Birding Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Queens NY...

I took advantage of a brief respite from all the rain and headed out for an early morning bird walk at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens NY. I arrived at the refuge around 8:00 AM and started along the West Pond trail. It was cloudy and so bird songs were somewhat subdued. Across from the West Pond trail, I got great looks at the Osprey nest with the chicks. One of them seemed anxious to try out his/her flight skills and kept stretching its wings and hopping up and down. Around that same location, I heard and then saw a Willow Flycatcher (they have been known to breed at the refuge). Out on the West Pond the usual species were abound, I did several careful sweeps of the pond taking care to look closely against the Phragmites for any lurking abnormalities, but found none. Since it was low tide, the flats out on Pumpkin Channel were exposed and here I found an immature Little Blue Heron, and then a Tri-colored Heron. I watched the Tri-colored Heron as it hunted for food. In this case, it was using the technique of extending its wings to create a shadow across the water to make the prey more visible. It was pretty cool watching it hunt and I wished I had a better angle to get some video of this neat behavior. Scanning further along the flats, I found a couple of Gull-billed Terns resting and I was able to get excellent looks and photographs. I continued on around the loop bypassing Terrapin trail, which was closed due to the Turtle nesting period. I opted not to walk through the gardens and walked the outer trail instead. Coming down the home stretch just before the blind, I heard and saw catbirds making quite a fuss. Stopping to see what was happening, I observed the cause of their angst. It turned out their turf was invaded by a snake that looked like a “Black Racer” Coluber constrictor; these snakes are not poisonous but can deliver a very painful bite. I witnessed the communal behavior of the catbirds as they increased in numbers and went after the snake, actually delivering several well placed pecks, which drove it off. Continuing on, I stopped at the blind; there was not much around except for Catbirds, a Lone Mourning Dove and a couple of Yellow-Warblers. On my way out from the blind, I looked around to check on the Virginia Roses I had planted last fall. About a Month ago, the Roses looked in great form and buds were starting to form and so I was looking forward to the blooming roses. Well, I had quite a shock! The Roses were all gone. A closer look seemed to indicate that they were either mowed or clipped. I could not believe it, who could have done this? I have to put in a call to the Rangers to find out what happened. Putting that out of my mind, I headed out to the East Pond. At Big John’s, I found a Black Crowned Night Heron and I could make out the Barn Owls in the nest box. This box was already checked out by the banding team and three babies were banded about a week ago. Out on the East Pond, there were the usual inhabitants, including a Spotted Sandpiper, which happened to be my FOS (first of the season). Tags: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, birding, Tri-colored Heron, Gull-billed Tern

Total Species seen: 57

1. America Wigeon
2. American Black Duck
3. American Crow
4. American Oystercatcher
5. American Redstart
6. American Robin
7. Barn Owl
8. Barn Swallow
9. Black-crowned night Heron
10. Boat-tailed Grackle
11. Brandt
12. Brown Thrasher
13. Brown-headed Cowbird
14. Canada Goose
15. Carolina Wren
16. Chimney Swift
17. Common Grackle
18. Common Yellowthroat
19. Double Crested Cormorant
20. Eastern Kingbird
21. Eastern Towhee
22. European Starling
23. Fish Crow
24. Forster’s Tern
25. Glossy Ibis
26. Gray Catbird
27. Great Crested Flycatcher
28. Great Egret
29. Great-blue Heron
30. Greater-black-backed Gull
31. Herring Gull
32. House Finch
33. House Wren
34. Laughing Gull
35. Least Tern
36. Little Blue-heron
37. Mallard
38. Marsh Wren
39. Mourning Dove
40. Mute Swan
41. Northern Cardinal
42. Northern Mockingbird
43. Osprey
44. Red-winged Blackbird
45. Ring-billed Gull
46. Ring-billed Tern
47. Ruddy Duck
48. Scarlet Tanager
49. Snowy Egret
50. Song Sparrow
51. Spotted Sandpiper
52. Tree Swallow
53. Tri-colored Heron
54. Willet
55. Willow Flycatcher
56. Yellow Warbler
57. Yellow-crowned Night Heron