Today marked my first day of the season at the Seawatch. A few rain showers made brief appearances throughout the day, but all in all, the forecast was far better than I was anticipating. Overcast and mild conditions coupled with a light southeasterly breeze to make for a pleasant time, even though only a few dozen migrant waterbirds were tallied.
Highlights included an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, three Parasitic Jaegers and a single Brown Pelican. "Non-count" birds of note included 13 each of Red Knot and Pectoral Sandpiper, all southbound. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit more birdy- stop by and say hello!
The list is below; bold-faced species were counted.
Surf Scoter 1 (female)
Black Scoter 3 (females; northbound)
Northern Gannet 2 (one adult, one 3rd-year; both northbound)
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Brown Pelican 1
Osprey 14
Merlin 1
Semipalmated Plover 2 (on beach at 8th Street)
American Oystercatcher 4
Ruddy Turnstone 11
Red Knot 13 (groups of 11 and 2; southbound)
Sanderling 35
Semipalmated Sandpiper 8
Least Sandpiper 1
Pectoral Sandpiper 13 (one flock; southbound during afternoon rain squall)
Dunlin 2
Laughing Gull 37 (7 migrants)
Herring Gull 18
Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 (adult; traveling south with 1st-cycle GBBG)
Great Black-backed Gull 55 (5 migrants)
Caspian Tern 8
Common Tern 62 (22 migrants)
Forster's Tern 35
Royal Tern 29 (11 migrants)
Parasitic Jaeger 3 (two light-morph adults; one dark-morph immature)
Rock Pigeon 5
Tree Swallow 250
Blackpoll Warbler 3 (all flying in off ocean during first 90 minutes of day)
Northern Cardinal 1
Bobolink 1 (flying in off ocean at dawn)
House Sparrow 7
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