Registrar: Debbie Mullins
Participants: 10
Weather: 78 degrees F, sunny, southerly winds 7 mph
Bird Species: 38
Under the expert leadership of Eileen Schwinn, an expert Long Island birder with extensive knowledge of local hotspots, we had a wonderful outing to Cupsogue County Park on Moriches Bay. We started our walk with a survey of the bay from the elevated platform between the beach and the parking lot. It was low tide, and seeing an abundance of shorebirds, we set out for the flats.
Arriving at the bay, we spotted an immature Clapper Rail on one of the ponds in the adjacent saltmarsh. Along the shoreline were numerous shorebirds, gulls, and terns, including Royal Terns (a “first-of-year” species for many participants), Common Terns, and Least Terns. Large numbers of Black-bellied Plovers were present, as well as a few Piping Plovers.
After several productive hours on the flats, we headed back to the parking lot as the tide started to come in. On the way we had great looks at several Saltmarsh Sparrows on the edge of the marsh. Passerines, including Barn and Tree Swallows, American Goldfinch, Red-winged Blackbirds, Song Sparrows, and a Common Grackle, were also seen in the saltmarsh and in the brushy area along the path to the road. We ended our outing with a leisurely lunch before heading back to the city.
Species List
Birds
Mute Swan
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Clapper Rail
American Oystercatcher
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Killdeer
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Least Tern
Common Tern
Royal Tern
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Osprey
crow sp.
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Northern Mockingbird
American Goldfinch
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
