Jamaica Bay East Pond field notes 8-5 through 8-7 2012.

The East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge continues to be the place for shorebirding this season. After taking a break on Saturday from the East Pond, I was back on Sunday, where the highlight of the day for me was a spectacular count of 85 Stilt Sandpipers, which blew away my previous season high of 55.

On Monday 8-6, the continuing one American Avocet was joined by 3 additional Avocets making a total of 4 for the East Pond. In addition, Anthony Collerton picked out 2 Wilson’s Phalaropes on the North Island. Unfortunately, it appears that the Avocets and Phalaropes pulled out with a number of shorebirds on Monday night as they were not observed on the pond on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s Shorebird counts are as follows:

Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola) 132
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) 70
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 1
American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) 2
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) 3
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 13
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) 27
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) 4
Red Knot (Calidris canutus) 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) 1000
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) 9
White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis) 9
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) 2
Dunlin (Calidris alpina) 1
Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus) 34
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) 500
Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) 2


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

Digiscoped shot of 1 of the Wilson's Phalarope seen on the North Island at the East Pond.

Tags: American Avocet, Wilson's Phalarope, Stilt Sandpiper, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Queens