February 17th 2007. Jones Beach State Park, Long Island, NY. Smith's Longspur. Calcarius pictus. Brian Kane and I traveled south to New York in the hope of catching up with a Smith’s Longspur that had been reported at Jones Beach State Park for just over a week. The journey took us just under three hours from Northampton, MA, actually making the site closer to home than some of the coastal birding spots in Massachusetts. After some time seeing the bird only fleetingly, we were rewarded with excellent views. All the small ground-dwelling passerines here, including Horned Larks, Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs were extremely skittish, rarely settling for long in one feeding area. This combined with strong bitterly cold winds made observations difficult at times. However, by noon we had observed the Smith’s Longspur in four different locations within the immediate vicinity of the Theodore Roosevelt Nature Center including by the side of the main entrance road. Special thanks go to Brian and his parents for making the day so enjoyable. Images taken using Canon Powershot A540 through Swarovski HD Telescope and Leica 8 x 42 binoculars. |
                 Flight images taken using Canon Powershot A540 through Leica 8 x 42 binoculars. |