A belated report from Marine Park's Gerritsen Creek and Floyd Bennett Field. Yesterday morning Heydi Lopes and I waded through the early morning pea soup fog at Marine Park and managed to pick up a few FOS species. We continued the day at Floyd Bennett Field where we also found a couple of Spring migrants.
At the start of the day, the walk south along the western side of Gerritsen Creek was a little amusing in that we heard a lot of birds, but saw mostly a curtain of white. Several oystercatchers called non-stop as they flew back and forth across the creek. A Killdeer was also calling in the area. Once the fog lifted we spotted two other new Spring migrants at the marsh - Osprey, Tree Swallow and Boat-tailed Grackle. At Floyd Bennett Field we ran into Steve Nanz leading a group for the Brooklyn Bird Club. We all walked the runway near Field G hoping to relocate the overwintering Northern Shrike, but were unsuccessful. Perhaps it finally headed back north. A pair of Turkey Vultures circled the area and we spotted a few more Tree Swallows heading North. The Return-a-Gift Pond at FBF has been devoid of waterfowl most of the winter, but on Saturday there was a small flock of Gadwall, Green-winged Teal and Hooded Merganser. Spring Peepers have emerged and were calling from the pond. A walk through the "North 40" revealed a couple of phoebes and a pair of Great Blue Herons flying over Four Sparrow Marsh across the parkway to the North. One other sighting of possible interest were three Greater Yellowlegs at a small pond adjacent to Mill Basin a short walk along the beach West of Raptor Point. It is an overlooked habitat that has the potential for some interesting shorebirds or waterfowl. Check my Floyd Bennet Field Google map here: http://g.co/maps/dvrk9 Good birding, Rob ********* Date: 03/17/12 Locations: Floyd Bennett Field, Marine Park--Southwest Number of Species: 48 Brant Gadwall (8.) American Wigeon (2.) Northern Shoveler (2.) Green-winged Teal (12.) Bufflehead Common Goldeneye (3.) Hooded Merganser (2.) Red-breasted Merganser (1.) Ruddy Duck (1.) Ring-necked Pheasant (2.) Pied-billed Grebe (4.) Double-crested Cormorant (2.) Great Blue Heron (2.) Turkey Vulture (2.) Osprey (1.) Sharp-shinned Hawk (1.) Red-tailed Hawk (1.) American Kestrel (2.) Merlin (1.) American Coot (2.) Killdeer (1.) American Oystercatcher (5.) Greater Yellowlegs (3.) Ring-billed Gull Eastern Phoebe (2.) American Crow Tree Swallow (5.) Northern Mockingbird Yellow-rumped Warbler (1.) American Tree Sparrow (1.) White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco (1.) Boat-tailed Grackle (4.) Other common species seen (or heard): Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Mallard, Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Robin, European Starling, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, House Sparrow -- 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/ --
