Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge 3 Aug Joe Giunta and I (Sy Schiff) birded the refuge this morning starting by walking to Bench 7 on the West Pond. No Whistling Duck!!. But this was a birding trip. By the time we got back to the car and changed into waders, we had seen 40 species. The East Pond (it was low tide--better at high tide) gave us plenty to look at as we walked in at the south end and then north on the east side as far as the raunt.
We then proceeded to the north end. While the water is still high, there is a small dry area at the end of the trail where we could scope the adjacent .area. Way down, on a place just coming out of the water were several thousand shorebirds. On the east pond we added another 15 species. In all, we saw 14 species of shorebirds, an American Oystercatcher on the west pond only; Killdeer, Pectoral and Spotted Sandpipers from the south end only; and Black-bellied Plover, Hudsonian Godwit, Stilt Sandpiper and Wilson's Phalarope from the north end only. The balance of the species were everywhere. Terns included Least and Black Skimmer on the west pond and Black Tern on the south end of the east pond. Forster's and Common Terns were on both ponds. The American Pelican seen from both the south and north ends. A Marsh Wren was singing at Bench 1 and a Carolina Wren was calling as we entered on the north end of the east pond. There were several young (white) Little Blue Herons on the west pond. (Check all the Snowys.) A good birding day. 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/ --
