I observed the Ruff through 7:00 p.m. on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge this evening. It was quite active moving a lot during my brief observation flying from the east side to the west side on the North End and even headed towards the South End and back and last seen feeding on the east side of the North End south of North Island. I did not spend a lot time on it, preferring to sift through the peeps instead.
Shorebird numbers are way down from last week when I estimated 1300 Short-billed Dowitchers at one point while doing a shorebird survey covering from the South End of the East Pond to the North End. SB Dowitchers this afternoon were estimated at around 300. Lesser Yellowlegs continue to be represented fairly well, but the number of Greater Yellowlegs have decreased significantly. I only had one White-rumped Sandpiper today, down from a high of 5 that I had last week. On the other hand peep numbers are slowly beginning to build with Least Sandpipers leading the way and Semipalmated Sandpipers slowly trickling in. Other birds of note on the East Pond this evening include 1 Stilt Sandpiper continuing from yesterday and 2 Pectoral Sandpipers. 2 Gull-billed Terns continue to work the North End and birders should look for them loafing on the North Island. 2 Royal Terns that Tom Burke, Gail Benson and I had on Saturday on the East Pond, have not been seen or heard since. The water level on the East Pond continues to drop and the hot weather has dried out the exposed flats quite quickly making navigation onto the flats much easier and less cumbersome as far as slogging through mud. However, soft and wet spots remains, so please remain cautious out there. Good Shorebirding! Andrew Baksh Queens, NY www.birdingdude.blogspot.com On Mon, Jul 9, 2012 at 5:05 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > ** > I also saw the Ruff at exactly the same spot as described by JT in an > earlier post from today. Scanning a broad area from the spit closest to the > island along with a fellow birder from out of town (with much experience > with this species), we found the Ruff after close to 2 hours - which was > around peak high tide. This was certainly the duller of the 2 Ruffs > reported. The light and sun angle made it difficult to appreciate its > coloration, so the ID was based primarily through size, posturing and > aggressive feeding style while facing away from us the entire time. - We > never got a good look at the breast and sides, even with the bird moving > around quite a bit. > > Bobby Berlingeri > Elmont, N.Y. > -- > *NYSbirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and > Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail > Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> > BirdingOnThe.Net <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 http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/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/ --
