CCO on Dune Road

Went back to the Dune Road early this afternoon to meet with Frank Quevedo and a group from SOFO (South Fork Natural History Museum). Most of the shore- and water-birds seen were similar to those in my post the other day but with a few notable differences.

One big difference was the presence of a veritable pod of whirling, hovering, diving, fishing terns just off the end of the jetty at Shinnecock Inlet and occasionally even into the inlet itself. There was obviously a good run of fish -- at a guess, Bluefish chasing their baitfish which were also being hunted from the air by the terns. What made this unusual was that there were Northern Gannets in the mix (diving for the big fish no doubt) as well as Sooty Shearwaters who were apparently harassing the terns trying to make them give up their catches. As the terns would move in closer to and even inside the inlet, the Gannets and Shearwaters dropped out and eventually disappeared.

Most of the terns were Common but there was at least one Roseate. The wind made it hard to get close looks at the flying terns but this bird clearly had a black bill and a very light silvery upper backside (and a noticeably different call). Oddly enough, there were at least two Common Scoters in the area -- one by the near jetty and the other under the rocks on the eastern side. Also a Red-throated Loon.

The combination of full moon and northwest wind produced one of the lowest tides I have ever seen; even high tide looked low. With all the mudflats exposed, the shorebirds were very widely spread. As before, Ruddy Turnstones were dominant with fair numbers of Black-bellied Plovers, Semipalmated and Piping Plovers, Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers (a few), Dunlin, and Short-billed Dowitchers. In one rather handsome group of breeding-plumaged dowitchers there were two or three that were almost certainly Long-billed: large size, deep coloration, very long bills with a notable curve at the end -- almost like Whimbrel! These are, I believe, breeding plumaged females and they offer the best chance of picking out this difficult species. I could also hear Long-billed notes mixed in with the Short-billed when the small flock was spooked by a gull.

Clapper Rail, Saltmarsh Sparrow, Boat-tailed Grackle, Willets, Oystercatchers and lots of Least Terns more or less complete the day's roster.

Eric Salzman