I covered several areas yesterday to get a feel of what was still lingering and what might have filtered into our area. My overall observation which coincides with the reports of many others concluded that it is still relatively quiet on the migration front.
Queens: A lot of the wintering waterfowl at BAISLEY POND PARK, have pulled out, but the numbers of American Coots remain impressive with a count of 223 noted on the pond. Other notables included a single lingering drake Redhead, along with Northern Shovelers and Ruddy Ducks. On my way out, I was surprised by a single Laughing Gull (a first of the year for me) which came in to see what the fuss was about when someone got the usual gull species present into a frenzy with bread offerings. At the EDGEMERE LANDFILL, there was no sign of the Ross' Goose, but it could be anywhere given the tide (low when I was there) or I missed it. At 57th Street Rockaways, near the location of The Arverne *Piping Plover*Site- I counted 5 Piping Plovers and had 2 Laughing Gulls in that area. Nothing of note on the ocean save for a few Northern Gannets. At BROOKVILLE PARK, a Great Egret and 4 Green-winged Teals were the only birds of note. Long Island: Thanks to a tip from Tom Burke who informed me of the unusual number, I was able to get in on the Piping Plover (PIPL) action at POINT LOOKOUT - 31 was the count from Tom and his team and I got the same number as well including a banded bird. At JONES BEACH WEST END, again thanks to a tip from Tom Burke, I was lucky to see both LAPLAND LONGSPURS. I do not discuss OWLS at all on the list serves, but I figured I would save birders a trip and or angst when they try for the Barn Owl at Jamaica Bay with this bit of information. A call from Tom Burke late in the afternoon, who ended up at Jamaica Bay reported that the Barn Owl (BAOW) box at Big John's Pond was compromised with a Raccoon seen in the box. This distressing news was a blow as I had observed the BAOW as recently as Friday. I have spoken to Don Riepe who is away and have reached out to other members of the Barn Owl Brigade (BOB), who work on maintaining the Barn Owl boxes throughout the Bay and we are going to try and see if we could get in there as soon as possible to evict the squatter and fortify the defenses of the box. Good Birding! Andrew Baksh Queens, NY www.birdingdude.blogspot.com -- 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/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/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/ --
