The American Avocet and 3 Marbled Godwits that Bob Kurtz found on the West Pond a couple of hours before High Tide this afternoon stayed around until ~4:00 PM, at which point the Godwits flew off to the East and appeared to land in the vicinity of the Raunt on the East Pond. Further investigation revealed that they had indeed landed there, and they remained at the Raunt at least until I left at ~7:30 or so this evening (Viewing them from the North End, although I'm sure they were putting on quite a show for those down by the Raunt and Big John's Pond overlook). We left the American Avocet on the shore of the West Pond around Benches 6 & 7 at ~4:15 PM, and I did not hear any further word on it.
There was obvious turnover with the passage of this front, and that manifested itself most obviously in the numbers of Plovers. Numbers of both Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers on the East Pond have increased dramatically, and there are now several juvenile Short-billed Dowitchers hanging present. Still no juv. Semipalmated Sandpipers that I saw, nor any Red Knots yet. This evenings highlights, mostly from the north end of the East Pond: American Avocet- 1 (West Pond (west and then south shores)) Marbled Godwit- 3 (First on the West Pond (west and then south shores), then East Pond at The Raunt) Hudsonian Godwit- 1 (Continuing presumed female, north end of East Pond (2nd and 3rd spits)) Wilson's Phalarope- 3 (2 juveniles, 1 of unknown age, north end of East Pond: west side and 2nd Spit) Long-billed Dowitcher- 3 Short-billed Dowitcher- 3,750 (8 juveniles) Semipalmated Sandpiper- 2,100 Least Sandpiper- ~40 (~20 juveniles, there were many more this morning at the south end) White-rumped Sandpiper- 1 Pectoral Sandpiper- 3 Semipalmated Plover- 270 Black-bellied Plover- 48 Lesser Yellowlegs- 95 (~35 juveniles) Greater Yellowlegs- 4 (there were many more this morning at the south end) "Eastern" Willet- 5 (2 adults, 3 juveniles: West Pond) "Western" Willet- 2 (Juveniles, East Pond, 3rd Spit) Stilt Sandpiper- 18 (All adults this time) Ruddy Turnstone- 2 (North Island) American White Pelican- 1(East Pond) Northern Harrier- 1 (West Pond, the cause of the initial flushing of the AMAV and MAGOs) Double-crested Cormorant- ~400 (All roosting on the North Island as dusk approached) Blue-winged Teal- 2 (E. Pond) Green-winged Teal- ~8 (E. Pond) Good Birding -Doug Gochfeld. Brooklyn, NY. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/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/ --
