Text size:

The Arrival of the Snow Birds

Air travelers landing on LI

By Megha Bahree

November 16, 2003

This month, "Harry Potter" fans should be on the lookout. There's a strong possibility that they may be able to spot Hedwig on Jones Beach.

With winter setting in, there is plenty of movement taking place within the bird world on Long Island. By this time of the year, many of the birds going farther south have already left, and most wintering birds start arriving. And snowy owls, yes, such as Hedwig and her extended family, are some of the visitors expected to make their way down to the Island's beaches.

"Nov. 16 is a reliable date for snowy owls and Hedwig," said Trish Pelkowski, director of the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary and Audubon Center in Oyster Bay. "This largely happens when the food supply up north is decreasing or over. This is an irruptive movement and not a true migration."

But true migration is also taking place.

In September, Hugh McGuiness, Jim Ash and Andy Baldelli, all avid Long Island bird watchers, added the Pacific Golden Plover to the New York State list of birds. This rare bird that nests in the wetter lowland tundra and comes from India and Bangladesh has been sighted previously only three times on the entire East Coast. This time it was spotted in Mecox Bay, the first such sighting in New York.

October was the setting for spectacular flocks of tiny sparrows, secretive thrushes and predatory birds like hawks and falcons flying south to the tropics. This October, the East End alone saw 205 species of migrants from the Neotropical region, which includes Central and South America and the Caribbean.

While the Neotropical visitors have wrapped up their stay here, other interesting fliers arrive during the first three weeks of November. One is the cave swallow, which sheds its blue-gray feathers in the fall, and the small ash-throated flycatcher that, unlike most species of its kind, can be found in more open, arid areas rather than woods. And when you see blue-gray northern juncoes or white-throated sparrows at the feeder, you know it is time to bundle up -- these birds are the harbingers of cold weather.

"Some of the most exciting places for bird watching are near fresh and salt water," Pelkowski said. "If you just walk on the beach with a pair of binoculars you can easily spot loons, both the common variety and the more beautiful red-throated ones, long-tailed ducks, which are sea-faring birds. Montauk is a good place to see both the black scoters and the white-winged scoters as well as tiger and common eiders."

Lovers of sea birds can go to Point Lookout for Bonaparte's gulls and red-throated gulls, Ransom Beach in Bayville for buffleheads and Port Jefferson Harbor for the beautiful goldeneyes. There is also a ton of water fowl, and Jamaica Bay is a great spot for brant as well as snow geese.

November is also the time to see late season migrants like hummingbirds, majestic golden eagles, snow buntings with their fluffy plumage and shuffling gait, and the peripatetic winter finches. "They show up only once every five to 10 years in response to the food sources in the northern pine forests," McGuiness said. The last time they were in the neighborhood was about four years ago and there's a chance that they may appear this year again.

Megha Bahree is a freelance writer.