Thursday, 2 September 2010 - s. Queens & Kings Counties, N.Y. City Some of the highlights of visits to Floyd Bennett Field (Brooklyn / Kings Co.), the Rockaway peninsula, and then Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (Queens Co.) included a total of 23 species of shorebirds & a very impressive number of some colonial waterbirds (at Jamaica Bay Refuge), plus a small variety of land-birds including various warblers. The surf developing at the shore along Breezy Point, Queens was rather impressive, too.
I'd expect some changes, perhaps big changes, in the exact variety & numbers of all migrants in our area by this Sunday if not sooner, if predicted weather changes come in with cool & dry conditions by this weekend & of course, whatever "Earl" the storm may bring, or not. This weekend could give a first bigger 'push' of raptors as well - we will see. My first stop was at Floyd Bennett Field where there were 2 Buff- breasted Sandpipers, and one Baird's Sandpiper in the same area as reported previously. I was there from about 6:30 a.m. until 8:30 -9 a.m. and at first, noticed zero shorebirds. I checked the north "runway rain puddle" again though & a single Least Sandpiper had come in so I wandered around a bit & returned to find that a Baird's along with a half-dozen Least & 2 Semi-palmated Sandpipers had also arrived by 7:15. There were also some Killdeer about. I then looked around the fields & lawn areas near that, that is near the main hangar building with the sports fields such as for cricket, soccer, etc. and after about 45 minutes of seeing relatively little in the way of other shorebirds (but some land-birds) I noticed the flock (presumably same as had been at the puddle) of Killdeer on a more unkempt, slightly weedy field containing 2 isolated smallish trees (large enough to provide shade however), just south of the parking area to the west of the hangar buildings. Then I noticed 2 slimmer, more buffy-colored birds, & approaching cautiously I saw that they were each Buff- breasted Sandpipers - both, but especially one, seeming quite wary, far more so than the ten Killdeer also in that area at that moment. I had some fine views until a couple of bicyclists came by and initially, the 'Buffies' held their ground but then a truck was being unloaded within 50 feet of these birds, with noisy metal boxes and a lot of clanging & thudding sounds - that was it for the whole group which took off in a somewhat easterly direction. I soon went in that direction but could not relocate the 2 Buff-breasted, although back to the puddles once again, the Baird's was still there an hour+ later, while some Canada Geese & two adult Great Black-backed Gulls were also around the shrinking puddle. Other birds of note at Floyd Bennett Field in the first 3 hours of the morning included 2 Vesper Sparrows along the edges of the runway that leads from the FBF main (southmost) entrance to the north (the first right turn if entering from that south entrance, which is close to the Marine Parkway bridge toll plaza) as well as at least 4 Savannah Sparrows near the 2 Vespers... the Vespers moving bit-by-bit along to the south as I walked in that direction, too. A juvenile-plumaged (not "immature" but juvenile, with still a few downy feathers in place) Field Sparrow was also a slight surprise - not that the species breeds there is a big surprise but that it seems late, presumably from a later brood. Along the weedier (mugwort) parts of some of the north runways I noted the following warblers, mainly singletons except as noted: Tennessee, Prairie, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia (2), Myrtle [Yellow-rumped] - my first of this season in NYC, Northern Waterthrush, and Common Yellowthroat (dozen or more). Also seen (in shrubs) were some Traill's- type Empidonax. A couple of Eastern Palm Warblers were about in that area, and in & near the FBF community gardens, a variety of warblers included a single Blue-winged, 2 N. Waterthrush, Yellow, 5 or more American Redstarts, and at least a dozen Common Yellowthroats - and there were additional warblers in the area that I didn't get good looks at. The other land-birds noted at FBF included Warbling & Red-eyed Vireos, Gray Catbird (12+), American Robin (100+), Baltimore Oriole (at least 5 all in cherry trees west of the community gardens) and a couple of fly-over Bobolinks. I looked at the "return-a-gift" pond at FBF, & it was still quite lacking in water, although "moist" - & I saw no waterbirds other than 2 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons around there. There also were people arriving to play sports, etc. as I was readying to move on and I don't know what, if any effects on shy shorebirds the human activities may have had. Early on at FBF I also noted singles of N. Harrier, Sharp-shinned & Cooper's Hawk, and American Kestrel in the "north" areas there. At Fort Tilden in mid-morning, a little time on the hawk-watch platform at Battery Harris yielded a modest assortment of low fly-bys: Eastern Kingbird (5), Red-breasted Nuthatch, Tree Swallow (50+), Cedar Waxwing (few), plus 2 Bobolinks. At Breezy Point (I walked the full loop around the bay-shore to the jetty and back along the ocean-side & the sandy access road back to Beach 222 St.) there was a very bright female-looking Bay-breasted Warbler in the bayberry at the start of the trail to the bay-side, which I ogled for many minutes. There were some other warblers about and all that I really saw well or heard calling were Common Yellowthroats, at Breezy Pt. The bay side, as in previous visits, had good variety of shorebirds and overall this was where I saw the greatest numbers of birds (or at least of shorebirds) on the day, with a total of well over 2,000 Sanderlings & 500+ Semipalmated Plovers, plus a single Red Knot (adult), 2 adult Black-bellied Plovers, NO Piping Plovers (that I saw), a pair of Western Willets (adults), a very few Least & Semipalmated Sandpipers in a moist area, and a small number of American Oystercatchers (about a dozen in all) with well over half of the Sanderlings on the ocean beach, high surf & all. There were at least 20 Black Skimmers and also 14 of them that flew by heading southwest (not feeding) in the noonish hour. The "white" gull was still present as it has been all summer - this, I believe is a gull that was reported months ago by Andrew Baksh & I also got some not-awful photos the last time I was along that stretch of beach - the bay side of Breezy Point. (I'm not sure what species but don't think it's a Glaucous Gull or a rare hybrid, & it is a bit scrappy-looking in addition to having almost entirely white plumage - it also is not an "albino" bird...). There were about 400 Ring-billed Gulls in fresh first-summer plumage along the bay side as well. One non-avian sighting was of a Diamondback Terrapin swimming close to shore there. Terns were in seemingly short supply and all I saw were Commons, about 30+. At the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge from about 2:45 to 6:45 p.m., at least 19 species of shorebirds were present including both East & West Pond areas, despite the overall number of shorebirds dramatically less than in much of August, and rather high water on the E. Pond very recently. There were also huge numbers of certain colonial waterbirds on the East Pond & adjacent trees there, with at least 1,400 Double- crested Cormorants at one time, among other species. Shorebird highlights were an American Golden Plover (slightly worn & faded adult) with at least 20 Black-bellied Plovers on the sand bar off the "Terrapin trail" which is off the south end of the West Pond trail (around bench 8) at about 1 hour after peak high tide, and 2 ongoing Baird's Sandpipers at the East Pond, up the east side from the SE corner a ways, plus a basic-plumaged Wilson's Phalarope closer to the south end of the East Pond, & a young-looking Common Moorhen. A Pectoral Sandpiper (juvenile) was looking sharp (but not sharp-tailed ; 0) along the West Pond shores, & there were altogether at least 200 shorebirds on the West Pond edges around 4-5 p.m. plus some of the regular Boat-tailed Grackles in the marsh and trees adajacent to the W. Pond. A nice assortment of adult & immature Little Blue Herons in the south marshes, with a small number of Plegadis-genus Ibis (presumed all Glossy's) around (and more, perhaps 60+ Plegadis-type [Glossy] Ibis, at the East Pond). There were well over 100 Snowy Egrets and at least 40 Great Egrets in the Refuge that I counted, a good many of these well-enconsed in tree roosts. A walk from the NW corner of the East Pond south along the west shore required high boots - which were wetted up to within 2 inches of the tops. Despite the high water & the fact that most of the shorebirds (both variety & numbers) were at the southern third of the East Pond, at least 150 shorebirds were on the north third or so at the hours just a bit after peak high tide - and also despite the presence of at least one marauding juvenile-plumaged Peregrine at the East Pond. The numbers & species of J. Bay shorebirds that I encountered are listed below. Some other birders had been to the bay in the morning/early afternoon and reported some of the same highlights but had a bit lower variety & overall numbers (and were well off the peak high tide cycle on the day). I found a few migrant land-birds at the Refuge, while the other birders present earlier in the day saw a good many more in variety but not in great numbers. There was a bit of water at Big John's Pond although I saw no water or shore birds in there, just a few smaller migrants in the vicinity. There were also many hundreds of gulls at the East Pond later in the day, including over 250 Laughing, 300+ Ring- billed, 500+ Herring, & 75+ Great Black-backed Gulls in big roosting flocks. Waterfowl included some N. Pintails, and both of our species of teals in fair numbers, plus N. Shovelers, a smaller number of American Wigeons, & less than a dozen Wood Ducks in the East Pond (plus the other typical waterfowl of the summer). Jamaica Bay shorebirds: Black-bellied Plover (20) American Golden-Plover (1) Semipalmated Plover (60+) Killdeer (few) American Oystercatcher (few) Greater Yellowlegs (75+) Lesser Yellowlegs (100+) Willet (2, Western, bay side) Spotted Sandpiper (several) Ruddy Turnstone (several) Semipalmated Sandpiper (300+) Western Sandpiper (2) Least Sandpiper (100+) White-rumped Sandpiper (8+) Baird's Sandpiper (2) Pectoral Sandpiper (1) Stilt Sandpiper (12+) Short-billed Dowitcher (120+) Long-billed Dowitcher (2 adults) Wilson's Phalarope (1, basic plumage) Good birding and stay SAFE in storms! Tom Fiore, Manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
