Prefacing Saturday's NY sightings with a "cautionary" note, via Massachusetts reports: a flycatcher initially believed to be a Western Kingbird was revealed to be a (presumed) Cassin's Kingbird, instead - pointing out that with flycatchers & a lot of other groups, the first and perhaps most-likely species may well be the correct impression and ID, but any bird deserves a closer look (case in point, NY's first record of Calliope Hummingbird.. the 2 individuals at Fort Tryon in northern Manhattan...) - from large or small grebes thru odd sparrows and just about anything in between on the list, if it might be other than what it seems, or even when it does initially appear to be what's assumed, it's worth a good close 2nd, 3rd, etc. look & an analysis...
- - - - Saturday, 26 November, 2011 - Rockaway peniinsula, incl. Riis Park, Fort Tilden, & Breezy Point, Queens Co. 6:15 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. - east to west, and return. Standout birds included 2 Red-necked Grebes, Little Gull, Black-headed Gull, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull, and 5 more typicallyl-seen gull species, 5 Royal Terns, 35+ Common Eider, thousands of all 3 scoters, primarily White-winged with Surf and Black still in the low 100's, as well as more distant dark-winged "scoter spp." in flight, a small number of Long-tailed Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, & Greater Scaup, The Red-necked Grebes were fly-bys seen from east of Riis Park and I did not re-find them on my tour of the peninsula; the 1st-year Little Gull was sitting briefly on the beach, then on the water, at Breezy Pt. about 1/4 mile east of the tip (the jetty) & was flushed up by a runner, along with 150+ Bonaparte's Gull which were among the first of a larger gull flock to move at the runner's approach. (I actually tried to come out and ask the runner to divert around but it was too late anyhow... and I suspect nothing would have been accomplished but for a stare or perhaps a few words.) The Black-headed Gull (adult- winter) was in among more Ring-billed & larger gulls than Bonaparte's although there were at least 15+ Bonaparte's nearby, at the beach near about 95 St., which is not too far from the bridge to Broad Channel (ie, the bridge that takes one up Cross Bay Blvd.) and this is a wider area of beach which includes a few low dunes, & also, just east, many many rock jetties. I scanned here seeking Purple Sandpiper as these are sometimes present in that area, but saw none. (At Breezy's jetty, the swarms of fisher-folk - yes, a few women were also with the dozens of guys, likely prevented shorebirds from wanting to use the jetty at that time.) The Royal Terns were off about 115 St., which is near the western terminus of the subway line on the peninsula, and is also near a main shopping street. The Common Eider were all flying west but a few stopped offshore in the area of the east end of Riis Park early on; I did not find them again many hours later... & much of the flight over the water seemed to be a bit farther out as I went west, as well as being later in the morning by then. Bonaparte's Gulls were in the hundreds over the inlet, viewed from the bay side of Breezy Point and it was obvious that many could be seen from various points in Brooklyn including Coney Island, etc. The 2 Lesser-blacked Gulls noted (one adult/winter and one first-year) were respectively (with Laughing, Ring-billed & larger gulls) near 100 St. and at the west end of Riis Park beaches, & simply loafing, with some interest when a few (non- birders) brought out snacks which were not really meant as gull-food, but crumbs might have been tossed their way. Some highlights were a nice flight over the water, from first light onward thru the morning, tending to farther & farther from shore as the day went on, and featuring multi-thousands of N. Gannets, with a few coming nearly over the beach early on, most - as with the tens of thousands of larids - feeding over fish from 100 yards to a half-mile or so offshore, and moving generally east-west initially, later in both directions... the Gannets joined by tremendous numbers of Ring- billed & Herring Gulls, with Bonaparte's Gulls numbering in the 800+ range, many offshore, but also good numbers roosting on the beach at both Riis & along Breezy Point in a few places. All of the gulls roosting were, at various times, flushed up by running dogs with their owners, although many did re-settle, sometimes on the waters, sometimes back on the beach. I'd actually began watching from well east on the peninsula, not far from the city line in view of Atlantic beach, with a concentration of gannets & other birds offshore east of 65 St., & moved steadily to be at Riis Park beach by about sunrise, also having a look for landbirds in the scrub at the Neponsit area, and later in Fort Tilden's wooded section as well as farther west to Breezy Point's tip. A fairly good flight of Red-throated Loon continued all the hours I was watching, with some Common Loon also on the move, as well as both Great & Double-crested Cormorant. Brant & Canada Goose were also on the move in the morning. As already noted on this list, the Ross's Goose was present in the Brooklyn golf center, on what (for me) was a brief foray across, and with a quick stop in Floyd Bennett Field (in Brooklyn) with little to show for my 10-minute look there! At Fort Tilden, the land bird highlight was a Grasshopper Sparrow in a semi-open area not far from the fisherman's parking lot, and also in that area were a Blue-headed Vireo, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Eastern Phoebe. An Orange-crowned Warbler was with a flock of Myrtle/Yellow- rumped Warblers near the tip of Breezy Point (in the dune scrub with bayberries). The land birds generally were almost all being very shy, and with the following raptor numbers noted it's easy to figure one reason for that - N. Harrier (1), Sharp-shinned Hawk (3), Cooper's Hawk (4), American Kestrel (1), Merlin (5+), Peregrine (1). At Breezy Point a nice showing of Snow Bunting with well over 250 seen in a single flock, which was possibly moving from the western tip back east over 2 miles, or perhaps there were 2 large flocks. I kept an eye out for, and saw none of, any swallows. There were a few smallish flocks (ten to 20) of American Goldfinch passing by early on, plus modest numbers of American Robins & Red-winged Blackbirds, & at least one fair-sized group (80+) of Cedar Waxwings also roaming. I took an interest in a feeding flock of robins & waxwings as I went thru the wooded area in Fort Tilden, as various flycatchers could potentially join or show affinity with such a flock in that situation. What I did see in that area were a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a single Blue Jay, Red-breasted Nuthatch (notable this winter?), Hermit Thrush, and a modest number of Myrtle/Tellow-rumped Warbler, and Slate-colored Juncos, with peripheral White-throated Sparrows in smaller no's. Besides those and the Grasshopper, there were also Savannah, Field, American Tree, Swamp & Song Sparrows, all in lowish no's other than the latter. The only "red" Fox Sparrow I noted was at Jamaica Bay Refuge later. There were a few Great Egrets and a decent selection of ducks at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, along with a smattering of land birds typical of late November. I had a look at the log-book there as well and didn't see any especially remarkable birds reported recently... For those (like me) who enjoy looking at other creatures as well as birds, there were at least 3 odonate species flying, Common Green Darner (8+), Sympetrum (Meadowhawk) species, & a few Pantala (Gliders, if that's still what they're being called...), and a very modest variety of butterflies including one Monarch in what looked like fresh condition, at Fort Tilden, plus the more-often seen Nov. list of Orange Sulphurs, a Cabbage White or two, a moderately late Common Buckeye (the species has been seen there in late Dec. some years), & Red Admiral and Mourning Cloak. There were almost no flowers remaining but for a very few Seaside Goldenrod. or non-native spp. in yards & in plantings. The full day's bird list - Red-throated Loon Common Loon Horned Grebe Red-necked Grebe Great Cormorant Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Great Egret (Jamaica Bay) Black-crowned Night-Heron Snow Goose (Jamaica Bay) Canada Goose Brant Mute Swan Gadwall American Wigeon American Black Duck Mallard Northern Shoveler Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Ring-necked Duck Greater Scaup Lesser Scaup Bufflehead Common Goldeneye (few) Hooded Merganser (J. Bay) Red-breasted Merganser Ruddy Duck Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk American Kestrel (1) Merlin Peregrine Falcon American Coot (J. Bay) American Oystercatcher (1, Breezy Pt., bayside) Black-bellied Plover (2) Ruddy Turnstone (few) Sanderling (1,000+) Dunlin (not many) Little Gull Black-headed Gull Laughing Gull Bonaparte's Gull Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Great Black-backed Gull Royal Tern Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker (12+) Eastern Phoebe Blue-headed Vireo Blue Jay (1) American Crow Horned Lark (few) Red-breasted Nuthatch (1) Carolina Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet Hermit Thrush (1) Northern Mockingbird European Starling Cedar Waxwing (150+) Orange-crowned Warbler Myrtle/Yellow-rumped Warbler American Tree Sparrow Field Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow "red" Fox Sparrow (Jamaica Bay) Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco (many) Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow Good birding, Tom Fiore, Manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
