Highlights from this morning at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (Queens/Brooklyn).
I walked the East Pond from the south end to the north end, exiting in the NE corner. With knee-high mudboots the walk isn't that bad, with the only deep spots being the extreme NE corner (as usual), and the area just south of the Raunt, which is still fairly deep. Andrew Baksh was then kind enough to give me a lift from the north end back to the visitor's center for a foray out the West Pond where we watched many shorebirds coming into the pond as the tide rose. Highlights follow: East Pond: Hudsonian Godwit- 1 Pectoral Sandpiper- 1-2 (FOS, Raunt, then the east side just to the south of the Island) Stilt Sandpiper- 23 (Including 18 together on the east side adjacent to the Island) American Oystercatcher- 2 (Including a rather large (probably not fledged yet) and very mobile chick, Island) Lesser Yellowlegs- ~195 Greater Yellowlegs- 3 Short-billed Dowitcher- ~275 Least Sandpiper- ~155 Semipalmated Sandpiper- ~200 Killdeer- 2 (Probable) Western Sandpiper- 1 super small-billed adult, but with correct structure, bill shape, and apparently plumage. Black Tern- 1 juvenile (where is the closest Black Tern nesting location to JBWR?) American Coot- 1 Blue-winged Teal- 2 Green-winged Teal- 5 Wood Duck- 2 Bank Swallow- 1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow- 1 The American White Pelican continued West Pond: Bald Eagle- 1 (1st summer bird flew in from the SW and then over the western edge of the Pond disappearing to the north. It was then seen again about 20 minutes late, this time to the SE. It flew west, and then when it was west of the pond it turned north and once again disappeared well to the north in the vicinity of Spring Creek. Pectoral Sandpiper- 1 Short-billed Dowitcher- ~300 Greater Yellowlegs- 13 Least Sandpiper- ~50 Semipalmated Sandpiper- ~300 Good Birding -Doug Gochfeld. Brooklyn, NY. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
