Point Lookout and Jones Beach Trip

On Sunday, I went with the New York Young Birders Club to Point Lookout, NY. This is a reliable spot for coastal waterfowl and shorebirds in winter. I got there with fellow birders Ryan and Adrian a bit late, but came across a huge swarm of hundreds of Brant. Outside the swarm, there was a Common Eider and a pair of Harlequin Ducks by the closest jetty (both lifers), and a few Horned Grebes and several loons (both species) in the inlet. The birders had also spotted a distant Razorbill in the inlet earlier, and a while after I got there, it was spotted again, giving me distant but identifiable views of this life bird. We then started to move further down the beach, where we encountered several Tree Swallows flying by us. It felt a bit odd to see these birds in the middle of February, but there's apparently enough food for them (and the wintering Yellow-Rumped Warblers) to overwinter. At the beach a bit past the inlet, we went by another jetty. This jetty had 7 more Harlequin Ducks and 3 Long-Tailed Ducks (lifer), as well as some Ruddy Turnstones, Sanderlings, and a Dunlin (lifer). We also scanned the sea for gannets, with me picking out one or two way out (>1.5 miles). We then headed back to the parking lot and drove to the Jones Beach Coast Guard Station. It had fairly few birds compared to Point Lookout, with just some regular coastal waterfowl, but we did also have our only Killdeer of the trip on the field right next to the docks. We then headed to the dunes by the inlet. These were also scarce in birds. However, we spotted the Razorbill again, this time right along the beach, giving us amazing looks at this normally oceangoing bird! The walk back had few birds, aside for a flock of about a half dozen Red-Breasted Nuthatches. Afterwards, Ryan, Adrian, and I went to go have lunch at the Theodore Roosevelt Nature Center, where we had a large flock of Snow Buntings circle overhead a few times, Northern Harriers hunting in the marshes, and a lone Horned Lark in the dunes (all lifers). After that, we then went to Oak Beach to look for a reported Eared Grebe. We didn't find it, but there were still lots of ducks, including many Long-Tailed Ducks and a Common Goldeneye (lifer). This was a great trip, with 9 life birds and many interesting species, with Razorbill taking the cake!