Great Backyard Bird Count: LIers join in the search at Hallock State Park Preserve

About two dozen hikers stood silently along a snowy trail at Hallock State Park Preserve Saturday morning as Mary Laura Lamont alerted the group to a “strange sound” she was about to make.

A retired federal ranger who now works as a part-time naturalist for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Lamont hissed a catlike sound: “Psssh, psssh, psssh.” The technique, known as pishing, is used to attract birds.

All eyes in the group scanned the wooded surroundings in the Northville park in search of birds that could be counted as part of the 28th annual Great Backyard Bird Count.

Founded by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, the global citizen science project allows scientists to collect data on wild birds, helping to track migratory patterns and analyze populations of different species.

Anyone can participate in the bird count, which ends Monday. Instructions on how to do so can be found at birdcount.org.

Lamont served as guide during the hike Saturday. She helped participants spot birds, explained the different species and even discussed the rich history of the area. In one field, she described how in 1814 a British ship in Long Island Sound launched cannonballs onto the shore during the War of 1812.

But the day’s main objective during the 3-mile hike was to identify as many birds as possible. 

She cautioned at the start how recent cold and northwest winds off the Sound had sent birds toward the warmer bay side of the North Fork. While birds weren’t as abundant as some hoped, the hikers viewed a vast array of species, including the rust-colored fox sparrow — “one of the prettiest sparrows you’re ever going to see,” Lamont said.

Hikers also observed the Northern mockingbird, ravens, herring gulls and blue jays.

The bird populations tell a story tied to climate change, Lamont said. Years ago, people would never see a robin in the area during winter, but now they can be found in the thousands, she said.

As winters warm, she said, “huge populations” of birds that may have gone farther south stay closer north.

The hike was part of the monthly Passport to Parks series, which brings together hikers each month at a different park. Some participants said the bird count was an added bonus since they attended just for the hike.

Brenda Vakay, of Eastport, carried binoculars, which she used for an up-close view of ducks in the water early in the hike at an overlook of the Sound.

“Absolutely gorgeous,” she said.

Donna Smith, of Miller Place, a frequent hiker, said she had been on other hikes with Lamont.

“It’s always fun,” she said. “She has such a fount of knowledge.”

As the group set out, Lamont urged the hikers to stop and listen. A hush fell over the group.

“This is what’s missing from Long Island,” she said. “It’s the silence of the forest.”

A moment later she said: “You hear that?”

It was the sound of a long-tailed duck, a bird that she said breeds in the arctic. “It winters here because it likes Long Island,” she said.

On the back end of the trail, along a straight path parallel to an open field, Olivia Weldon, of Port Jefferson, spotted a high-flying bird.

Lamont yelled out: “Good eyeballs! Bald eagle! It’s a bald eagle!”

Weldon said it was a pleasant surprise to find the hike doubled as a bird count.

“It’s amazing kind of just being out in nature and being able to pause and not hear all the normal noise that you hear,” she said.

By Joe Werkmeister

joe.werkmeister@newsday.com

Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.

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