Re: [nysbirds-l] Duck Behavior at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge this evening

[Steve Walter]

Sounds like quite a spectacle that I missed out on. I was leaving (arms tired 
and compact flash card full from photographing mergansers) as Corey was 
arriving. I tried planting a seed in his head to count them on the West Pond, 
as it seemed that something was out of the ordinary. Many of the bay ducks in 
Jamaica Bay roost on the pond and the late afternoon provides an opportunity to 
get flight shots as they come in -- which is what brought me there. I was 
amazed, though, at the amount of Red-breasted Mergansers coming in today. Going 
through my pictures, I counted 164 individuals, from singletons to flocks of 
15. Of course, there were a lot more birds that were too far to bother with or 
I couldn't get on in time. The time stamps on my pictures indicate that the 
inbound movement began in earnest around 4:30 and continued full steam until I 
left at 5:15, and probably a bit longer as Corey suggests. Whenever the inbound 
movement wound down, it's possible that the West Pond hosted an assemblage of 
Red-breasted Mergansers unlike any seen there before (I could be all wrong, but 
I have to sound dramatic). 

So maybe another chapter in the interesting regional waterfowl story of late. I 
had stopped by Baisley Pond earlier in the day, where at least 30 Redheads 
remain. Along with some of the other groups of Redheads that have been 
reported, is it possible the Long Island is currently hosting its largest 
number of Redheads in decades? For one thing, it has me ready to declare 
Canvasback the 5th most common Aythya duck on Long Island. It seemed like a 
hands down number 2 when I started birding in the 1980's.

Steve Walter
Bayside, NY



From: Corey Finger 
Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2011 7:41 PM
To: New York 
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Duck Behavior at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge this evening


I hit up Jamaica Bay's West Pond today shortly before sunset and met Jeff 
Ritter on his way out and managed to convince him to turn around and watch the 
ducks fly into the pond to roost for the evening.  We enjoyed the show until 6 
PM when most of the Red-breasted Mergansers and Greater Scaup, both of which 
were present in larger numbers then I had observed so far this spring, suddenly 
started massing near the west edge of the pond.  At first we were convinced 
that a predator of some kind was making them uneasy but we had no luck spotting 
any hawks, owls, or raccoons.  Then at least two-thirds of the ducks on the 
pond took off and flew over us, heading southwest towards Fort Tilden/Breezy 
Point, an amazing spectacle as they went over.  I don't know how many ducks 
there were total, but it was well into the thousands.  We tracked them as far 
as we could and it looked like as they reached the coast they started heading 
east.  We waited around until about 6:15 but they did not return.


Perhaps they were moving on in their migration?  I can't think of any other 
reason for the behavior.


We did not spot the Barrow's Goldeneye and saw a total of maybe 15 Common 
Goldeneye on the pond, and only two flew in from 5:30-6 PM.


On the way out we had an American Woodcock along the trail and a calling Gray 
Catbird.


Good Birding,
Corey Finger
 
http://1birds.com 



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[nysbirds-l] Duck Behavior at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge this evening

[Corey Finger]

I hit up Jamaica Bay's West Pond today shortly before sunset and met Jeff 
Ritter 
on his way out and managed to convince him to turn around and watch the ducks 
fly into the pond to roost for the evening.  We enjoyed the show until 6 PM 
when 
most of the Red-breasted Mergansers and Greater Scaup, both of which were 
present in larger numbers then I had observed so far this spring, suddenly 
started massing near the west edge of the pond.  At first we were convinced 
that 
a predator of some kind was making them uneasy but we had no luck spotting any 
hawks, owls, or raccoons.  Then at least two-thirds of the ducks on the pond 
took off and flew over us, heading southwest towards Fort Tilden/Breezy Point, 
an amazing spectacle as they went over.  I don't know how many ducks there were 
total, but it was well into the thousands.  We tracked them as far as we could 
and it looked like as they reached the coast they started heading east.  We 
waited around until about 6:15 but they did not return.

Perhaps they were moving on in their migration?  I can't think of any other 
reason for the behavior.

We did not spot the Barrow's Goldeneye and saw a total of maybe 15 Common 
Goldeneye on the pond, and only two flew in from 5:30-6 PM.

On the way out we had an American Woodcock along the trail and a calling Gray 
Catbird.

Good Birding,
Corey Finger
 http://1birds.com



  
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[nysbirds-l] Turkey Vultures - Westhampton Beach

[Eileen Schwinn]

Two turkey vultures, circling, and north, between the Westhampton  
Beach and Quogue/East Quogue exits of Sunrise Highway, Suffolk  
County, in the late afternoon.

Eileen Schwinn

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[cayugabirds-l] Ring-necked Duck X Greater Scaup hybrid at Stewart Park, Ithaca

[Kevin J. McGowan]

I have put a photo of the hybrid duck Jay found this morning at 
https://picasaweb.google.com/KevinJ.McGowan/Birds2011#5583354667553091330.

The photo shows the bird in close comparison with a male Ring-necked Duck.  The 
fainter, but present, ring on the bill and white shoulder mark, nearly tufted 
head, and darkish back all shout Ring-necked Duck as one parent.  But the paler 
back, greenish cast to head, expanded tip to bill, and prominent cheeks are 
Greater Scaup characteristics.  An interesting bird.

Kevin

Kevin J. McGowan
Ithaca, NY
k...@cornell.edu
607-254-2452


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[nysbirds-l] Eared Grebe in East Hampton - Osprey in Watermill

[Carl Starace]

Hi All,   I gave an Eastern Long Island Audubon Walk from Montauk to
East Hampton today. On our last stop at Main Beach,[south Main St.], East
Hampton we had an Eared Grebe directly out from the parking lot in breakers
some 25 yards from shore. It gave all of us multiple looks. We had just come
from the   Atlantic  Ave. beachfront where an Eared had been spotted last
weekend. At  Montauk we had one female King Eider way to the left of the
patio, a Turkey Vulture that  came around the Point flying well offshore of
the concession and small number of Northern Gannets,[we had the latter at
all ocean stops]. All three Scoters are still well represented and the
smaller Common Eider delegation seemed to be enjoying Montauk's balmy
breezes. Seven Great Cormorants were at rest on the towers at the Lake
Montauk jetties. There were 2 first winter Lesser Black Backed Gulls just
inside the inlet there and Sally Newbert and Tom Moran saw an Iceland Gull
at Gosman's on the beach just to the west. The Canvasbacks continued at the
northwest corner of Fort Pond,but the 4 Redheads,[ found by Joe Lynch],this
morning were  with a flock of Ring necked Duck at the southernmost end of
the pond by Montauk Highway .While Lazy Point was a bust, even for
shorebirds, Hook Pond still had 8 Common Mergansers. Driving home as we past
the Mill Pond in Watermill we spotted a FOS Osprey.  Good March Birding,
Carl Starace


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[nysbirds-l] dutchess counjy birds

[John Askildsen]

i observed an an adult northern goshawk migrating northward in today's SW winds above Marist College in Poughkeepsie, dutchess county, ny. JPA John Askildsen Millbrook, New York

[nysbirds-l] Hybrid Tufted Duck x scaup Massapequa Lake, Nassau Co.

[Shaibal Mitra]

Shortly before dusk this evening, Patricia Lindsay and I observed an apparent 
hybrid Tufted Duck x scaup hybrid drake with a small group of Lesser Scaup at 
Massapequa Lake, Nassau County, LI.

The bird showed a top-knot, like an exaggerated version of a Lesser Scaup's 
hind-crown notch; much darker (but not black) back than a scaup's--but 
apparently only on the left side of its body (right side of back more 
scaup-like); and a black breast that extended a bit farther rearward onto the 
flanks than a scaup's (at least on the left side).

Shai Mitra
Bay Shore





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[nysbirds-l] Barrow's Goldeneye JBWR

[tom preston]

The drake Barrow's Goldeneye at Jamaica Bay was seen again today.

It was West of Bench 11 in the bay at about 12:30 when I saw it , and 
was fairly distant.


The bird was found earlier by Shai Mitra and Pat Lindsay, and was also 
seen later by Rob Jett, Heydi Lopes and participants of a Linnean 
Society field trip.


- Tom Preston

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[nysbirds-l] Riis Park Black-headed Gull+

[Seth Ausubel]

This morning an adult Black-headed Gull was roosting on the beach near  
the small fisherman's parking lot at the eastern end of Jacob Riis  
Park, Queens County.  It then joined a group of about 50 Bonaparte's  
Gulls feeding in the surf offshore.  There were about 1200 gulls at  
Breezy Point and Ft. Tilden, among them the continuing adult Lesser  
Black-backed Gull at the Ft. Tilden fisherman's parking lot.  Birds at  
Floyd Bennett Field, Kings County, included an adult Red-shouldered  
Hawk and 2 Turkey Vultures.


Observers:  Seth Ausubel, Isaac Grant

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[nysbirds-l] Ulster County snow geese 3/11/11

[Jesse Jaycox]

While driving north on the NYS Thruway (I-87), I observed several hundred snow 
geese in a flooded field adjacent to the east side of the thruway and just 
north of Kingston.

Jesse Jaycox

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[nysbirds-l] Cupsogue (Suffolk County) Eurasian Wigeon

[Richard Kaskan]

At about 7:50 this morning I saw a male Eurasian Wigeon at Cupsogue Beach
County Park in Suffolk County on the south shore of Long Island.  If you
know the park, the bird was just north of the center of the large parking
area in the shallow water through which birders often slog at low tide
searching for shorebirds and terns in season.  It was with a small group of
American Black Ducks; I saw no other wigeons there.  Otherwise the birding
was slow on this windy morning at Cupsogue.

-- 
Richard Kaskan
Shoreham, NY
kas...@ieee.org
(512) 748-8660

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[nysbirds-l] Captree State Park, Ocean Parkway Beaches, Jones Beach CG Station and WE2.

[Ardith Bondi]

Yesterday (Friday, March 11, 2011), Barb Saunders and I (Ardith Bondi) 
saw 18 American Oystercatchers on the low islands along the bay side 
starting at Captree and through Field 10. There weren't any seen from 
the Coast Guard Station or at WE2.


From Captree, 4 Boat-tailed Grackles were seen.

In the area of the CGS and WE2 we saw a few Yellow-rumped Warblers, 5 
Tree Swallows, 12 Tree Sparrows, 1 Horned Lark, and 1 Killdeer that 
rested for a long time (over an hour) in the "swale". Late in the day, 
with only a smattering of gulls or ducks along the beach, a couple of 
flocks of Sanderlings came by, amounting to about 60 birds.


Ardith Bondi

the list included:

Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Great Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Brant
Mute Swan
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Scaup species
Long-tailed Duck
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Killdeer
American Oystercatcher (18)
Sanderling (60)
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
American Crow
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow (5)
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
American Tree Sparrow (12)
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird (multiple, singing)
Boat-tailed Grackle (4, Captree)
House Sparrow











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[nysbirds-l] Captree State Park, Ocean Parkway Beaches, Jones Beach CG Station and WE2.

[Ardith Bondi]

Yesterday (Friday, March 11, 2011), Barb Saunders and I (Ardith Bondi) 
saw 18 American Oystercatchers on the low islands along the bay side 
starting at Captree and through Field 10. There weren't any seen from 
the Coast Guard Station or at WE2.


From Captree, 4 Boat-tailed Grackles were seen.

In the area of the CGS and WE2 we saw a few Yellow-rumped Warblers, 5 
Tree Swallows, 12 Tree Sparrows, 1 Horned Lark, and 1 Killdeer that 
rested for a long time (over an hour) in the swale. Late in the day, 
with only a smattering of gulls or ducks along the beach, a couple of 
flocks of Sanderlings came by, amounting to about 60 birds.


Ardith Bondi

the list included:

Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Great Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Brant
Mute Swan
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Scaup species
Long-tailed Duck
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Killdeer
American Oystercatcher (18)
Sanderling (60)
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
American Crow
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow (5)
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
American Tree Sparrow (12)
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird (multiple, singing)
Boat-tailed Grackle (4, Captree)
House Sparrow











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[nysbirds-l] Cupsogue (Suffolk County) Eurasian Wigeon

[Richard Kaskan]

At about 7:50 this morning I saw a male Eurasian Wigeon at Cupsogue Beach
County Park in Suffolk County on the south shore of Long Island.  If you
know the park, the bird was just north of the center of the large parking
area in the shallow water through which birders often slog at low tide
searching for shorebirds and terns in season.  It was with a small group of
American Black Ducks; I saw no other wigeons there.  Otherwise the birding
was slow on this windy morning at Cupsogue.

-- 
Richard Kaskan
Shoreham, NY
kas...@ieee.org
(512) 748-8660

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[nysbirds-l] Ulster County snow geese 3/11/11

[Jesse Jaycox]

While driving north on the NYS Thruway (I-87), I observed several hundred snow 
geese in a flooded field adjacent to the east side of the thruway and just 
north of Kingston.

Jesse Jaycox

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[nysbirds-l] Hybrid Tufted Duck x scaup Massapequa Lake, Nassau Co.

[Shaibal Mitra]

Shortly before dusk this evening, Patricia Lindsay and I observed an apparent 
hybrid Tufted Duck x scaup hybrid drake with a small group of Lesser Scaup at 
Massapequa Lake, Nassau County, LI.

The bird showed a top-knot, like an exaggerated version of a Lesser Scaup's 
hind-crown notch; much darker (but not black) back than a scaup's--but 
apparently only on the left side of its body (right side of back more 
scaup-like); and a black breast that extended a bit farther rearward onto the 
flanks than a scaup's (at least on the left side).

Shai Mitra
Bay Shore





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[nysbirds-l] dutchess counjy birds

[John Askildsen]

i observed an an adult northern goshawk migrating northward in today's SW winds above Marist College in Poughkeepsie, dutchess county, ny.JPAJohn Askildsen Millbrook, New York

[nysbirds-l] Eared Grebe in East Hampton - Osprey in Watermill

[Carl Starace]

Hi All,   I gave an Eastern Long Island Audubon Walk from Montauk to
East Hampton today. On our last stop at Main Beach,[south Main St.], East
Hampton we had an Eared Grebe directly out from the parking lot in breakers
some 25 yards from shore. It gave all of us multiple looks. We had just come
from the   Atlantic  Ave. beachfront where an Eared had been spotted last
weekend. At  Montauk we had one female King Eider way to the left of the
patio, a Turkey Vulture that  came around the Point flying well offshore of
the concession and small number of Northern Gannets,[we had the latter at
all ocean stops]. All three Scoters are still well represented and the
smaller Common Eider delegation seemed to be enjoying Montauk's balmy
breezes. Seven Great Cormorants were at rest on the towers at the Lake
Montauk jetties. There were 2 first winter Lesser Black Backed Gulls just
inside the inlet there and Sally Newbert and Tom Moran saw an Iceland Gull
at Gosman's on the beach just to the west. The Canvasbacks continued at the
northwest corner of Fort Pond,but the 4 Redheads,[ found by Joe Lynch],this
morning were  with a flock of Ring necked Duck at the southernmost end of
the pond by Montauk Highway .While Lazy Point was a bust, even for
shorebirds, Hook Pond still had 8 Common Mergansers. Driving home as we past
the Mill Pond in Watermill we spotted a FOS Osprey.  Good March Birding,
Carl Starace


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[cayugabirds-l] Ring-necked Duck X Greater Scaup hybrid at Stewart Park, Ithaca

[Kevin J. McGowan]

I have put a photo of the hybrid duck Jay found this morning at 
https://picasaweb.google.com/KevinJ.McGowan/Birds2011#5583354667553091330.

The photo shows the bird in close comparison with a male Ring-necked Duck.  The 
fainter, but present, ring on the bill and white shoulder mark, nearly tufted 
head, and darkish back all shout Ring-necked Duck as one parent.  But the paler 
back, greenish cast to head, expanded tip to bill, and prominent cheeks are 
Greater Scaup characteristics.  An interesting bird.

Kevin

Kevin J. McGowan
Ithaca, NY
k...@cornell.edumailto:k...@cornell.edu
607-254-2452


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[nysbirds-l] Duck Behavior at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge this evening

[Corey Finger]

I hit up Jamaica Bay's West Pond today shortly before sunset and met Jeff 
Ritter 
on his way out and managed to convince him to turn around and watch the ducks 
fly into the pond to roost for the evening.  We enjoyed the show until 6 PM 
when 
most of the Red-breasted Mergansers and Greater Scaup, both of which were 
present in larger numbers then I had observed so far this spring, suddenly 
started massing near the west edge of the pond.  At first we were convinced 
that 
a predator of some kind was making them uneasy but we had no luck spotting any 
hawks, owls, or raccoons.  Then at least two-thirds of the ducks on the pond 
took off and flew over us, heading southwest towards Fort Tilden/Breezy Point, 
an amazing spectacle as they went over.  I don't know how many ducks there were 
total, but it was well into the thousands.  We tracked them as far as we could 
and it looked like as they reached the coast they started heading east.  We 
waited around until about 6:15 but they did not return.

Perhaps they were moving on in their migration?  I can't think of any other 
reason for the behavior.

We did not spot the Barrow's Goldeneye and saw a total of maybe 15 Common 
Goldeneye on the pond, and only two flew in from 5:30-6 PM.

On the way out we had an American Woodcock along the trail and a calling Gray 
Catbird.

Good Birding,
Corey Finger
 http://1birds.com



  
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Re: [nysbirds-l] Duck Behavior at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge this evening

[Steve Walter]

Sounds like quite a spectacle that I missed out on. I was leaving (arms tired 
and compact flash card full from photographing mergansers) as Corey was 
arriving. I tried planting a seed in his head to count them on the West Pond, 
as it seemed that something was out of the ordinary. Many of the bay ducks in 
Jamaica Bay roost on the pond and the late afternoon provides an opportunity to 
get flight shots as they come in -- which is what brought me there. I was 
amazed, though, at the amount of Red-breasted Mergansers coming in today. Going 
through my pictures, I counted 164 individuals, from singletons to flocks of 
15. Of course, there were a lot more birds that were too far to bother with or 
I couldn't get on in time. The time stamps on my pictures indicate that the 
inbound movement began in earnest around 4:30 and continued full steam until I 
left at 5:15, and probably a bit longer as Corey suggests. Whenever the inbound 
movement wound down, it's possible that the West Pond hosted an assemblage of 
Red-breasted Mergansers unlike any seen there before (I could be all wrong, but 
I have to sound dramatic). 

So maybe another chapter in the interesting regional waterfowl story of late. I 
had stopped by Baisley Pond earlier in the day, where at least 30 Redheads 
remain. Along with some of the other groups of Redheads that have been 
reported, is it possible the Long Island is currently hosting its largest 
number of Redheads in decades? For one thing, it has me ready to declare 
Canvasback the 5th most common Aythya duck on Long Island. It seemed like a 
hands down number 2 when I started birding in the 1980's.

Steve Walter
Bayside, NY



From: Corey Finger 
Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2011 7:41 PM
To: New York 
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Duck Behavior at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge this evening


I hit up Jamaica Bay's West Pond today shortly before sunset and met Jeff 
Ritter on his way out and managed to convince him to turn around and watch the 
ducks fly into the pond to roost for the evening.  We enjoyed the show until 6 
PM when most of the Red-breasted Mergansers and Greater Scaup, both of which 
were present in larger numbers then I had observed so far this spring, suddenly 
started massing near the west edge of the pond.  At first we were convinced 
that a predator of some kind was making them uneasy but we had no luck spotting 
any hawks, owls, or raccoons.  Then at least two-thirds of the ducks on the 
pond took off and flew over us, heading southwest towards Fort Tilden/Breezy 
Point, an amazing spectacle as they went over.  I don't know how many ducks 
there were total, but it was well into the thousands.  We tracked them as far 
as we could and it looked like as they reached the coast they started heading 
east.  We waited around until about 6:15 but they did not return.


Perhaps they were moving on in their migration?  I can't think of any other 
reason for the behavior.


We did not spot the Barrow's Goldeneye and saw a total of maybe 15 Common 
Goldeneye on the pond, and only two flew in from 5:30-6 PM.


On the way out we had an American Woodcock along the trail and a calling Gray 
Catbird.


Good Birding,
Corey Finger
 
http://1birds.com 



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[nysbirds-l] Barrow's Goldeneye JBWR

[tom preston]

The drake Barrow's Goldeneye at Jamaica Bay was seen again today.

It was West of Bench 11 in the bay at about 12:30 when I saw it , and 
was fairly distant.


The bird was found earlier by Shai Mitra and Pat Lindsay, and was also 
seen later by Rob Jett, Heydi Lopes and participants of a Linnean 
Society field trip.


- Tom Preston

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