Shorebirding Continues at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge...

As we hit mid October, shorebirds continue to filter into the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens NY.  Although numbers are in single digits for most species, the addition of a juvenile Hudsonian Godwit seen last week and a Buff-breasted Sandpiper seen yesterday, has increased the number of species of shorebirds this year on the East Pond.  Especially, pleasing has been the opportunity to see some species of shorebirds in juvenile plumage and being able to study them at length.

Left - Juvenile Hudsonian Godwit a first for me on the East Pond

I will continue to post updates on shorebirds on the East Pond and will have a wrap up post with a comprehensive list of the species seen this year.  I am hopeful that before the season comes to a close, I could add one or two more species.

1st of two American Golden Plovers I found on the East Pond Recently.

American Golden Plover on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

Tags: Hudsonian Godwit, American Golden Plover

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Western Kingbird - a Nassau County First...

Last Sunday on a foggy day with precipitation I was out meandering around at Jones Beach on Long Island NY. Not a lot of birds around and it was the kind of day that one gets the urge to pack it in and call it a day early. My friends the Fuestels drove passed me as I walked along the median at West End II and jokingly asked if I shouldn't be watching a football game instead of lingering in the fog and wet.

Grinning, I told them that I loved nothing better than birding in dreary weather. It was true, bad weather days are the ones that I enjoy being outdoors trying to unearth something of note. Continuing to bird West End, I walked into the median and had stopped to look at a moth I had kicked up, when out of the corner of my eye I picked up a bird flying low and into the shrubs. I tried to find it in the shrubs but could not. Not giving up, I continued to look, when suddenly a flycatcher type bird flew out of the other side of the shrubs with a Northern Mockingbird in pursuit. The chase was short and despite the poor lighting conditions I thought I saw a bit of yellow. The bird had again dropped out of sight and I patiently worked my way around to where I lost it. After searching for a bit I picked it up partially hidden in a shrub. It looked wet and bedraggled but I thought it looked like it could be a Western Kingbird. I setup my scope and began to bear down on the area when the bird flew up and perched out in the open allowing good scope views. I was reaching for the phone as I lifted my head off the scope. It was a Western Kingbird, confirmed by the white in the outer tail feathers which I had carefully looked over.

I quickly called my friend Tom Burke who was still in Westchester with his party of three undecided on where next to bird. My phone call of the WEKI made that decision easy. I then jumped back onto the scope and grabbed a few digiscope shots, then called the Fuestels, Patricia Lindsay and Steve Walter. These were birders that were all in the area and I wanted them to know that I had just found a Western Kingbird. Next, I wrote up an e-mail and put out a post to the NY list serves. I did not realize this was a Nassau County first for me and coincidentally, my friend Bobby Berlingeri who successfully chased down the bird later in the afternoon called to thank me and in the process, informed me that it was a new Nassau County bird for him.  New Nassau County bird for me too Bobby and I count my blessings for that!

Tags: Western Kingbird, Jones Beach

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American Pipit or Buff-belied Pipit...

I think I will go with Buff-belied Pipit.  This is what the American Pipit, is known as in Europe and I think the name fits much better.  I think, you will agree with me after looking at the following photos of the most buffy looking American Pipit that I have seen on the East Coast.

Tags: American Pipit, Buff-belied Pipit

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Today's Photo - Baird's Sandpiper...

Interestingly the Baird's Sandpiper, which is often associated by its preference for dry areas to forage, will also venture into the water as shown by this photograph.  This is a juvenile bird as noted by the buff face and breast, as well as the bold white scaling on the upperparts.

  Tags: Baird's Sandpiper, Shorebird

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Jones Beach Birding...

Despite the paucity of birds, I managed a decent showing over the weekend while birding on Long Island. Most of my birding occurred at Jones Beach covering the West End area. Migration was minimal and as a result land birds were scarce but as I have found out with a little patience and work one could find birds. For lands birds, a YELLOW BREASTED CHAT, seen near the entrance to the fisherman's path near the Coast Guard Station was a nice surprise on Saturday.

On Sunday, a pale looking Myiarchus had me wondering if it was something other than Myiarchus crinitus. Despite a good effort to relocate it, I was not able to re-find it and I am letting it go as a pale looking Great Crested Flycatcher although not a young bird because my scope views showed an adult bird with very worn tail feathers.  The other notable bird on Sunday was a Caspian Tern that stayed for a few minutes then took off heading towards Point Lookout.

Shorebirds were in small numbers and the best birds were seen on Saturday when I managed AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER, PECTORAL SANDPIPER, RED KNOT and my best bird of the weekend a DUNLIN in juvenile plumage. I was alerted to the presence of the latter by my friend Michael McBrien and together we spent some time studying the plumage. The opportunity of seeing a Dunlin in juvenile plumage this far south from the breeding grounds is a rare one. All of the juvenile Dunlins I have seen in New York, were always into their Pre-basic molt by the time they arrived so this was quite the treat for me.

The only other eventful occurrences at Jones Beach were TWICE observing a Great Black-backed Gull taking out an Oystercatcher both on Saturday and Sunday. I have some video capture which I will upload at some time but I will warn viewers that it is not for the faint of heart. The other really neat observation was the some 2,000 plus Tree Swallows that were putting on a display at first near the exits of the West End II parking lot and then moving on to other locations on the beach. They would swirl around in this huge vortex and land in the parking lot where they would rest before taking off again. Really neat to watch. At one point while looking at them, I was surrounded by Tree Swallows on the ground mere feet away from me.

Tags: Jones Beach, Caspian Tern, Shorebird

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Great Black-backed Gulls are just badass!

I just witnessed an Oystercatcher getting taken down and eaten alive. As the MO seems to be with other Great Black-backed kills that I have witnessed.  They always seem to sidle up to the unsuspecting victim and without bating an eyelid pounce and annihilate.

These gulls are just badass!  I have some video footage which I will post later but for now, check out these photos.  They tell a gruesome story.

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Bell's Vireo @ Kissena Park Queens NY...

Late yesterday afternoon around 6:30 p.m. I was working a patch along the path of the triangle of Kissena Corridor. This would be the path north of the artificial football field and is covered with wood chips. While working the area, I found a bird that took some time for me to get a decent enough look and when I did, I realized I was looking at a Vireo sp. that I was not familiar with. It was small like a PHILADELPHIA VIREO but had wing bars and I immediately thought of HUTTON'S VIREO but ruled it out after I got better looks.

After a few minutes I began to get a clear picture as this active bird gave very shy looks and did not really come right out into the open. By then I ruled out Warbler sp. and focused in on Vireo sp. It looked small enough for a Philadelphia Vireo but with wing bars??? After several minutes of patiently working the area, I finally got a decent enough photo of the bird. To me it looked like a good candidate for a BELL's VIREO (perhaps the Eastern race). The bird was last seen working its way back into the tickets and I did not pursue it, but instead chose to jot down as many notes as I could.

After getting back to my car and consulting field guides, I called a few people and provided a description of the bird and sent out a photo from the screen view of my camera. I received word from one non NY birder who, is well known for his field work, published articles and talent. I have tremendous respect for him and he was very helpful with the ELEGANT TERN ID confirmation.  His response was, "it is a Bell's Vireo"; although, he did admit to not having enough experience to determine the subspecies. I did not get permission to use his name, so I won't until I get the green light.

Here are my field notes on my impression of the bird: 

Around 6:30 p.m. observed small like bird that turned out to be a Vireo sp. Better looks showed this bird to be small almost like a Philadelphia Vireo but with wing bars. It can't be a Philly Vireo?? But what could it be?
Structure: Small like Vireo, with longish tail or maybe not..., small head and small bill
Color: Yellow wash down the sides that got brighter towards the flanks and the undertail coverts. Back: Greenish/Olive looking with some white detected on the edges of the "tertials"
Bill: Pale looking 

Spectacles: None but pale looking eye ring.

Wing Bars: Yes, Upper bar faint looking while lower bar prominent and looked wider.
Legs: a gun metal type hue. Not black!
Behavior: Very active and hard to see as it moved around in the thicket and Crab Apple trees (I think that is what the fruit was). Flicked tail as it moved around and even fanned its tail once quite like an American Redstart; this behavior was displayed when a Common Yellowthroat got near it.
Sketch: None, but photo obtained.

Here are the few images I managed.

Tags: Kissena Park, Bell's Vireo, Queens

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