Nothing unusual to report, but a great day to spend a couple hours at Jamaica Bay NWR, with a steady, soft breeze carrying away insects and humidity. Waders were excellent: Both Night Herons, occasionally side by side, both the Blue Herons, Snowy and Great Egrets, plus ample Glossy Ibises. Least, Common and Forster's Terns. A Clapper Rail.
Shorebirds were abundant, but not so diverse: Oystercatcher, both Yellowlegs (like the Night Herons, often side by side), lots of SB Dows and Semipalmated Sandpipers. Another birder had a single Western and a few Stilt Sandpipers at the East Pond. A few behavioral notes: Glossy Ibis doesn't bother to retract the landing gear on short flights, leaving their long legs perpendicular to the ground. I'd never observed this before. Comical. Forster's Tern preening in flight, adjusting flight, flight covert, and back feathers. When it was working its back, with the bill aimed straight towards the tail, it presented an odd, headless appearance for seconds at a time. Many resting Yellowlegs, with their legs tucked under, parked on a sandy spit in the pond. One Greater spent about 15 minutes in a kneeling posture with its long legs bent forward at the knee with the thighs erect, rotating its feet -- apologies to younger readers, but it reminded me of Lily Tomlin's "little girl in the big chair" on Laugh In, and I couldn't resist a drawn out, German-accented "Verrrrry interesting!" as I observed it with binoculars through the foliage. Bird well, Paul -- Paul Dubuc, Pearl River, NY for the moment Dayton, OH for the duration at sign beween pauldubuc and gmail dot com -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES Temporary archive: http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
