[TN-Bird] (Offtopic) East coast birding
- From: <birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:52:07 -0600
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
=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================
The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with
first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation.
You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds
you report were seen. The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should
appear in the first paragraph.
_____________________________________________________________
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_____________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
______________________________________________________________
TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society
Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
endorse the views or opinions expressed
by the members of this discussion group.
Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
------------------------------
Assistant Moderator Andy Jones
Cleveland, OH
-------------------------------
Assistant Moderator Dave Worley
Rosedale, VA
__________________________________________________________
Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
ARCHIVES
TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/
EXCELLENT MAP RESOURCES
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif
Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com
_____________________________________________________________
Other related posts:
