The first returning Short-billed Dowitchers, Pectoral Sandpiper (Cupsogue, today), and both yellowlegs species have already shown up in Brooklyn and Long Island in the last couple days. A cold front passing through Friday could bring more migrants.
I encourage everyone interested in Jamaica Bay shorebirding to follow Queens Bird Alert -- @BirdQueens on Twitter -- and contribute to it. Our feed is always publicly viewable both from your device's Twitter app and on the web: https://twitter.com/birdqueens Reports of rarities are welcome, but so are posts on whatever you are observing (perhaps nothing, and if so, that's good to know), current conditions, or advice -- anything you believe may be helpful to other Jamaica Bay and Queens birders. Followed users can send such alerts by tweeting with the hashtag #birdqu. My software will immediately relay your alert to all @BirdQueens followers. (Want to be followed? Just tweet @BirdQueens and ask.) You can direct questions @BirdQueens or at anyone who posts without having to issue an alert to all. Twitter also makes it easy to share photos and videos directly from your device -- no need to upload to a photo-sharing site. Viewers see your media right away on the app, without having to click any links. By enabling notifications on the Twitter app for @BirdQueens, you can have your device notify you as soon as a new alert arrives. By the way, @BirdQueens has also been covering this year's rare-tern appearances both in Queens and on Long Island with many intra-day updates. (Black, Royal, and some Roseate Terns today at Cupsogue.) If you don't have a Twitter account, you can make one in under five minutes and of course they are free. For details on setup and use, see my site: https://bigmanhattanyear.com/queens-bird-alert/ I hope that being able to quickly share information through @BirdQueens and be in touch with other Queens birders will make your birding more productive and enjoyable. David Barrett Manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
