ML619929009
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
*Boom shakalaka. Sizzling sexy rarity that was first noted here yesterday afternoon (by local resident Cathy Blinken, who called it in to the local newspaper) . Not present upon our arrival, but flew in at 05:51, flying down the beach, apparently arriving from the west. It had perhaps been roosting on Wainscott Pond, or maybe even Sagg Pond. It did one (or two? we were losing our minds, time slowed down, etc. etc.) circle(s) over the beach and then continued east past the outflow, crossed over the beach, and flew into Georgica Pond, landing on the SE section of the pond. Spent its time foraging in deeper water, sometimes looking like a small swan, and often in proximity to the swans, who seemed to ignore it. Photos, video, unfortunately no audio. New York State #400 for me :) **A note on prior records of American Flamingo in New York State: In addition to a good sounding sight report from last fall along the Hudson River (during the widespread dispersal of flamingos across the eastern half of the. US after Hurricane Idalia), there are two definitive records from Long Island, from ~1915 and 1931, both specimens collected by duck hunters. These were dismissed out of hand, by John Bull (who curated the first official list of New York State avifauna), as likely escapes from captivity, but that reflected an attitude of skepticism towards rarities that were deemed unlikely to wander of their own volition, of that era. There are also sight records from 1964 and 1965, from Long Island and the upper Hudson Valley, during a time when there were other reports from Massachusetts, perhaps indicating another widespread dispersal event. It is entirely possible that not only is this the 5th or 6th known record of American Flamingo for the state, but that it is also the 4th record for Suffolk County.
Technical information
- Model
- NIKON D500
- ISO
- 1000
- Focal length
- 420 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire
- f-stop
- f/5.6
- Shutter speed
- 1/3200 sec
- Dimensions
- 2179 pixels x 1656 pixels
- Original file size
- 498.37 KB