Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge 13 August Joe Giunta and I (Sy Schiff) visited the East Pond for shorebirds and to judge the walking conditions. There are mud flats at the south end and some at the north with shorebirds feeding in both places. However, at present, regular boots (5-6 in) will not get you over some of the bad spots. If you like to walk in sneakers, wait a bit. Right now knee boots are needed to be totally comfortable.
The AMERICAN AVOCET continues and has been feeding with egrets rather with shorebirds. (Thanks Ken, otherwise we might have missed it). Shorebird diversity was poor, but we managed to find a single STILT SANDPIPER and a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER at the north end. Two GULL-BILLED TERNS appeared at the south end when Joe walked north to find the Avocet. A GADWALL family was feeding on the pond and presumably has bred there. There was an imm. LITTLE BLUE HERON feeding with a SNOWY EGRET. (I hope the photos come out good enough to use as a teaching aid). A NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH rounded out the land birds. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
