Fire Island Sunken Forest trail
9-30-07, 11:30am - 2:30pm with Biago
Walking out from the bathrooms spotted 2 does not far off the deck. Along the concrete path along the coastal dunes were a few Golden-Crowned Kinglets. A few minutes later a female Merlin made several passes at songbirds over the
dune forest canopy. Then a Red-Shouldered Hawk was soaring over the dunes for a few minutes.
Eastern Phoebes were everywhere in the park at least 15 different birds with 4-6 juveniles.
West of the ocean side entrance in a wooded dune were several black capped chickadees, downy woodpeckers and a Brown Crepper.
About 5 minutes into the sunken forest trail stumbled upon two very small brown birds that would take refuge under the boardwalk and only fly away after we were right above them. We followed them this way for several minutes but could not make any positive ids because they were small and fast. We noticed the birds very short and nearly vertically held tail which gave it away as Winter Wren, first lifer of the trip.
Finally got decent looks at it if only for a few seconds when he stopped at fallen log.
At the oval viewing platform in the forest Biago pointed out a male Black Throated Blue Warlber another lifer.
Further down the trail as the bay side is closer near a bench was a female Mourning Warber with narrow broken white eye ring, blue/grayish head and yellow flanks.
Saw a yellow/brownish warbler with two white wing bars, cannot make positive ID on this one but i would guess Pine or Palm.
Near the visitors center trail entrance spotted a juvenile Yellow-Billed Cuckoo. At first glance i thought it was a Black-Billed Cuckoo because of the all black bill, but the cuckoo's breast was white not buffy. There was no red-eye ring as in the adult Black-Billed, i could not observe the tail or wings as they were cut off by foliage nor did i get a look at the primaries as it flew away.
Total species seen: 25
Lifers: 3
Golden-Crowned Kinglet
Red-Shouldered Hawk
Merlin
Eastern Phoebe
Northern Flicker
Downy Woodpecker
Song Sparrow
Doubled Crested Cormorant
Greater Blacked Backed Gull
Herring Gull
Ringed Billed Gull
Mute Swan
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Winter Wren (L)
Black-Throated Blue Warbler (L)
Mourning Warbler (L)
Pine or Palm Warbler
American Redstart
Tree Swallow
Black Capped Chickadee
Brown Crepper
Yellow-Billed Cuckoo
Cedar Waxwing
9-30-07, 11:30am - 2:30pm with Biago
Walking out from the bathrooms spotted 2 does not far off the deck. Along the concrete path along the coastal dunes were a few Golden-Crowned Kinglets. A few minutes later a female Merlin made several passes at songbirds over the
dune forest canopy. Then a Red-Shouldered Hawk was soaring over the dunes for a few minutes.
Eastern Phoebes were everywhere in the park at least 15 different birds with 4-6 juveniles.
West of the ocean side entrance in a wooded dune were several black capped chickadees, downy woodpeckers and a Brown Crepper.
About 5 minutes into the sunken forest trail stumbled upon two very small brown birds that would take refuge under the boardwalk and only fly away after we were right above them. We followed them this way for several minutes but could not make any positive ids because they were small and fast. We noticed the birds very short and nearly vertically held tail which gave it away as Winter Wren, first lifer of the trip.
Finally got decent looks at it if only for a few seconds when he stopped at fallen log.
At the oval viewing platform in the forest Biago pointed out a male Black Throated Blue Warlber another lifer.
Further down the trail as the bay side is closer near a bench was a female Mourning Warber with narrow broken white eye ring, blue/grayish head and yellow flanks.
Saw a yellow/brownish warbler with two white wing bars, cannot make positive ID on this one but i would guess Pine or Palm.
Near the visitors center trail entrance spotted a juvenile Yellow-Billed Cuckoo. At first glance i thought it was a Black-Billed Cuckoo because of the all black bill, but the cuckoo's breast was white not buffy. There was no red-eye ring as in the adult Black-Billed, i could not observe the tail or wings as they were cut off by foliage nor did i get a look at the primaries as it flew away.
Total species seen: 25
Lifers: 3
Golden-Crowned Kinglet
Red-Shouldered Hawk
Merlin
Eastern Phoebe
Northern Flicker
Downy Woodpecker
Song Sparrow
Doubled Crested Cormorant
Greater Blacked Backed Gull
Herring Gull
Ringed Billed Gull
Mute Swan
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Winter Wren (L)
Black-Throated Blue Warbler (L)
Mourning Warbler (L)
Pine or Palm Warbler
American Redstart
Tree Swallow
Black Capped Chickadee
Brown Crepper
Yellow-Billed Cuckoo
Cedar Waxwing
