Joe Giunta, Sam Jannazzo, Pat Jones and I (Sy Schiff) met at Hempstead Lake SP where we had the first promising spring activity on a beautiful day highlighted by a fly-over PURPLE MARTIN and WORM-EATING WARBLER.
We then went to the water hole at Forest Park. Spring had arrived with a diversity of species although overall numbers are still small. New migrants were varied and including ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK and LINCOLN'S SPARROW. There were 16 species of warbler (17 for the day) including BLUE-WINGED, NASHVILLE, BLACK-AND WHITE, an early MAGNOLIA, BLACK-THROATED BLUE AND GREEN WARBLERS and both WATERTHRUSHES. We detoured slightly on the way home, stopping by Jamaica Bay WR. We did not find the White-faced Ibis today, but did see GLOSSY IBIS, both EGRETS, LITTLE-BLUE and TRICOLORED HERONS and YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON. Shorebirds seen were AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER, WILLET and GREATER YELLOWLEGS. FORSTER'S TERNS were feeding in the channel. When leaving the refuge, a pair of TURKEY VULTURES flew over. Total species 79 Sy -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
