2012 still has a couple of months to run but our May-November East Quogue sojourn is over for the year. We survived Sandy but now have packed up and moved back to Brooklyn.
A quick rundown of this year's most notable bird events would have to include the several sightings of Bald Eagles both in the spring and in the fall, the number of rails passing through the marsh (mostly only heard but including Virginia and Clapper Rails and, most probably, Yellow Rail), a number of species new to the property (Rusty Blackbird, Short-billed Dowitcher, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Pine Siskin) or rather rare (Wilson's Snipe, Caspian Tern, several Philadelphia Vireos). The influx of large numbers of Red-breasted Nuthatches, Pine Siskins and American Goldfinches was striking and might be an advance cohort of northern finches. Plenty of Yellow-rumped Warblers, Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows came in towards the end of October setting the stage for an interesting winter to follow (by others, not, alas, by me).
From time to time, I'll post occasional items that I hope will be of interest in the coming months. Otherwise see you next spring!
Eric Salzman
Mike Bottini asked me to post the announcement of the first Long Island Natural History Conference which will take place Friday, November 16, and Saturday, November 17. The Friday session will be in Berkner Auditorium at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, NY, and will comprise a dozen presentations by leading Long Island wildlife biologists and naturalists and a keynote presentation by Peter Alden, author of the Audubon Society's regional field guide series.The conference is open to the general public and promises to be the largest regional forum for researchers, natural resource managers, students, and naturalists to present and exchange current information on the varied aspects of applied field biology (freshwater, marine, and terrestrial) and natural history of Long Island. It will serve as a premier venue to identify research and management needs, foster friendships and collegial relationships, and encourage a greater region-wide interest in Long Island’s natural history by bringing together people with diverse backgrounds. The conference is a project of the newly formed Long Island Nature Organization, committed to promoting nature studies on Long Island by sponsoring specific projects, providing opportunities like the conference to increase communication among wildlife researchers, managers, and the general public, and building a web-based clearing house for Long Island Natural History information. To view the conference schedule and to register, go to LongIslandNature.org
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