Hunters Garden, spring 2016

Hunters Garden is a clearing in the middle of an extensive woodland on the border of Brookhaven and Southampton Towns and in the middle of the Long Island Pine Barrens. Along with the lower part of the nearby Bald Hill trail, this has consistently proved to be the best East End area for nesting woodland birds and, in particular, for spring migration. A visit on a blue-sky spring morning by a group of birders led by Eileen Schwinn upheld this area's reputation. It was not a particularly birdy day but there were a handful of good long-distance flyers dropping by.

The most unusual was a Solitary Sandpiper at a puddle in the middle of the clearing -- a shorebird far from the shore! While this is the first time that I have seen this bird so deep in the woods, it has the reputation of frequenting such spots; in fact, one of its nicknames is Puddle Piper!

There were a few warblers including a Bay-breasted and a possible Cerulean. Here's my full list of 32 species (counting the Cerulean  and a Prairie Warbler that I didn't see). Note that most of these birds are local nesters; the starred birds are long-distance migrants on their way north.

Turkey Vulture (overhead; a LI nester only since 2008 or so)
*Solitary Sandpiper
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (heard but not seen)
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe (no other flycatchers)
Red-eyed Vireo (White-eyed reported but not seen or heard by me)
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tufted Titmouse
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
American Robin
Wood Thrush (heard only)
Veery
Gray Catbird
*Northern Parula (formerly nested on LI; now possibly a rare nester only)
*Cerulean Warbler (has nested on LI; this is notoriously a tree-topper and it mostly offered excellent views of its white underparts; best ID'd by its buzzy song)
*Yellow-rumped Warbler
[Prairie Warbler (called by others but not seen or heard by me; not typical habitat for this species)]
Pine Warbler
*Bay-breasted Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Brown-headed Cowbird
Red-winged Blackbird
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch

Eric Salzman