Long Island, New York, Jan 2012

I have been trying to retrospectively piece together a day out with Corey and some of his fellow New York and Staten Island birders.

First off, thanks to Seth who drove all day up to the northern tip of Long Island and back via who knows where.  It was all in aid of my quest to find a Snowy Owl, which, if you have read Corey’s account of the day, you will know that we did not find. It was disappointing. I was very excited about the owl as it is a bird I never thought that I would get a chance to see.

I only took my camera out once, so have no pictures, just a lot of sand in my shoes. In fact, such is my dismay that I will skip this post and recommend you to Corey’s version of events and his simply glorious shot of the Long-tailed Duck.

I managed to get a few moments to scan the airfield as we taxied out at JFK in the vain hope that an owl might have blown up onto the apron, but no luck there either.

Thanks for your hospitality guys. Next time!

Birds seen;  38

Red-throated Diver 6, Great Northern Diver 4, Horned Grebe 15, Northern Gannet 3, Double-crested Cormorant 15, Great Blue Heron 15, Great Egret 1, Mute Swan 2, Snow Goose 1, Canada Goose 4000, Brent Goose 600, American Black Duck 40, Common Eider 150, Harlequin Duck 3, Long-tailed Duck 35, Black Scoter 1, Surf Scoter 60, White-winged Scoter 30, Bufflehead 15, Common Goldeneye 6, Red-breasted Merganser 15, Northern Harrier 2, Red-tailed Hawk 5, American Kestrel 2, Common Pheasant 1, American Oystercatcher 4, Ring-billed Gull 150, Great Black-backed Gull 12, Herring Gull 120, Lesser Black-backed Gull 1, Bonaparte’s Gull 25, Downy Woodpecker 2, Northern Mockingbird 2, Mountain Bluebird 1, American Robin 2, American Crow 15, House Finch 4, Song Sparrow 4.