DVOC Main Page > Field Trips > Field Trip Report

DVOC Field Trip Report
by Chris Walters

January 18-20, 2014
Montauk / Long Island, NY

This is the MONTAUK field trip report fo January 18-20, 2014, with highlights of PACIFIC LOON, KING EIDER, GLAUCOUS and ICELAND GULLS, RED-NECKED GREBES, RAZORBILLS, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, SNOWY and SHORT-EARED OWLS, TUNDRA SWANS, and SNOW BUNTINGS. We also had a possible CACKLING GOOSE but this ID is "under further review". The trip was led by Erica Brendel, Bob Krinsky (NY), and Chris Walters, with Frank Windfelder riding shotgun as "chief spotter".

Our twelve participants profited by persistence. Rained out of their targeted Harlequin Ducks Saturday morning, they invoked the aid of the Rain Gods over a deli lunch and presto: they enjoyed clear skies thereafter. By trip's end, the group had tallied a robust 96 species.

The Club's Montauk trips--run in the 1950s and '60s as well as every winter since 1989--survey many Long Island inlets and bays as well as Montauk Point itself, where each winter scoters and eiders present a spectacle in their thousands. When a group of alert DVOC birders have spent three winter days at such spots since the early '90s, good things have happened:
Northern Lapwing (once:1), Black-billed Magpie (1), Dovekie (2), Thick-billed (3) and Common (1) Murre, Harris' Sparrow (1), Spotted Redshank (2), Tufted Duck (5), Barrow's Goldeye (6), Red Phalarope (1), Townsend's Solitaire (1), Dickcissel (1), Western Kingbird (1), Mew (1) Glaucous (9), and Black-headed (10) Gull, Northern Shrike (4), Greater White-fronted (3) and Barnacle (1) Goose, Eared Grebe (3), and Pacific Loon (2).

This year Pacific Loon was identified by Windfelder at low tide on Saturday and studied at length, resting under Shinnecock Bay's Ponquogue bridge. On our return trip Monday at high tide, we had both Glaucous (very close) and Iceland Gulls at the inlet. The King Eider female (picked out by Brendel) was off Camp Hero, while the seven Razorbills appeared off Montauk Point. Our two Snowy Owls were found on the Cedar beach and Shinnecock marshes, respectively. Indicative of the birding potential (and keeping us humble), here are other species present on Long Island that we did not find; Gyrfalcon, Pink-footed Goose, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Barrow's Goldeneye.

Our route:

FIRST DAY: Marine Park (Brooklyn), Pt, Lookout, Jones Beach, Gilgo and Cedar beaches, Shinnecock Bay and inlet, and Dune Rd. west from Shinnecock.

SECOND DAY: Lake Montauk and its inlet jetties, Ft. Pond Bay, Camp Hero bluffs and Montauk Pt., Napeague inlet and marshes, Hook Pond in Easthampton, coastal ponds and Dune Rd in Southampton

THIRD DAY: Shelter Island dump, Shinnecock inlet, Riverton grasslands, Swan Pond (E. Islip), Lake Patchogue (Patchogue), and W. Sayville Golf course.

Annotated Bird List

Common Loon - averaged 25 daily
Red- throated Loon - just two; best view at Shinnecock inlet
Pacific Loon - extended easy view off Ponquogue Point in Shinnecock Bay - best bird of trip
Horned Grebe - common in inlets and bays
Red-necked Grebe - three seen at Lake Montauk
Pied-billed Grebe - several in sheltered areas
Northern Gannet - a few at Montauk Point and Jones Beach inlet
Great Cormorant - several at Montauk jetties
Double-crested Cormorant - Marine Park, Brooklyn
Great Blue Heron - seen each day
Black-crowned Night Heron - several at Water Mill roost
Mute Swan - on scattered ponds
Tundra Swan - two on Hook Pond, Easthampton
Brant - abundant in the bays
Cackling Goose - one possible; being reviewed
Canada Goose - not hard to find
Gadwall - many at Swan Pond stronghold in E. Islip
Eurasian Wigeon - three drakes on W. Sayville Golf Club
American Wigeon - one hundred on W. Sayville Golf Club
Black Duck - hundreds on protected mudflats; many also on Jones Beach ponds and Lake Agawam, Southampton
Mallard - common & widespread
Pintail - four on Patchogue Lake
Green-winged Teal - eight at Marine Park, Brooklyn
Northern Shoveller - forty at Marine Park; others on Southampton ponds
Redhead - four at Cooper’s Neck Pond, Southampton
Ring-necked Duck - one hundred at Patchogue Lake
Canvasback - eleven on Hook Pond; similar group on Halsey Neck Pond, Southampton
Greater Scaup - on Lake Montauk and bays on western Long Island
Lesser Scaup - fifty on Swan Pond, East Islip
King Eider - co-leader Brendel showed the group one female off Camp Hero at Montauk Point
Common Eider - hundreds around Montauk Point. Also at Shinnecock and Jones Beach inlets
Surf Scoter - more than a thousand off Montauk Point
Black Scoter - many hundreds around Montauk Point
Long-tailed Duck - in most inlets and bays
Bufflehead - widespread in bays in small numbers
Common Goldeneye - dozens on Lake Montauk
Hooded Merganser - a few at Marine Park; others near Short’s Pond
Common Merganser - fourteen at Hook Pond, Easthampton
Red-breasted Merganser - common in salt water
Ruddy Duck - over 100 on ponds at Southampton
Wild Turkey - a flock of 33 on Shelter Island
Northern Harrier - several each day
Sharp-shinned Hawk - fly-by
Cooper's Hawk - one at Shelter Island dump
Red-tailed Hawk - several each day
American Kestrel - one at Marine Park, Brooklyn
Merlin - fly-by
Peregrine Falcon - three at Jones Beach
American Coat - groups of 20+ at Hook Point and at Southampton
Black-bellied Plover - a few at Shinnecock Bay and Jones Beach boat basin
Sanderling - small groups along ocean edges
Dunlin - several hundred at Jones Beach
Bonaparte’s Gull - dozen at Lake Montauk
Ring-billed Gull - hundreds
Herring Gull - hundreds
Iceland Gull - two at Shinnecock inlet
Glaucous Gull - beautiful 2d year bird at Shinnecock inlet
Lesser Black-backed Gull - one at Napeague Inlet
Great Black-backed Gull - over 100 especially eastern Long Island
Razorbill - several seen at Montauk Point, both flying by and diving
Rock Pigeon - hundreds
Mourning Dove - common
Eastern Screech Owl - three in Shelter Island woods
Great Horned Owl - heard each morning before dawn at Shelter Island
Snowy Owl - one at Cedar Beach; another in marsh bordering Shinnecock Bay
Short-eared Owl - seen while driving; southern Nassau County
Belted Kingfisher - three at scattered locations
Red-bellied Woodpecker - Shelter Island
Downy Woodpecker - Shelter Island
Blue Jay - common on Shelter Island
American Crow - frequent
Fish Crow - two on beach wrack at Montauk Lake jetties
Horned Lark - 23 at West End Jones Beach
Tree Swallow - one fly-by at Jones Beach
Black-capped Chickadee - Shelter Island
Tufted Titmouse - Shelter Island
White-breasted Nuthatch - Shelter Island
Carolina Wren - a few; scattered
American Robin - common
Gray Catbird - one at Hook Pond, Easthampton
No. Mockingbird - seen each day
Starling - hundreds
Cedar Waxwing - one in rain at Pt. Lookout
Yellow-rumped Warbler - just a few
Song Sparrow - very few
White-throated Sparrow - only a few
Junco - scarce
Lapland Longspur - one with Snow Buntings at Jones Beach
Snow Buntings - two hundred at Jones Beach
No. Cardinal - a few each day
Red-winged Blackbird - one fly-over flock
Eastern Meadowlark - one at Napeague Harbor
Brown-headed Cowbird - twenty-six in fields near Riverhead
House Finch - in coastal pines
American Goldfinch - only two noted
House Sparrow - no problem