I posted a picture of the AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER from Jamaica Bay's East Pond today. Sorry about the brevity earlier (I hate typing in the field), but you all know where the Black-bellied Plovers hang out. The problem is they didn't hang much longer because the scourge of the East Pond chased off nearly all the shorebirds. It was shocking to look around from the spit opposite the island two hours before high tide and see less than 10 shorebirds (at what should be the peak of the year (at least for variety)). So if the birds didn't relocate to the south end, what's the alternative? Maybe leaving the Jamaica Bay area entirely. I've given comments before on what appears to me a quicker turnover of birds than in the past. Blame Peregrines instead of Sandy? I don't know. There are Peregrines every year. But this is bad (8 shorebird species) and I wouldn't have great confidence in looking for the Golden tomorrow.
A few birds did come in afterwards, including two juvenile Sanderlings (not an everyday bird on the East Pond), but I left around 4:00 (with high tide at 5:30) because there few so few birds left. One other highlight was a White M Hairstreak flying across the pond and landing in the phragmites behind me, so I could get a look. A lowlight was a dead Clapper Rail on the sidewalk between the parking lot and the access road to the pond. The plover picture is at http://www.stevewalternature.com/ . (Also, some Arizona pictures on the recent work page for those interested.) Although the picture shows the Golden among dowitchers, the Golden was more so among the Black-bellies. Interestingly, the Golden was somewhat belligerent toward Black-bellies on repeated occasions, with only one Black-belly returning the favor once. Not that Goldens often show up in the JBWR Black-belly roost, but I've not seen this behavior before. Steve Walter Bayside, NY From: bounce-107886007-8873...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-107886007-8873...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Steve Walter Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2013 3:03 PM To: Andrew Baksh; nysbirds-l Cc: Nyc ebirds Subject: [nysbirds-l] Golden Plover @ JBWR In with Black-bellies. Sw Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone -------- Original message -------- From: Andrew Baksh <birdingd...@gmail.com> Date: 08/31/2013 1:24 PM (GMT-05:00) To: nysbirds-l <nysbirds-l@cornell.edu> Cc: Nyc ebirds <ebirds...@yahoogroups.com> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Hudsonian Godwit @ Cupsogue County Park... HUDSONIAN GODWIT right now on the flats at Cupsogue Long Island. For anyone in the area who might want to try for it, please note that the tide is rising at the moment. Sent from somewhere in the field using my mobile device! Andrew Baksh 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/ -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> Please submit your observations to <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> eBird! -- -- 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/ --
