Jamaica Bay East Pond Field Notes 8-20 through 8-27

While the number of shorebirds have fallen off.  The East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens NY, continues to be the place for shorebirding this season. Last week saw a number of highlights, including one of my most memorable moments on the East Pond where 5 Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus) literally dropped in near my feet while I was scoping shorebirds; I had to freeze and control my movements as I backed away in order to get a photo.

Juvenile shorebirds are finally making their appearance in somewhat decent numbers and the diversity although spotty, has picked up with the presence of Red-Knots and Ruddy Turnstones showing up sporadically. In addition, the sighting of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper and an American Golden Plover this week has added to the overall diversity of shorebird species recorded at the East Pond this year.

For those of you interested in this sort of statistics, I have listed below all the species of shorebirds seen on the East Pond alone at Jamaica Bay this season. The total was 31 or 30 if you don't agree with me listing Eastern and Western Willets separately. This is amazing and reinforces that the East Pond at Jamaica Bay remains one of, if not the best site for shorebirding in New York. We just have to ensure that the water level is managed properly during the shorebird season and the birds will no doubt show up.

American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana)
American Golden Plover (Pluvialis dominica)
Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Tryngites subruficollis)
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus)
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)
Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)
Willet (Western) (Tringa semipalmata inornata)
Willet (Eastern)(Tringa semipalmata)
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
Red Knot (Calidris canutus)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis)
Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii)
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
Sanderling (Calidris alba)
Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus)
Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus)
Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor)
Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica)
Ruff (Philomachus pugnax)

Here are some photos highlighting some of the shorebirds seen recently on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

Whimbrels, so close that I had to back off to get a photo with a point and shoot!

Enough distance between the Whimbrels and I to facilitate taking a photo with a bigger lens.

On Aug 26th, 2 Hudsonian Godwits dropped in for only a short while before they kept on going.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper, on the East Pond, which was probably storm related.

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