This morning during the rain and wind I briefly observed a Laughing Gull on the beach at Coney Island. It disappeared almost immediately, but a little under an hour later I found a Laughing Gull sitting in the middle of Gravesend Bay as viewed from Coney Island Creek Park. The were only a handful of Bonaparte's Gulls around, including 5 sitting on the beach. I returned at high tide later in the day and there were 3 Laughing Gulls sitting on the beach there. These are the first I've heard of from the area this year, and a probably a tad late if they are indeed the first ones.
In between those times I stopped at Floyd Bennett Field and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. FBF had several hundred Gulls spread out over the runways, the most unusual of which was a single Bonaparte's Gull roosting in a mixed gull flock at the field near the Community Garden. This is the first time I have ever seen the species at this site. At Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge there was a single Snowy Egret in the South Marsh. Meanwhile, the Snow Goose number has dramatically decreased, as I could find only about 45 in the North Marsh. I didn't check the East Pond, so maybe they were riding out the abnormally high high tide there, but if not it would appear that there has been a rather sizeable exodus of the species. American Oystercatchers are also quite numerous in the area at this point. Good Birding -Doug Gochfeld -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
