*Bronx 10-26-13* On Saturday, Rich Kelly and I managed over 60 species of birds while visiting the Bronx to co-lead a nature walk with John Young on the Putnam Trail at Van Cortlandt Park.
We birded several sites before and after our walk with the highlights being, *PURPLE FINCH, EASTERN BLUEBIRD AND VESPER SPARROWS*. The latter seen at Van Cortlandt Park, 4 found by John Young and another two by Rich and I as we looked at John's 4 on the Parade Grounds. After the walk, Rich and I visited Turtle Cove in Pelham Bay to try for the Red-headed Woodpeckers and Nelson's Sparrows but came up short on both counts. We speculated that the wind and time was not in our favor and it appeared we were correct as the adult Red-headed Woodpeckers were seen on Sunday and again today. *********************************************************** *Queens 10-28-13* Today at Jacob Riis Park, I had 2 *VESPER SPARROWS* , both seen near the corner of the downed fence by the open area as you head towards the handball courts. I also caught a glimpse of the White-throated Sparrow with "white" patches that Isaac Grant reported on Sunday. Cool looking bird but it was very elusive and I did not manage any photos. The best bird at that location *(due to the date)* was a *BALTIMORE ORIOLE*seen along the perimeter of the fence just past the bath house. Later this evening, I peeked in on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, to look for shorebirds and arriving waterfowl. Shorebirds included a few Greater Yellowlegs, about 70 Dunlins, one Pectoral Sandpiper and 2 peeps which I never got a good look at due to *Falco Peregrinus. * Waterfowl diversity are on the rise with Hooded Mergansers and Wood Ducks being the recent arrivals. A few more Northern Pintails were noted along with both Greater and Lesser Scaup and the Ruddy Dduck numbers are rising quickly. Snowy Egret numbers have plummeted from the > than 150 that I was recording late September into early October. I had a paltry 13 along with 2 immature Little Blues hanging out with the group. Cheers! Andrew Baksh Queens, NY www.birdingdude.blogspot.com "Don't start none, won't be none" ~ Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones Sent from my iPad -- 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/ --
