Long Island Sound Bird Count: Snowy Owls in the Northeast

20130620

Snowy Owls in the Northeast

More about this amazing Snowy Owl event....

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Subject: Snowy Blizzard
Date: Mon Dec 23 2013 20:23 pm
From: rcech AT nyc.rr.com

For those not tracking regional sites, this may be of interest. (For those
already in the know, sorry to repeat.)

First, MA birder Tom Murray reported earlier today:


Rick,

Yesterday I participated in the Newburyport CBC and I had 4 Snowy Owls  in
Ipswich and the total for the circle was 24. One of my owls was on a roof of
a house on the beach and I was able to get fairly close.

http://www.pbase.com/tmurray74...

They missed the record set in 1949 by 2 birds. Plum Island had 12 birds, but
the refuge road wasn't plowed past Hellcat, leaving half the refuge only
accessible by foot.

Tom



Then he wrote:


This surely is the year for Snowies! Have you seen this blog from a birder
in Newfoundland about all the owls he's seeing?

http://brucemactavish1.blogspo...

The picture of the owl nest in northern Quebec lined with all the dead
lemmings is a sight, and the 301 owls he saw in one weekend in Newfoundland
is almost unbelievable.



Feel free to cross post the note.

Quite an event!

Rick Cech

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Ferries between NewLondon CT & Orient NY

For bird observing, the ships running the New London CT to Orient NY route differ considerably.

Cross Sound Ferry fleet information

Here is our rating of those ships:

1. John H is the best.

2. Mary Ellen. I have notes from Bill saying this ship is pretty good but there are obstructed views in front and the side (although Thick-billed Murre was seen from this ship).

3. Susan Anne. I have notes saying there is a life boat and a wall impacting your vision. This needs verification.

4. Cape Henlopen is the worst, by far, with no way to get positioned into the front center of the ship. You can bird watch outside along either the left or right side, but to cross over to the other side, you need to walk to the rear of the ship and come around back to the front, where you are either on the left OR the right side, but do not have the full view you want!

June 2nd, 2014

THANKS to all of you, the many many people who contributed to this month-long December survey of birds in and around Long Island Sound, on both the CT and NY sides, and covering sea watches, ferry trips, other boat trips, 300 eBird reports, and eleven Christmas Bird Counts, from New York City, going east 110 miles along both coasts, out to Orient NY and Napatree CT/RI.

What an outstanding cooperative community effort! THANK YOU!

This summer we will be communicating back with all the groups and individuals who made this LIS Bird Count a success!

And looking forward to doing this again next December (-:

February 1-25

Awaiting submission of some bird reports from December. Have drafted a preliminary bird count report, which is being discussed by the dozen people on the team. After we receive the missing data we will complete the draft report, and recirculate it to the wider extended team. We hope to receive reviews/suggestions/additions in the weeks right after that, and improve the report.

This suggests that our compilation can be completed in early March, followed by a team meeting in second half of March, followed by publication of our report by end of March or early April.

December 23rd

Our LIS BirdCount is 3/4 complete. So far this includes information (already received or awaiting) from four LIS-spanning ship cruises, several ferry rides, seawatches including 120+ shared eBird checklists, 5 CT CBCs (NewHaven, Greenwich-Stamford, Westport, Napatree & Stratford-Milford), and 2 NY CBCs (NorthernNassau, Bronx-Westchester, plus Montauk CBC for comparison).

Expected inputs over the next two weeks include 2 NY CBCs (Smithtown & Orient), 2 CT CBCs (NewLondon & OldLyme-Saybrook [on Jan5th]) and several more ferry rides. Assembly and analysis of all this data has begun, including a small subset of the eBird database.

December 8th

During this first week of the month-long LIS Bird Count we received these inputs...

--Several good inputs from CTbirds and NYSbirds forums.

--50+ eBird checklists shared with us!

--Two day-long cruises across the 110 mile length of LIS.

--Several emails from birders with questions and promises to cover some areas.

Some expected additional inputs during the month...

--Thimble Islands boat ride.

--Eleven Christmas Bird Counts (7 CT + 4 NY).

In particular, we already received reports of up to a dozen Razorbills, in Western LIS, from two teams of birders. Other birds of note included Pacific Loon, Barrows Goldeneye, King Eider, Harlequin Duck, etc.

The database combining all these numbers will be constructed in the next week or two.

Nearby ocean seabirding

It is interesting to see what birds are being seen in the ocean not even 100 miles south of LIS....

Pelagic report for Monday Dec 2, 2013

50-68mi SE of Shinnecock Inlet, NY...

==========================

Subject: South Fork LI: Offshore with Great Skuas and more

Date: Thu Dec 5 2013 15:25 pm

From: oceanwanderers AT gmail.com

Last Monday (2 Dec 2013) John Shemilt, Derek Rogers and I took advantage of exceptionally good weather conditions to explore some favorite areas on the outer continental shelf southeast of Shinnecock Inlet (Suffolk Co.). This was a spur of the moment decision that paid off handsomely. The ocean was calm and air temps pleasantly mild, actually more so offshore than inshore.

We encountered good numbers of two winter specialties, NORTHERN FULMAR and BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, together with four species of shearwater (not too shabby for a December trip), some RED PHALAROPE, our first-of-the-season RAZORBILLS, and some typical winter gulls. We also found some Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins, Short-beaked Common Dolphins and witnessed tuna feeding on discarded bycatch from a dragger.

The unquestionable highlight of this memorable trip however, were three encounters with GREAT SKUA. Initially we thought we must be running into the same bird but photographs showed there to be at least two different individuals. As is usually the case, the skuas paid us little heed, powering by at high speed, but the glassy conditions allowed a couple of thrilling chases at more than 30 knots ensuring better photographs to document the sightings.

We are keenly interested in large skua identification, which is poorly understood overall and more challenging the more you dig into it. Fortunately, these birds appeared to be adults and thus easier to identify with some certainty than other possibilities.

Fuller details and some photos are included in our eBird report.

eBird Checklist – NY Shelf Waters (Coimbra to Dip), New York – Mon Dec 02, 2013 – 18 species (+1 other taxa)

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15867972

Angus Wilson

New York City & The Springs, NY, USA

==========================

December 1st, 2013

OUR FIRST DAY IS OFF TO A GREAT START!

Field results from December 1st will be posted here (and updated) as data comes in. Each day's results will be added in a new block throughout the month.

We are off to a good start with a Pacific Loon on the north shore of Long Island, NY...

Birding News | #birdingnews via @aba

"Subject: Pacific Loon - Hobart Beach, Eaton's Neck (Suffolk Co.)

Date: Sun Dec 1 2013 8:06 am

From: bbomkamp AT gmail.com

At 8:30 I located an adult Pacific Loon at Hobart Beach on Eaton's Neck. I initially found it on Huntington Bay, which is the body of water on the west side of the peninsula. It was a few hundred feet offshore, north of the red lifeguard building. Coordinates for Hobart are 40° 55.669', -73° 24.176'

Unfortunately, the bird flew off after a few minutes of observation in the direction of Connecticut. It did not land before it disappeared due to heat distortion, but I am going to check some locations to the north to see if I can relocate it. If others plan on searching, it appeared to be an adult and had diffuse but noticeable "chin-strap."

"No sign of the bird at other locations, but as a small consolation there was an adult Red-necked Grebe off of Valley Grove on Eaton's Neck.

Coordinates are 40° 56.152', -73° 24.185' "

Good Birding,

Brent Bomkamp

Northport, NY"

AND Razorbills off Stamford...

"Subject: Razorbills

Date: Sun Dec 1 2013 9:51 am

From: soundbirder AT yahoo.com

12/1 Stamford Shippan Pt 3 Razorbills flying east. 10:11

Patrick Dugan & Al Collins

Stamford CT"

AND King Eider!

"Subject: King Eider at Harkness

Date: Sun Dec 1 2013 9:54 am

From: rottino AT hotmail.com

From Dan and Emily Rottino with Mike Warner, John Marshall, and Paul Wolter:

12/1/13 - Waterford, Harkness SP 10:40am; 1 KING EIDER. Relocated by Mike. Seen fairly close to shore far left of the viewing platform. Also surf and white-winged scoters, snow buntings and purple sandpipers.

Dan Rottino

East Haddam, CT"

AND Harlequin...

"Subject: Harness King Eider yes. Also Harlequin

Date: Sun Dec 1 2013 12:40 pm

From: philiprusch AT charter.net

The Female King Eider continues as of 1:15pm. Also a female Harlequin Duck, 35 Common Eider, 2 Black Scotor, and a WW Scotor off the southeast tip of the lawn.

Phil Rusch

Chaplin, CT"

AND Purple Sandpipers, Loons & Scoters...

"Subject: Mid-shore birds

Date: Sun Dec 1 2013 14:42 pm

From: ctredbird2 AT comcast.net

From Jamie Meyers and Jay Kaplan:

12/1 -- Madison, Hammonasset Beach SP -- CLAY-COLORED SPARROW continues; also there was a late WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER in the company of Killdeer in the field near the Cedar Island trail entrance. A PURPLE SANDPIPER was on the jetty.... The Sound off Meig's Point was quiet but had a hen Surf Scoter and half a dozen Common Loons. There were a couple harriers and a Peregrine at foggy Great Island...."

PLUS the first several eBird checklists shared with us, from S.Perreault...

eBird Checklist – Stepping Stone Park, New York – Sun Dec 01, 2013 – 16 species

and from Charlie Barnard...

eBird Checklist – Penfield Reef, Connecticut – Sun Dec 01, 2013 – 11 species (+2 other taxa)

and from Richard Aracil...

eBird Checklist – Overlooking Eastchester Bay from Pelham Bay Park South, New York – Sun Dec 01, 2013 – 13 species

Note that our eBird account name has TWO words separated by a space.... "LIS BirdCount".

Thanks to all for getting our multi-state (CT, NY and some RI) Long Island Sound Bird Count off to a great start on its first day. More here later tonight, but right now I need to go out and do some birding!

1pm

These observations will be incorporated into our LIS database within a couple of days from now.

Goals of this LIS Bird Count

PRIMARY:

1. To take an approximate "snapshot" census of the birds in Long Island Sound during December, to establish a "baseline" to be compared with similar counts 5, 10 or 50 years from now, in order to measure trends in birds and possible changes in their overall marine ecosystem. Combining data from eBird, Christmas Bird Counts, state birding listservs, and other field trips not reported elsewhere.

2. Especially to search LIS to find "sentinel species", such as Razorbills, other alcids and other seabirds which seem to be changing recently & rapidly.

SECONDARY:

3. To establish the "infrastructure" of people communicating and processes to be repeated in future years, to do the comparisons as we look for trends.

4. To get more people focused on the changes happening in LIS and in the ocean, especially younger people of all ages. Take your brother's eight-year-old out with you looking for seabirds, and explain why this is important. Get youngsters more interested in Nature.

5. To use this first-time "LIS bird count" as an experiment, to try various approaches and to see what works well and what needs to be improved for the next time.

6. To relate a variety of different field data coming in via different "pathways" (from eBird, from Christmas Bird Counts, from birding forums/listservs, etc.)

Data analysis and summary coming in mid-January

20130620

Snowy Owls in the Northeast