Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Jamaica Bay Shorebird Migration Continues...

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.

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.

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.

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.
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