For most birders, the shorebird season is over and done with. I on the other hand and I am sure there are others out there, continue to check for shorebirds at
Jamaica Bay. Besides my SHOREBIRD OBSESSION, I have a couple of others reasons. Earlier in the year I engaged with many birders
(not just from New York) online and offline the
noticeable change in the pattern of migrating birds. It seems this year the change in migration pattern for many birds was more noticeable?? This sort of discussion coupled with the behavior of the shorebirds this
summer on the
East Pond made for interesting discussion and
speculation.
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| Note the Red Knot among the roosting Dunlins. A Greater Yellowlegs sleeps in the back. |
For one, long time shorebird observers on the
East Pond at
Jamaica
Bay were concerned at how birds were going to react to the pond life in
the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. By shorebirding late, I am hoping to add to the data gathered over the summer on how the birds reacted to the changes on the pond, how late shorebirds are moving through the area, their behavior in terms of feeding habits
as well as study their plumage at this time of the year. Here is an example of a
Pectoral Sandpiper (below) last observed on November 16th showing that some shorebirds are still making their way through.
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| Pectoral Sandpiper |
It so happened that this morning I read an article discussing a fascinating study on shorebird migration to time keeping and how it relates to new "recruits"
(juveniles). It also mentions other studies where some birds may be having a tough time adapting their migration cycles to changing climate.
See a summary of the article here.
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| Western Sandpiper |
We are still in November but my most interesting shorebirds this late on the East Pond have been a couple of
Western Sandpipers, a few
Semipalmated Sandpipers, a very interesting looking
Least Sandpiper(plumage wise) and several
Pectoral Sandpipers.
Tags:
Pectoral Sandpiper,
Red Knot,
Western Sandpiper
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