Species 37-43: 2010's First Trip to Suffolk County

Got the oil changed and the car inspected today. Seeing as I'm leery of letting just anyone touch my car, I made a day of driving out to Commack and my parents' house so I could go to their reliable and honest mechanic. Of course, as an added bonus, I am near all of the beaches, forests, and harbors that are within a 10 minute drive of the house.

I had a few stops today, first a walk around the headwaters of the Nissequogue River by the mechanic this morning. After having to explain why I was trespassing on the new motel's property to get back to the pond, I saw a whole lot of Mallards and some other "neighborhood" species including House Finch, Blue Jays, Chickadees, and lots of Starlings. I also got my first Northern Mockingbird of the year.

The trip to Centerport later in the day yielded better results as I picked up a few common species like Red-breasted Merganser and the Belted Kingfisher. The real jackpot was finding 130 Canvasback in the pond behind the motel off 25A. I haven't seen these in a while, probably dating back 2003 or earlier on Cayuga Lake in Ithaca. It was great to then get a diagnostic lesson across the street in the larger Mill Pond where I saw a Redhead side-by-side with their reddish-headed cousin. Nice day for birding and I would have stayed longer, but it was too cold by the dam.

Redhead

Canvasback

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
37	Northern Mockingbird	1	Town Line Motel	US-NY	23-Jan-10
38	Red-breasted Merganser	3	Centerport Harbor	US-NY	23-Jan-10
39	Belted Kingfisher	1	Centerport Harbor	US-NY	23-Jan-10
40	Lesser Scaup	8	Centerport Mill Pond	US-NY	23-Jan-10
41	Ring-necked Duck	3	Centerport Mill Pond	US-NY	23-Jan-10
42	Canvasback	130	Centerport Mill Pond	US-NY	23-Jan-10
43	Redhead	2	Mill Pond	US-NY	23-Jan-10