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Birding Hurricane Sandy (3 Viewers)

csanchez7 said:
This is not a tornado... this is a hurricane transitioning into a cold core weather system...

Carlos
Click to expand...
SO I ACCIDENTALLY TYPED THE WRONG @#$%*&! WORD INTO THE @#$%*&! THING! I KNOW IT'S A @#$%*&! HURRICANE! I JUST TYPED THE WRONG THING. AND AS FOR MR. "did you not read the link below" WELL I DID READ IT AND DIDN'T FIND ANYTHING ABOUT SPECIFIC BIRD TYPES BEING AFFECTED SO THAT'S WHY I ASKED THE @#$%*&! QUESTION!!!:C:C:
 
Well I just read it and found loads of info relating to specific bird families and how they might be affected. You need to take another look.

Oh.. and you need to chill the $%#@ out.
 
grebefeet9 said:
AND AS FOR MR. "did you not read the link below" WELL I DID READ IT AND DIDN'T FIND ANYTHING ABOUT SPECIFIC BIRD TYPES BEING AFFECTED SO THAT'S WHY I ASKED THE @#$%*&! QUESTION!!!:C:C:
Click to expand...

I copied it out for you and highlighted the birds... (hope it's @#$%*&! detailed enough for you...)


Birds to watch for (and photograph!):

Note: In the below discussion, we try to draw a distinction between displacement (birds moved or concentrated by the winds) vs. entrainment (birds moving within the storm, presumably in the eye or at upper levels in the storm). Whereas displacement tends to push seabirds to the coast, it is entrainment that tends to carry them far inland. In Hurricane Irene, Laughing Gulls were concentrated through displacement, but White-tailed Tropicbirds and Sooty Terns were entrained and carried hundreds of miles from their presumed points of origin.

From an ornithological perspective, we expect a similar breakdown to Hurricane Irene for storm-driven birds. A great deal of displacement of locally occurring Atlantic coastal species and near shore species will occur, and birds will probably pile up along the immediate coast. A lesser degree of entrainment of farther flung rarities will occur, probably both at coastal and inland locations. However, this system arrives at the Eastern seaboard a full two months later than Irene. There are few hurricanes or Tropical Storms that have reached the East Coast on so late a date, so there is little precedent to draw from to predict what species might be found. Hurricane Hazel hit the Carolinas on 14-16 October 1954 as a Category 4 storm: at least one description, from North Carolina, though anecdotal, describes this: “in Calabash, about a dozen miles west, W.J. McLamb and his wife, Sibyl, walk outside of his mother’s house and look up. Birds fill the sky, birds they’ve never seen before, hundreds of them, riding in Hazel’s eye.”

Tubenoses: This is the most interesting group for most hurricane chasers, and the potential for this storm to drive some wacky species toward shore and inland is high. Pterodroma petrels are highly desired, and this storm may produce a smattering of coastal Black-capped Petrels, perhaps even Herald and Fea’s Petrels, which do have some September and October records off the East Coast. Coastal and perhaps even some inland shearwaters seem likely, with Cory’s one of the more likely to be displaced inland based on past records and one of the more common October shearwaters off the mid-Atlantic. Small numbers of Leach’s Storm-Petrels are likely, but Wilson's and Band-rumped Storm-Petrels are almost all gone and not to be expected (Wilson's, also, is only rarely displaced inland relative to Leach's and Band-rumped). Be prepared for a potentially massive inland displacement of Leach’s--some past storms in October and November have wrecked hundreds of Leach’s inland, although this is more likely off northern New England than the mid-Atlantic Bight. White-faced Storm-Petrel, however, could still be at sea off the Mid-Atlantic and should be watched for both coastally and maybe even inland, although there are only a few storm-blown records of White-faceds from coastal or inland locations.

Tropicbirds: Hurricane Irene entrained more than 10 White-tailed Tropicbirds inland, but this year pelagic reports of tropicbirds in the Gulf Stream off North Carolina have been fewer. At least one prior October storm, Hurricane Hazel in October 1954, brought tropicbirds inland as far north as Virginia, Pennsylvania, and western New York (Griscom 1955, McWilliams and Brauning 2000).

Frigatebirds: Magnificent Frigatebirds are common in the Caribbean and travel far and wide, and presumably this species will put in appearances in coastal and inland locations with Sandy. The system passed smack through the range of the species in the Caribbean, where large numbers are present year-round, so birders should watch for reports of this species from the coast inland to the Great Lakes. Most East Coast storms have carried only very small numbers of frigatebirds north--but could the track of this storm and its direct landfall mean that this will be a big frigatebird producer? Or a dud?

Terns: The passage of this storm will go through areas rich in Royal and Sandwich Terns, and it seems likely that these species will be displaced and/or entrained to the mid-Atlantic and maybe inland sites. Although Royal Terns are still common as far north as New Jersey now, the few Sandwich Terns that occur annually north of Virginia are mostly gone by late September, so any sighting during Sandy will be unusual. We expect some, if not many. Note also, that the orange-billed Caribbean breeding form of Sandwich Tern known as Cayenne Tern--or "Sandwich Tern (Cayenne)" in eBird--could get displaced northward. There are very few U.S. records for this form, so any record would be highly significant.

Tropical terns: A typical late summer hurricane like this would surely deposit many tropical terns far afield. Sooty Terns and Bridled Terns tend to differ in that Sooty Terns are often entrained (and thus carried far inland) while Bridled Terns tend to be displaced, and largely or entirely avoid being transported inland in storms. As storms get stronger, they are thus much more likely to entrain Sooties. Given the late date, however, many fewer Onychoprion terns are likely to be present compared to July-September storms. Given how prone Sooties are to displacement, we expect that even on this late date, some might get displaced, but this is one of the big open questions since the at-sea distribution of Sooty Tern in late October is not well known (see eBird map for Nov-Dec); this storm could help answer that question. The plodding track of the storm does also pass through prime noddy territory, but similar to Irene, the storm’s strength may not be sufficient to displace or entrain these birds terribly far.

Laughing Gull: Irene displaced many thousands of Laughing Gulls at its landfall, and presumably, given the track and speed of this storm, something very similar will occur. Given the projected track inland, Laughing Gulls could appear in the Great Lakes and inland bodies of water for some time after the storm if past systems are any indication. However, note that Irene did not move Laughing Gulls inland at all, maybe due to her comparatively weak winds at landfall in New York. Will Sandy be different? Our guess is yes, but the conditions that yield large numbers of inland Laughing Gulls is an interesting facet of East Coast hurricanes that bears watching with Sandy.

Jaegers and skuas: Although almost all Long-tailed Jaegers should have passed through by now, Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers are still moving and are likely to get pushed close to shore by this storm. The possibility of jaegers getting entrained and moved inland is quite high in this storm. Note that some birds seen inland could be “grounded” birds that migrate high overland except when severe weather (like a Hurricane) forces them down on lakes and rivers. Skuas are sometimes displaced by strong storms like this but there are only a few cases where they have been moved inland. Late October is probably too late for South Polar Skuas to be around and too early for Great Skua to be off the mid-Atlantic, so skuas are not really expected in this storm.

Phalaropes: Phalaropes could get displaced or grounded in this storm as late birds migrate south. On this late date, Red Phalarope should predominate, since most Red-neckeds have passed through already.

An eye to the air: as we learned with Irene, keeping an eye skyward is, without a doubt, a good idea. Aerialists like martins and swifts may be entrained in this storm, so birders chasing the recent aftermath of the storm and watching ridgelines, coastlines, and river valleys in the days that follow should keep an eye out for Apus, Cypseloides, and Chaetura swifts, as well as any martin (on this date, Purple Martin is perhaps not the most likely species!) or swallow.

An eye on the ground: We saw the effects in 2011 of an early October hurricane dumping large numbers of Yellow-billed Cuckoos in Bermuda. (Farnsworth and Iliff 2012). The storm that did that, Ophelia, was far out in the ocean, and the fallout was connected to a frontal boundary passing off the continent as that strong storm was zipping North and East. Previous systems have had similar effects, including massive numbers of cuckoos moving in the fall of the cuckoo, 1954 (Griscom 1955, Veit and Petersen 1993). Sandy’s tracking is different, as it is much farther west, and the frontal boundary presently stalling in the Appalachians is much weaker, so presumably the magnitude of that event will not be as big. However, as Sandy makes her way north, it would be worth considering possible fallouts of landbirds as the storm comes ashore. Yellow-billed Cuckoo may be a reasonable candidate for dropout or concentrations after entrainment in the storm, but what else might Sandy hold? The days (and nights) following the system in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic should be quite interesting.
Wherever you are (north of New York City), tropical vagrants probably should not be expected but you should watch watch for alcids, loons, sea ducks, and especially seabirds like Northern Fulmar, Cory's, Great, Sooty, and Manx shearwaters, Leach's Storm-Petrel, Northern Gannets in large numbers, and maybe Red Phalaropes. It is possible that Leach's Storm-Petrels and Dovekies or other alcids could get blown very close to shore, and even into coastal ponds or harbors, depending on wind strength in the area (50 mph+ may be needed).

Waterfowl fallout: Any rainy storm in the Northeast during waterfowl migration has the potential to ground ducks (including Brant, scoter and Long-tailed Ducks), loons, grebes, gulls, and even occasional rarities (maybe a Black-legged Kittiwake, jaeger, or late phalarope) on inland lakes. Repeated checks of large lakes over the course of this storm could well be rewarding, and watching riverine corridors like the Connecticut, Hudson, Delaware, and Susquehanna Rivers could be very good as grounded seabirds, sea ducks, and other waterbirds try to make their way towards the ocean under adverse conditions. The farther west and south you are (Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers in particular), the more likely entrained tropical species or displaced coastal species are to occur.
 
Is it anticipated that Britain and Ireland will witness any significant numbers of displaced birds as we did with Laughing Gulls etc. a few years back, or is this one tracking in the wrong direction for this to happen?
 
2005 was the year we had an influx of Laughing Gulls in early November ( eg i think 8 in Devon compared with an all time total of 3 up till then ), good nos of Chimney Swifts made it over as well with a few Franklins Gulls. I stand to be corrected but i think this Hurricane is lingering stateside for a while so wether any similar occurances can be expected i doubt.
At the end of the day a lot of our friends in the eastern states are in for a torrid time and i'm sure everyone from this side of the pond wishes them luck and hopes it's nowhere near a worse case scenario.
 
scary-canary said:
I copied it out for you and highlighted the birds... (hope it's @#$%*&! detailed enough for you...)
Click to expand...

i get that grebes may have overreacted a tad bit to the previous two posts, but if you really want anyone to calm down, maybe refrain from that jab you felt the need to add. also, i, too had trouble finding the bit about specific birds on the first attempt, so maybe it's a problem for more than just a few people to find.
 
swiftthedunewanderer said:
i get that grebes may have overreacted a tad bit to the previous two posts, but if you really want anyone to calm down, maybe refrain from that jab you felt the need to add. also, i, too had trouble finding the bit about specific birds on the first attempt, so maybe it's a problem for more than just a few people to find.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry. It was quite hard to find the 2000 words about specific birds. Certainly merited the reaction I got from grebes. ;) I felt I had earned the jab. Chris
 
Personally, I saw Leach's Storm-Petrel, American Oystercatcher, Sanderling, flocks of Dunlin, Forster's tern, laughing gulls, and black and surf scoters, all of which would not be expected where I live in PA.

Red phalaropes, Leach's storm-petrel, parasitic and pom jaegers, and all three scoters were probably the most frequently reported vagrants here in PA. Red-billed tropicbird, Wilson's and band-rumped storm petrels, cave swallows, brant, saltmarsh sparrow, Sabine's gull, cory's shearwater, and black skimmer have also been reported.
 
Lawts said:
Is it anticipated that Britain and Ireland will witness any significant numbers of displaced birds as we did with Laughing Gulls etc. a few years back, or is this one tracking in the wrong direction for this to happen?
Click to expand...
I guess with the system moving north the chances are (indeed) slim.
A system "skimming" the North American Coast would be better!

http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ is now updated with some news on sightings.

(The original message that the more intrepid users of the internet had already found themselves is indeed one click further away).
 
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