Was on the East Pond at JBWR by 6:45 a.m. this morning. High tide was ~8:00 a.m. Andrew Baksh arrived at same time and together we made our way up the east side of the pond as far as ~200 yards from the island at the north end. Water at times came within 2 inches of top of my knee high rubber boots. Shorebird numbers I reported to eBird:
Semipalmated Plover 20 Killdeer 1 American Oystercatcher 3 Spotted Sandpiper 7 Greater Yellowlegs 15 Willet (Eastern) 1 Lesser Yellowlegs 110 Hudsonian Godwit 1 Semipalmated Sandpiper 1200 Western Sandpiper 1 Least Sandpiper 75 Stilt Sandpiper 24 Short-billed Dowitcher 955 Wilson's Phalarope 1 My estimates are definitely on the conservative side. As is often the case on the East Pond, a marauding Peregrine kept the birds in motion, making it difficult to assess numbers accurately. The HUGO and the WIPH were both seen at the north end by Andrew and I, though others reported the godwit from the south end after one of the peregrine passes. Shai Mitra and Pat Lindsey alerted us to the presence of 2 Least Bitterns in the phragmites on the West side of the pond(thanks guys!). We were able to find only one of them, a still downy juvenile. Shai also reported 3 Western Sandpipers and a Long-billed Dowitcher. This was just around the corner of the north edge of the large cove (traditionally referred to as Yellowlegs Cove) in the SW corner of the pond, past the pilings that BC Night Herons often roost on, and directly across from the last bit of shore on the east side of the pond before the water gets deep. (again near the top of my boots!). Approximately here: http://tinyurl.com/29vfdxc Also saw the previously reported juvenile Black Tern flying around near the north end. See you afield, Shane B. Brooklyn NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/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/ --
