Three BROWN PELICANS were seen (and photographed) from Calvert Vaux Park this morning around 7 o’clock. They were soaring over the shoreline to the north, and eventually came down in the middle of Gravesend Bay, where they sat for 15 minutes before disappearing while I was distracted by some terns. This was a Brooklyn first for me.
Also noteworthy in the vicinity is the continued presence of a pair of BLUE GROSEBEAKS, although no proof of nesting has been evident. Given the number of feral cats, loosed hunting dogs, fires, and other disturbances in the area, it’s impressive how many birds do breed in the park, with such regulars as Willow Flycatcher, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow Warbler, Indigo Bunting, and Orchard Oriole among those on hand today. Work on the park’s “improvement” continues, although the project will hopefully be curtailed due to budget constraints. Two artificial turf soccer fields have been installed and work is underway to “restore” the shore along the edge of the basin, a plan that is supposed to include a kayak launch in the tidal flat area. Some recent press criticism about the state of the park seems to have spurred the city to address the issue of squatters in the strip along the east side of the basin on the Six Diamonds side. The solution was rather heavy-handed: they bulldozed through the camps and garden plots long established in area, probably disturbing a lot of birds in the process. The strip currently looks like an open wound, but should fill in of its own accord, which may be preferable to more professional landscaping. If work is limited to what’s already underway, the park may end up retaining more of its character than was feared when the project was announced in 2007. Good birding, Alex Wilson Brooklyn Dreier-Offerman Park, Kings, US-NY Jul 14, 2012 48 species Mute Swan 2 Mallard 10 Double-crested Cormorant 15 Brown Pelican 3 Great Blue Heron 2 Great Egret 3 Snowy Egret 1 Black-crowned Night-Heron 6 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 4 American Kestrel 4 Killdeer 2 Spotted Sandpiper 3 Least Sandpiper 1 Laughing Gull 35 Ring-billed Gull 5 Herring Gull 15 Great Black-backed Gull 10 Least Tern 2 Common Tern 5 Black Skimmer 9 Rock Pigeon 25 Mourning Dove 15 Chimney Swift 5 Downy Woodpecker 3 Northern Flicker 1 Willow Flycatcher 3 Eastern Kingbird 1 Warbling Vireo 2 American Crow 10 Barn Swallow 15 Carolina Wren 2 House Wren 3 American Robin 30 Gray Catbird 15 Northern Mockingbird 3 European Starling 200 Common Yellowthroat 1 Yellow Warbler 2 Song Sparrow 6 Northern Cardinal 3 Blue Grosbeak 2 Indigo Bunting 3 Red-winged Blackbird 60 Common Grackle 10 Brown-headed Cowbird 1 Orchard Oriole 5 American Goldfinch 1 House Sparrow 40 -- 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/ --
