Thursday, 8 October 2008
Interesting weather setting up overnight - there appear to be a lot of
birds moving thru the state, while a large & potentially lengthy
weather event is slowly encroaching from the W/SW... some of that
impulse perhaps out of Mexico with 'coat-tails' in TX & elsewhere
west, south & a bit north thru southern Great Lakes. The National
Weather Service notes some of the weather has originated in the
"Pacific subtropical" region- i.e., w. Mexico.
Incidentally those wanting a look at data from the Fire Island
(Suffolk County) hawk watch (and/or many other hawk watch sites,
sanctioned by HMANA) can check out http://hawkcount.org - Fire Island
has had flights of kestrels that this year include 71 recorded in 8 &
1/2 hour's watch on 9/19/09 with 50 Merlins also noted on that day.
Lighthouse Point watch (New Haven, CT) also has some even larger
American Kestrel tallies this fall. If you go to the HawkCount
website, try the monthly summaries & scroll thru the site listings
alphabetically. Some watch sites have delays in posting their numbers,
up to any number of days. On the raptor watch topic, a Golden Eagle
was tallied at Franklin Mountain out near Oneonta, their first of the
season but surely very far from last. On a personal note, even more of
a highlight from there was an occurrence of Richard Porricelli, who i
am assuming is the same RP who graced the Central Park hawk watch (in
its initial most active phase) with legendary hawk-eyes despite "tiny-
toy" bins... http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/HAWK.html#1255040248
A nice little raptor flight including 2 Bald eagles was reported from
Mt. Loretto, southern Staten Island (Richmond Co., N.Y. City) today,
in just 2 hours time: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SINaturaList/message/1304
An Olive-sided Flycatcher (getting late) was seen (& also photographed
by Ardith Bondi) in Central Park in Manhattan NYC Thurday, along with
other migrants - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebirdsnyc/message/6946
Quite far from us but of note is a Green Violet-ear very recently
found in southern-most INDIANA -
https://listserv.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/wa-iub.exe?A2=ind0910&L=IN-BIRD-L&T=0&F=&S=&P=19152
https://listserv.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/wa-iub.exe?A2=ind0910&L=IN-BIRD-L&T=0&F=&S=&P=41985
- - -
Thursday 8 October, I visited the Rockaway peninsula & also Jamaica
Bay Wildlife Refuge both in Queens County, New York City, & much more
briefly stopped in at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn - Kings County,
N.Y. City - before the Queens sites. On the Rockaways I stopped at
Fort Tilden, Breezy Point (& Tilden again) & Jacob Riis Park - in that
order. There were a lot of birds (even if perhaps 33% appeared to be
Myrtle/Yellow-rumped Warblers) and there were some obvious highlights,
listed a bit arbitrarily below. it was hard to tell how much was
fresh flight (some, anyhow) and how many birds were 'leftovers' from
flights of recent days. The wind was far less strong or gusty than the
previous day's gusts and mainly out of the west. Some clouds filtered
in later; temperatures ranged from 50's towards 70 F. later, although
not that mild at the seashore itself. I was not aware of mosquitoes
anywhere with the breezy conditions.
1 DICKCISSEL, seen a bit briefly and noted by clear "electric" call
notes, Floyd Bennett Field Brooklyn, at edge of the brushy access off
the runway to "return-a-gift" pond, at the "North 40" section (first
possible left after comng in the park entrance & then all the way
straight in as far as can be driven with no further turns). There
were fairly numerous SPARROWS in that vicinity including a LINCOLN'S,
& multiple Swamp, Song, White-throated, Chipping & more Sparrows. The
pond itself had some G.-w. Teal & Greater Yellowlegs - views are not
the greatest with much vegetation this season. I didn't bird F.B.
Field that extensively, & the "community gardens" were a little too
active with gardeners & some compost being delivered and distributed,
even at the very early hour I stopped by. There appeared to be a
little dawn flight in progress as I first arrived at F.B. Field - Red-
winged Blackbirds, Blue Jays, Cedar Waxwings & American Robins among
most obvious as the day dawned. I checked the large puddles in the
North 40 runway, no shorebirds: for that matter, no birds see there.
1 (1st-year, lacking red) RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, Fort Tilden (west
end), flying through on the south trail (road) parallel with the
beach, ~7:45 a.m. - couldn't come up with it again afterward despite a
bit of searching & one can only wonder what migrants occur & stay
around ever within the Breezy Point community, with its private gated
streets...
10 species of SPARROWS (or 12, if one adds in junco & towhee)
highlighted by a NELSON'S (formerly/recently called Nelson's Sharp-
tailed) Sparrow in the scrub at Neponsit (north towards the bay & at
the eastern extremity of Jacob Riis Park - the area isn't easily seen
when approaching from the beach side - with more & more Poison Ivy
etc. in the entry path each year, but can be found from the bay side
*no parking there though* west of Beach 149 Street. Do NOT enter
private property! ) & a VESPER Sparrow at Fort Tilden in a scrubby but
more open small field NW of Battery Harris West (access via a path
past that), plus a couple of young WHITE-CROWNED, many White-throated
(150+ in total), Swamp (dozens in total), Field (1), Chipping (30+ in
total), Savannah (fair number = 20+, at the west end of Breezy in dune
scrub), and Song Sparrows, as well as Eastern Towhee (25+ in total) &
Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco (several).
6 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS in a flock that briefly landed next to the Breezy
Point beach access road (the sand road) off Beach 227 Street in the
Breezy Point community - these seemed odd mainly because it didn't
appear to be a big day [?] for other icterids such as Red-winged
Blackbirds, etc.
10 Horned Larks (in one flock) & about 6 American Pipits all moving a
lot at the west end of Breezy Pt. in dune scrub. The area was
frequented by 3 falcon species & 2 accipiter species so passerines
were understandably nervous. A single OSPREY was up at very high
altitude as I worked my way east again from Breezy. My falcon
sightings included at least 8 American Kestrels & 6 Merlins, plus one
big mama Peregrine. The 12+ accipiters I saw were almost all Sharp-
shinned Hawks, with a Cooper's Hawk or two working Breezy's thickets.
"Odds & ends" of the 3 western Rockaway sites I visited included a
fairly late BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER (Ft. Tilden woods), a somewhat late
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO (same area), 2 HUMMINGBIRDS (well, they appeared
to be Archilochus and presumably RUBY-THROATED - but I've been
famously wrong on that score once before... it is well within normal
dates for fall Ruby-throats, though! Both were trending in the
expected southwest direction), a single CLIFF SWALLOW (yes, Cliff -
not the other...) - with occasional bouts of Tree Swallow fly-overs at
times, & a few (well, at least 3) Barn Swallows, 60+++ GRAY CATBIRDS.
11 WARBLER species including a slightly late HOODED (not adult male)
at Ft. Tilden, briefly in great view & then hanging in near the rest
of the little paruline flock in the wooded area. (The other warblers
included 1 Tennessee, 2 Nashville, 5 Black-throated Green, 4 Northern
Parula, 1 Magnolia, 1 American Redstart, 2 Black-and-white, & 75+ Palm
(with 40+ of the latter swarming the dune scrub at Breezy Pt.), and
very conservatively, 2,500 Mytle/Yellow-rumped Warblers, with
occasionally 100+ of the latter in view at once in the early hours,
and 40+ Common Yellowthroats. The totals reflect almost 9 hours &
about 8 miles of walking, at the Rockaways as well as Jamaica Bay
Refuge - over 75% tallied at the Rockaways).
Also, a few (3 or 4) INDIGO BUNTINGS (including one male with much
blue lingering). Some other migants included: single Red-breasted
Nuthatch, 1 Red-eyed Vireo & 2 or 3 Blue-headed Vireos, & a very few
thrushes including a Gray-cheeked or the other species, plus
Swainson's (2) & Hermit (1) Thrushes... Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Eastern
Phoebes and especially Northern [Yellow-shafted] Flickers were rather
common with 30+ of the former 2 spp., & 150+ of the latter seen. The
sea seemed rather empty of all but Double-crested Cormorants and gulls
of 4 species (Laughing: 50+, Ring-billed, Herring, Great Black-
backed), plus a distant loon (Common Loon, I thought) - I did not
dedicate more than brief scans seaward after 2 bouts of 5-6 minutes
turned up no more. I noted no other larids. Shorebirds also looked to
be minimal at the Rockaways & also at Jamaica Bay... even Sanderling
was not common on my Breezy jaunt.
- - -
Jamaica Bay Refuge, on the high tide cycle (well, a wee bit past
peak), had good waterfowl diversity but very low shorebird numbers. I
didn't really bird the "gardens" there or the full W. Pond loop much
past bench 14. My waterfowl tally there was 18 species with about 40
SNOW GEESE including a single "Blue" Goose at the W. Pond, plus 2
drake RING-NECKED DUCKS out in the central W. Pond, & 80+++ Greater
Scaup (didn't note any Lesser) with a Hooded Merganser & a few
Bufflehead in the mix, along with more numerous pond & puddle ducks
such as N. Pintails, American Wigeons, N. Shovelers, Blue-winged &
Green-winged Teals, WOOD DUCKS (at least 5 on the E. Pond's SW cove &
at least 3 in "Big John's" Pond... also the infamous Black Swan of
unknown origins but not a wild bird (feral, perhaps?) has stayed on &
on, @ East Pond as before. Other J. Bay birds included YELLOW-CROWNED
NIGHT-HERONS (several), 10 or more LITTLE BLUE HERONS (only 1 adult),
120+ Snowy Egrets, 45+ Great Egrets, many Great Blue Herons & some
Black-crowned Night-Herons... NO tri-colored heron seen by me, & also
no ibis of any sort seen. A CLAPPER RAIL revealed itself in the S.
marsh off the W. Pond trail.
My shorebird sightings at the Refuge were meager. The EAST Pond of
Jamaica Bay Refuge now has HIGH water & high waterproof BOOTS will
likely be desired (by those actually wanting to wade along the edges).
One exception would be the viewing access from the Big John's Pond
trail to the East Pond, & looking mainly at the "raunt" area there -
at ~1 p.m. that area did have 8 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS roosting on the
exposed old wood, along with greater numbers (30+) of Greater
Yellowlegs nearby. ~10 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS were in scattered spots
including a couple on the W. Pond's shores. Other shorebirds included
a scattering of Least Sandpipers, a single juv. STILT SANDPIPER in
with some Gr. Yellowlegs at the E. Pond's NW corner area, plus a few
flocks (small flocks!) of peep (possibly Semi-palm. by call notes) on
the wing at both sides of the "street". My not so grand total for
shorebirds on the day was 8 species, however I did NOT go down the
East Pond's northern edges (with such high water) to look at what may
have been along there. From what I could make out looking thru the
hundreds of roosting waterfowl, gulls, and cormorants there didn't
appear to be a whole lot more down the shore at the spits... now a
muddy wet walk to get there, anyhow.
The full (days) list - in
Queens & Kings Co's.
Thursday, 8 Oct. '09 -
Common Loon (1, well off Tilden)
Pied-billed Grebe (several, J. Bay)
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron (10+, J. Bay)
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (J. Bay)
Snow Goose (40, J. Bay, W. Pond)
Canada Goose
Brant
Mute Swan
Wood Duck (J. Bay)
Gadwall
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal (J. Bay)
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck (2 drakes, W. Pond/J.Bay)
Greater Scaup
Bufflehead (few)
Hooded Merganser (1 drake, J. Bay)
Ruddy Duck (J. Bay)
Osprey (1, going SW)
Northern Harrier (1)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (12+)
Cooper's Hawk (2+)
American Kestrel (8+)
Merlin (6+)
Peregrine Falcon (1)
Clapper Rail (J. Bay, S. marsh)
Killdeer
American Oystercatcher
Greater Yellowlegs
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper (possible fly-overs)
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper (8, J. Bay E. Pond- raunt)
Stilt Sandpiper (1, J. Bay E. Pond- nw corner)
Long-billed Dowitcher
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (1, Ft. Tilden)
Hummingbird (presumed/apparent Ruby-throated)
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern [Yellow-shafted] Flicker
Eastern Phoebe (many)
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo (1)
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow (1, Breezy Pt.)
Black-capped Chickadee (Ft. Tilden- woods)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (1, " " ...)
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (1, Ft. Tilden - late)
Gray-cheeked Thrush (or poss. Bicknell's)
Swainson's Thrush (2)
Hermit Thrush (1)
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
American Pipit (Breezy Point)
Cedar Waxwing (90+ fly-bys, a.m.)
Tennessee Warbler (1)
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (UBIQUITOUS)
Black-throated Green Warbler (5)
Palm Warbler (MANY)
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Common Yellowthroat (many)
HOODED Warbler (1, Ft. Tilden woods)
Scarlet Tanager (2)
Eastern Towhee (many)
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow (1)
Savannah Sparrow
Nelson's (ex-Sharp-tailed) Sparrow (1, Neponsit at Riis Park)
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (1)
Indigo Bunting (3 or 4)
Red-winged Blackbird
Rusty Blackbird (6, Breezy Point)
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Butterflies included Checkered White (Ft. Tilden), Cabbage White,
Orange Sulphur, Question Mark, Red Admiral, American Lady, Common
Buckeye, & about 120 Monarchs mainly at Breezy Point & almost all
visiting Seaside Goldenrod just coming into peak bloom. Dragonflies
included Common Green Darner, Black Saddlebags, Wandering Glider and
Meadowhawk species.
Good birding,
Tom Fiore,
Manhattan
_________
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