A late afternoon slog along the North West end of the East Pond where I caught up with Lloyd Spitalnik and Don Riepe turned up many of the same species reported recently. Of note, were a couple of Black-bellied Plovers in breeding plumage. We also had a couple of good candidates for * Hendersonii* Short-billed Dowitchers; one with a very Rufous plumage as noted by birders Carlo and John. Lloyd had also noted earlier one adult Gull-billed Tern.
A comment on accessing the pond. I met a father and daughter back at the North Channel Bridge parking lot, who I learned had attempted the pond with sneakers. They got no further than the entrance of the North End, as the soft mud was too much. The father indicated that he had read on the list server that hiking the pond was managable, but somehow missed that waders were necessary. I figured I would put this reminder out there. Waders are your best bet and with the recent rain, the mud is even softer making waders a necessity. Good birding in the mud! Andrew Baksh Queens, NY -- 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/ --
