I hit up Jamaica Bay's West Pond today shortly before sunset and met Jeff Ritter on his way out and managed to convince him to turn around and watch the ducks fly into the pond to roost for the evening. We enjoyed the show until 6 PM when most of the Red-breasted Mergansers and Greater Scaup, both of which were present in larger numbers then I had observed so far this spring, suddenly started massing near the west edge of the pond. At first we were convinced that a predator of some kind was making them uneasy but we had no luck spotting any hawks, owls, or raccoons. Then at least two-thirds of the ducks on the pond took off and flew over us, heading southwest towards Fort Tilden/Breezy Point, an amazing spectacle as they went over. I don't know how many ducks there were total, but it was well into the thousands. We tracked them as far as we could and it looked like as they reached the coast they started heading east. We waited around until about 6:15 but they did not return.
Perhaps they were moving on in their migration? I can't think of any other reason for the behavior. We did not spot the Barrow's Goldeneye and saw a total of maybe 15 Common Goldeneye on the pond, and only two flew in from 5:30-6 PM. On the way out we had an American Woodcock along the trail and a calling Gray Catbird. Good Birding, Corey Finger http://10000birds.com -- 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/ --
