[TN-Bird] (Offtopic) East coast birding

I apologize for this off-topic post (feel free to delete)

If anyone happened to be considering an east coast trip in the near-future, 
I would highly recommend it. Hap Chambers and I just returned from an 
abbreviated, whirlwind tour from Long Island to the coast of southern Maine. 
We spent 4 full days and 2 half-days birding. It's been a great winter for 
rarities up there, which got me thinking about this trip. We cut off trip 
short a day or so, after barely beating the blizzard off of Cape Cod. This 
is the only potential monkey-wrench in a trip this time of year. It was 
cold, (very cold at times) but tolerable with the right clothing.

It took 2 full days of birding, but we finally got the Slaty-backed Gull at 
Gloucester, MA. This bird has several locations it frequents, thus can be 
either very easy or very hard to find. We talked to several people who had 
made 5 or 6 trips looking for it unsuccessfully. Many others got it on there 
1st try. The Gloucester/Cape Ann is excellent birding, we had 25 Iceland 
Gulls on frozen Niles Pond at one time (with a hockey game going on nearby). 
Glaucous Gulls are also numerous. We had 10 species of gulls on the trip, 
including a Black-headed, and numerous Black-legged Kittiwakes (all seen in 
flight over the ocean).

Both Barnacle and Pink-footed Goose have been pretty easily found near 
Montauk on eastern Long Island. It took a little searching and luck, but we 
had great looks at both. The Slaty-back, and both geese were still being 
seen as of today.

Otherwise we had most of the coastal specialties of the region, including 
thousands of Common Eiders, and a single female King Eider off the coast of 
NH. Montauk, NY was quite the spectacle, with easily 15,000-20,000 Eiders 
and Scoters riding the waves off the point. We had 4 species of alcids, with 
Thick-billed Murre 3 times, and Dovekie once, along with the more common 
Razorbills and Black Guillemots. Harlequin Ducks were also numerous in the 
northern parts of our visit.

It took some looking, but we finally found at least 4 Bohemian Waxwings in a 
large flock of Cedars and Waxwing, just off the NH coast. Other highlights 
were Snowy Owl, 3 Northern Shrikes, Eared Grebe, breeding-plumage Great 
Cormorants, flocks of 100+ Purple Sandpipers, and the list goes on.

I will have a number of photos posted soon. If anyone happens to have any 
questions feel free to ask.

Good Birding, and hope to some of you at KY Lake!

Mike Todd
McKenzie, TN
birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.pbsae.com/mctodd


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