Jamaica Bay Annual Shorebird Festival...

Birders on the North End of the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

We had excellent weather for today's annual Jamaica Bay Shorebird Festival, which took place at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens NY.  After having free donuts and coffee, participants attended a brief presentation by Don Riepe of the American Littoral Society and then the first shorebird walk took place on the East Pond. I had scouted the pond earlier and my highlights were WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER(6), and a SOLITARY SANDPIPER among all the other usual shorebirds for this time of the year. Unfortunately, the AMERICAN AVOCET was not seen today.

Juvenile Red Knot

I helped to lead on one of the walks on the North End of the East Pond, which included the following leaders: Kevin Karlson (co author of the Shorebird Guide and renowned photographer ), Lloyd Spitalnik ( author and renowned photographer), Tom Burke (aka Mr. Tireless and one of the sharpest birders I know) and Peter Post (my apologies, if I missed anyone).  While there were not a lot of birds to look at, we added juvenile STILT SANDPIPERS and RED KNOTS (2 of them juveniles) as part of our overall highlights.  Lloyd Spitalnik's photography presentation and Kevin's talk on shorebird ID takes place later this afternoon, so head on over if you can, it is sure to be good!

Kevin Karlson (3rd from right) discusses some of the finer point on shorebirding.

Tom Burke (left) one of the Shorebird Festival leaders with the talented and affable Guy Tudor.

Tags: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Jamaica Bay Shorebird FestivalQueens, Shorebird, Jamaica Bay, Red Knot

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Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Shorebirds...

As we hit the peak migration for shorebirds.  I will everyday, feature a shorebird that can be seen at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.  Today's bird is an abundant one for our area.  Earlier in the season we see thousands of them - SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER (Calidris pusilla).  One of the early shorebirds to arrive during the fall migration, the SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER breeds in the Arctic and winters along the coasts of South America.  If I have the photos available, I will try and post the subject in Breeding, Molting (partial) and Juvenile plumage.

Photographed in Queens NY May 2013, this photo is of a SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER in breeding plumage.

The next photo shows an adult Semipalmated Sandpiper photographed at Jamaica Bay on the East Pond on August 18th 2013. The plumage on this bird is worn and some scapular feathers are already being replaced as some molting is taking place.  Note, that the molt is not completed until the bird reaches its wintering ground.

The following photos show a couple of juvenile SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS. Note the fresh feathers and buffy look on the young birds.  But take a look at the the second image of the juvenile.  Can you see the difference?  The second bird although a juvenile looks to be more worn than the first bird.  Both birds were photographed in August of 2013 about a week apart.

Tags: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Queens, Shorebird, Jamaica Bay, Semipalmated Sandpiper

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Shorebirds at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge...

What is better than seeing and photographing an American Avocet on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens NY? Why seeing and photographing the said Avocet AND a Wilson's Phalarope. These two shorebirds are the current stars on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

It is a good thing these birds have shown up and stuck around for a few days because the shorebird numbers and variety on the East Pond has been paltry of late. Black-belied Plovers are the most for one species type, followed by Short-billed Dowitchers. Stilt Sandpipers are all but gone with a handful still hanging around. The occasional Red Knot helps with the variety but no Pectorals, Godwits or Western Sandpipers to be seen at least as of today.

A few White-rumped Sandpipers are still around but the peep numbers have dropped significantly. Today, I noticed more juvenile Least Sandpipers than Semipalmated Sandpipers; something I had not seen before until today. With warm winds out of the south for the next couple of days, one could assume that the next few days will see very little turn over on the pond but I would be quite satisfied and happy with the common shorebirds as long as they show up!

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

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Breezy Point Birding...

This morning, I did some birding at Breezy Point Queens, where I enjoyed a rather leisure time looking at a lot of our common shorebirds. I never get tired of looking at shorebirds and before you knew it, I had logged around 7 hours of study time. Most of my effort was focused on Semipalmated Plovers and Sanderlings.

Some birders might understand my obsession with Semipalmated Plovers as they could understand I might be looking for the rare Common Ringed Plover. And they are right, I am a firm believer in understanding the common is a must before finding the uncommon. But what about Sanderlings? Well, I just happen to love Sanderlings. Wait, I say that about all the shorebirds. Okay, so what!

I love watching Sanderlings running with the waves. I think they are some of the toughest and tenacious shorebirds around. Here are some photos of banded Sanderlings I found and a diminutive Sanderling that would give birders a start when it is breeding plumage. What do think of the diminutive Sanderling? Have you ever seen one with such a small bill? One could almost think that it could be a hybrid with a Semipalmated Sandpiper.  That's the joy of shorebirding, the stuff can be addictive and quite maddening :)

Small Sanderling with a diminutive bill.

Tags: Breezy Point, Queens, Shorebird, Sanderling, Semipalmated Plover

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Kung Fu action at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge...

Here are a couple of photos showing some Semipalmated Sandpipers sparring. For some reason, I thought of the movie Kung Fu Panda when I observed this behavior. GET READY TO FEEL THE THUNDER!!

 

Tags: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Queens, Shorebird, Jamaica Bay, Semipalmated Sandpiper

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Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge East Pond Shorebird Report 8-15-2013...

White-rumped Sandpiper

The East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens NY, did not host very many shorebirds today with the numbers even smaller than yesterday.  Shorebird Highlights included the continuing AMERICAN AVOCET, 1 RED KNOT, a few STILT SANDPIPERS still hanging in, a lone PECTORAL SANDPIPER (a scarce bird for the East Pond this year) and 3 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS.  Other highlights include seeing and chatting with photographers Lloyd Spitalnik and Harry Mass. The last time I saw these two in the field was at Cupsogue LI on the day Andy Guthrie and I had that spectacular outing with Elegant Tern, Hybrid Calidrid (Dunlin X White-rumped Sandpiper), Siberian form of Common Tern (S. h. longipennis) and the continuing Red-necked Stint.  Nothing like that today, but their presence brought back memories of that day!

We should see more juvenile birds in the next week or so, but besides that I am still holding out for one big day with thousands of birds again on the pond and maybe get a GODWIT or PHALAROPE in the mix (notice no mention of Stints or other rarities but I am looking).

Juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper

Today's count is listed below:

Black-bellied Plove: 270
Semipalmated Plover: 160
Killdeer: 1
American Avocet: 1
Spotted Sandpiper:1
Greater Yellowlegs: 15
Lesser Yellowlegs: 12
Ruddy Turnstone: 7
Red Knot:1
Semipalmated Sandpiper: 50
Least Sandpiper: 10
White-rumped Sandpiper: 3
Pectoral Sandpiper: 1
Stilt Sandpiper: 4

Tags: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Queens, Shorebird, Jamaica Bay, American Avocet

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