Migration has kicked in with a vengeance, so I decided to head to the sod farms of eastern Long Island to look for the grassland specialists, "grasspipers" in the local vernacular. The farms north of Riverhead are the most reliable spot, and the first birds I found were 12
American Golden Plovers, in amongst the 50+
Killdeer. They were joined after an hour or so by a
Buff-breasted Sandpiper. All the birds in the area were scattered by a hunting
Merlin so I moved to the other side, where the first bird I looked at was a gorgeous juvenile
Baird's Sandpiper! 3 Target birds achieved before 7:30am!
A lovely trio of birds too, each with a particular significance. The AGP is my last
Pluvialis, Baird's has been a bogey bird for me ever since I dipped one on my local patch, Marievale, in about 2000, and the first vagrant I ever saw was a Buffy, at Cley in about 1981/82 (shown to me by Brian Bland).
I moved on the EPCAL to look for a Common Gallinule (Moorhen), which didn't co-operate, though there were 5
Solitary Sandpipers, a
Spotted Sandpiper and a
Fish Crow there.
Last stop was Jones' Beach. This was quite good, with several recently arrived migrants including;
Common Nighthawk, Dickcissel, Northern Parula, Blackpoll Warbler, Yellow Warbler, American Redstart, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Baltimore Oriole and
Eastern Towhee.
American Golden Plover. Much closer than the birds at Riverhead, this was at a small pond in the car park at Hickscher State Park
Greater Yellowlegs
Dickcissel
I initially identified this as a Pine Warbler, however the streaked upperparts should have given the game away....
..as should the bright yellow feet!
Blackpoll Warbler every day of the week!
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
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