesser Scaup species. Other than the tuft, the difference are the whiter flanks and slimmer neck, and a rounded head with a wider plainer bill.

Range Map for this species:

Once previously I have seen this species, and that was back in January 2002 in Rumson, NJ.
Knowing that it could be many more years until this bird is within driving distance, I took the drive up to East Providence, Rhode Island.

It was quite easy to find the spot where this bird, along with numerous Ring-Necked Ducks, were enjoying the fresh-water mussels within the James V. Turner Reservoir.

After 30 minutes or so of watching this bird, I headed back west toward home. Living on borrowed time, I made a brief stop at Connecticut's Hammonasset State Park.
Here I was able to see another rare visitor, this time from the Western US, in the Orange-Crowned Warbler .

Unfortunately, the rain started coming in so I had to cut this visit short. Before finally heading home, I had my lunch while watching the Red Crossbills, from incredibly close range --and for likely the last time this winter season.

February 3 - Montauk Point and Dune Road

What a banner day today was. A friend and I came out to Montauk Point and were rewarded for the long drive with fantastic weather, calm ocean, and fine views of seabirds.
Among the tens of thousands of birds here are the most White-Winged Scoters that anyone in the metro area can see. The other scoters of Black and Surf were also well represented. We were able to get nice looks at over a dozen Razorbills.

We were not able to positively locate any other alcids, however we did enjoy close views of the thousand or so Common Eider, in all variations of age and plumage. On the drive west from Montauk Point we stopped at Edgemere Ave and scanned the ocean once again. This time my friend spotted a beautifully-plumaged full adult male King Eider !


I have been hoping to see the drake King Eider for many years now, and finally seeing this bird brought a huge smile to my face. While scoping the one bird, I spotted yet another full adult male King Eider mixed in with the females, and both sexes of the Common Eider.
We watched these birds at fairly close range for about 30 minutes, enjoying the bird feeding and preening, opening it's unusual bill, and doing some courtship rituals.



A truly spectacular sighting today.

Before leaving the Montauk area we stopped at Hither Hills park and found the Pink-Footed Goose, as well as, the Barnacle Goose. We also saw Brant, Canada Goose and Snow Goose.

Later along Dune Road, near the Ponqougue Bridge we located the Snowy Owl that has been present here for a couple of weeks.

Also seen were a pair of American Bitterns, Boat-Tailed Grackles, Long-Tailed Ducks and Red-Breasted Mergansers.

One last view of the scene typical of Montauk in winter:

click on all images to enlarge

January 27 - Scott's Oriole in Manhattan

Although I only had a few hours free this weekend, some friends were kind enough to take me into New York City to look at the vagrant Scott's Oriole that has been discovered in Union Square Park.

This bird from the Southwestern U.S. is just the first record of this species in New York state !
Previously I have seen this bird in Arizona two times. The first was on Mount Lemmon in 2006 and the second time was in Madera Canyon in 2007. So, it was quite a treat to see this bird again and so close to home !

Here are some wonderful pictures taken by a Brooklyn-birder.



While it appears that this typically fruit-loving bird has adapted to it's New York life quite well, it was mainly feeding on the sap-laden holes in a Holly Tree that were made by the Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker that is also over-wintering in this park. Quite a symbiotic relationship !
credit: Stephanie Seymour


Here's a final pic of this bird.

January 19 - North Shore and Sandy Hook

I started this morning at Manasquan Inlet. Driving through Point Pleasant I saw an adult Cooper's Hawk on a telephone pole. Driving around the inlet I was able to see several of the large Boat-Tailed Grackles. Then at the inlet I had close views of Purple Sandpipers, Bonaparte's Gulls and Great Cormorant, however no alcids or specialty gulls were seen. I did spot a distant adult Northern Gannet, and both Common and Red-Throated Loons along wth Red-Breasted Mergansers.
credit: Steve Bird

On the nearby ponds, I had Canvasback ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Northern Shovelers, Gadwall, Wigeon, Lesser Scaup and Ringed-Neck Ducks. A highlight was the Lesser Black-Backed Gull, one which was seen on Wreck Pond and another on Lake Como. At Deal Lake I had a Pied-Billed Grebe. I had a single Greater Scaup from the Conover Pavilion area. Finally on Lake Takanassee I saw three male Redheads with a lone female.


Next at Sandy Hook, I was treated to wonderful views of the long-staying Townsend's Solitaire. This bird was first found in the last week of November, and I was able to life this bird in early December. Today the bird was very cooperative and gave several flights that showed it's brilliant wings.

I then searched in vain for the female Barrow's Goldeneye and Eiders that had been reported, only finding Common Goldeneyes, Horned Grebes and Long-Tailed Ducks. However with the help of others I was able to see an Iceland Gull from North Beach.

And I located a White-Winged Scoter from C-lot aka the Chokecherry Parking area.

Interesting January records were had for Field Sparrow and Tree Swallows.

January 12 - Hammonasset Park again

I rode with a few friends back up to Hammo today in order to see the Red Crossbills, and we were handsomely rewarded. We saw just over two-dozen of the beauties from close range.
Very nice views were had by all, and it was a life bird for two in the group.

And we even got to see them take to the ground for some water !

credit: Stephanie Seymour

Down by Meigs Point Nature Center we had a flock of Horned Larks and there were 3 Lapland Longspurs mixed in. And behind the blind there, we had wonderful views of an American Bittern as it warmed itself and preened right out in the open.
credit: Arthur Morris

Later, after dipping on the Chat that was reprted in Old Lyme, a return trip to Meigs produced a flyby Northern Goshawk !
credit: Mike Pope


Finally, on the jetty we saw Ruddy Turnstones, Dunlin, Sanderling, Black-Bellied Plover, and Common Goldeneye and Common Loons in the water.

January 6 - Sullivan County Winter Finches

After hearing what a tremendous day some friends had up in the Sullivan County town of Liberty on Saturday, I made the trek up here myself with four other friends today.

Upon arriving at Clements Road we quickly spotted a pair of Bohemian Waxwings amongst the smaller, and lighter colored Cedar Waxwings. We enjoyed nice scope views of these birds, and found yet another one nearby. Fortunately for us, these birds stuck around for about 10 minutes or more before flying off not to be seen again today.
credit: Blacks Bay Lodge staff

This fantastic shot shows some of the major differences from the Cedar Waxwing. The dark gray body, red undertail, and red face with very little white surrounding the black mask credit: Doug Lloyd

At the junction of Smith Road & Cooley Mountain Road, the Rayano's feeders provided everyone with beautiful looks at a very large group of Common Redpolls.

Among the flock of nearly 100 of the Common Redpolls that were seen here, we were able to locate two of the "frosty-colored" Hoary Redpoll species
Finally, in the afternoon we were treated to yet another winter-finch species in the Evening Grosbeak, including three gorgeously-colored males:

credit: Lester Rees

Additionally we saw several Pine Grosbeaks, most being on Airport Road where we had a flock of 26, including the incredibly beautiful males:

Click on the images to enlarge them.