With a return to pleasant Sunday weather it was a toss up between going to Inwood and Swindler Cove for possible shorebirds or Governors Island for terns. My wife and I decided on the latter, a good thing considering Anders' weekend report of zero shorebirds up north.
>From Gabriel's boat tours I'd found out about the Common Tern colony breeding >on the eastern dock of Governors Island. What I didn't know was that the dock >was shared by the East River ferry - providing a wonderful vantage point from >which to observe the tern families protected behind a chain-link fence. We >saw about 20 Common Tern families. The fledgelings flexed their wings and >hopped in mock flights as their parents circled and chased each other for the >fish they brought in for their young. High overhead an Osprey flew across >from Red Hook. Off limits to visitors, flocks of Herring (and a few Greater Black-backed) Gulls sat undisturbed among the abandoned buildings and plowed fields in the south half of the island, awaiting demolition. Looking south from Fort Jay's glacis, we watched Fish Crows trace the tree-line around the wide parade grounds opening down below us. Every now and then I'd think I'd hear a wren or flycatcher only to be followed by another call and then another - Mockingbirds. A pair of Cardinals flew between the pines and Robins hopped around the lawns. As we all departed the island on the last ferry at dusk, Tree Swallows took over filling the air. Happy Birding, Alan Drogin -- 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/ --
