I went with Karlo Mirth to the Long Island Pine Barrens today, trying to get him September insect specialties. One of the stops was the Calverton Ponds, where water levels were shockingly low. Another way to look at that is that there was shorebird habitat - and there were shorebirds. Killdeer were the most numerous. Wilson's Snipe was actually expected here. Lesser Yellowlegs were less expected and a first for me at an inland pond. Most surprising was a White-rumped Sandpiper. Nice. I too have a shorebird fix to satisfy. I hope I do this well on my next trip to Jamaica Bay.
With the changed pond configuration and more clouds than expected in the afternoon, the target species here proved unexpectedly difficult to get, or at least to confirm. After moving to a different section of the pond, I was finally able to confirm a Mottled Darner - a lifer for Karlo - when one landed on him. And this is a species that is seldom seen landing on anything. You can't make this stuff up. If anyone is interested in seeing the Mottled Darner on Karlo, the picture is on my web site (http://www.stevewalternature.com/ , click the Dragonfly tab). Steve Walter Bayside, NY -- 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/ --
