[nysbirds-l] Syracuse RBA

[Joseph Brin]

RBA
 
*  New York
*  Syracuse
*  January 17, 2011
*  NYSY 1701.11
 
Hotline: Syracuse Rare bird Alert
Dates(s):
January 10, 2010 - January 17, 2011
to report by e-mail: brinjoseph AT yahoo.com
covering upstate NY counties: Cayuga, Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge
and Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC) (just outside Cayuga County),
Onondaga, Oswego, Lewis, Jefferson, Oneida, Herkimer,  Madison & Cortland
compiled:January 17 AT 7:00 p.m. (EST)
compiler: Joseph Brin
Onondaga Audubon Homepage: www.onondagaaudubon.org
 
 
#239 -Monday January 17, 2011
 
 
Greetings! This is the Syracuse Area Rare Bird Alert for the week of January 10 
, 2010
 
Highlights:
---

BLACK SCOTER
HARLEQUIN DUCK
RUDDY DUCK
GOLDEN EAGLE
ICELAND GULL
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL
GLAUCOUS GULL
NORTHERN SHRIKE
TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE
BOHEMIAN WAXWING
EVENING GROSBEAK
LAPLAND LONGSPUR
COMMON REDPOLL
HOARY REDPOLL



Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) and Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC)

 No reports this week.


Onondaga County


 1/11: Up to 25 EVENING GROSBEAKS were seen with COMMON REDPOLLS at the 
Onondaga and Cortland County lines on Shakham Road. A lone PINE SISKIN was seen 
also. The same mix was observed on 1/16. A HOARY REDPOLL was seen and 
photographed at Beaver Lake Nature Center west of Baldwinsville. At the Inner 
Harbor in Syracuse 2 GREAT BLUE HERONS, 2 GLAUCOUS GULLS, and 2 ICELAND GULLS 
were found. A male HARLEQUIN DUCK was found under the one lane bridge at Long 
Branch Park near Liverpool. This is probably one on the two seen on 12/23 and 
12/24 farther south near the State Fair. Two groups of RUDDY DUCKS were seen at 
the north end of Skaneateles Lake.


Madison County


 1/11: A NORTHERN SHRIKE was seen near Erieville.
 1/12: One each of GLAUCOUS GULL, ICELAND GULL, and LESSER BLACK-BACKED 
GULL 
were found at the Madison County Landfill. Only the LBBG was in adult plumage.
 1/16: A possible LONG-EARED OWL was heard only on Dr. Coon Lane 
(previously 
Coon Tree Lane). A GOLDEN EAGLE was spotted on Tag Road in the Town of 
Sullivan. 
Up to 50 EVENING GROSBEAKS were seen at a feeder on Paradise Hill Road. One 
LAPLAND LONGSPUR was seen on Hunt Lane.


Oswego County


 1/15: 15 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS were seen in a large group of Ceders on Rt.3 
just south of Pine Grove. A single BLACK SCOTER was seen in Oswego Harbor. It 
was found again on the 16th. during the waterfowl count. 

 1/17: A flock of RED CROSSBILLS was heard on Dog Leg Trail off of Church 
Road in Boylston


Jefferson County

 
 1/15: The Point Peninsula TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE was still present at it’s 
usual location on State Park Road Just off of Co. Rt. 57.  It was also seen on 
1/17 despite  a -5 degree temperature.

   

   
--end transcript
 
--
Joseph Brin
Region 5
Baldwinsville, N.Y.  13027  U.S.A.


  
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[nysbirds-l] 1/17- Brooklyn (inc. Lapland Longspur, thousands of LTDU)

[fresha2411]

 I met Shane Blodgett at Plum Beach in Brooklyn this morning and we proceeded 
to bird from there through several locations in southern Brooklyn, with the 
following highlights:

Plum Beach:

 American Tree Sparrow- Roving flock of 20+ individuals in the dunes
"Ipswich" Savannah Sparrow- 2
Swamp Sparrow- 1 in the dunes
Black-bellied Plover- 1

Brooklyn Golf Driving Range (Flatbush Avenue):
Lapland Longspur- 1 (adult male displaying a sizeable amount of breeding 
plumage)
Horned Lark: 58

Floyd Bennett Field (once in the morning and then again in the late afternoon):
Gray Catbird- 1
Hermit Thrush- 2
Field Sparrow- 2
Swamp Sparrow- 1
Fox Sparrow- 2
Merlin- 1
One each of Northern Harrier, and Red-tailed, Cooper's, and Sharp-shinned Hawks

Ring-billed Gulls- The usual large late afternoon/evening aggregation by the 
Boat Ramp with birds constantly cycling in and out and between 700-900 on the 
ground at any one time. I decided to take the rate of birds going by and 
counted over 100/minute heading south to roost. This rate stayed relatively 
steady for the 10 minutes I was counting it. It's not a stretch to say that 
every afternoon several (10+ even?) thousand Ring-billed Gulls go by here every 
afternoon during the winter.

Spring, Hendrix, and Fresh Creeks:
Canvasback- 2 (Spring, Hendrix)
Green-winged Teal- 85 (Hendrix)
Ruddy Duck- 375 (Hendrix)
Pied-billed Grebe- 2(Fresh)
Great Blue Heron- 1-2 (Spring/Hendrix)
Night Heron sp.- 1 juvenile (Hendrix)
Wilson's Snipe- 1 (Hendrix)
Killdeer- 4 (2 Spring, 2 Hendrix)
American Coot- 1 (Hendrix)
American Pipit- 2 (flyovers, Hendrix)
Swamp Sparrow- 2 (Hendrix)

Coney Island Creek Area:
Redhead- 1 (continues in Creek, now associating with Mallards)
Lesser Black-backed Gull- 1 adult (Found in Gravesend Bay by Rob Jett who we 
ran into upon our arrival)
Bonaparte's Gull- 29+ (only one young bird)

Coney Island Pier:
Long-tailed Duck- 5,100  Looking far to the SW over Lower New York Bay we 
observed an intense short-distance flow of Long-tailed Ducks heading roughly 
east, the number of which, when I counted by 10's, came out to 4,960. There 
were also at least 150 sitting on the water closer to the Pier.

Good Birding
-Doug Gochfeld. Brooklyn, NY.



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[nysbirds-l] Brooklyn LBBG

[Rob Jett]

This afternoon I spotted an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull at Coney  
Island Creek. I had walked down to the beach at Bayview Avenue and  
West 37th Street to scan the water when I noticed a small flock of  
Bonaparte's Gulls feeding very close to shore a couple of hundred  
yards to the west. I noticed the LBBG a few feet from shore as I was  
setting up my scope. Doug Gochfeld & Shane Blodgett were in the area  
and also got on the bird after it had flown farther out towards the  
middle of Gravesend Bay.

The coordinates for where I initially observed the bird are:

40°34'55.29"N
74° 0'21.34"W

Good birding,

Rob

The City Birder Weblog
http://citybirder.blogspot.com


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[nysbirds-l] Belmont Lake S.P. Barnacle, White-fronted, and Cackling geese-All YES

[John Gluth]

I spent 2 hours this morning (from 8-10) at Belmont Lake State Park
observing the large flocks of geese roosting on the water. Among the
hundreds of Canada Geese were the recently reported BARNACLE GOOSE,
4 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, and 2 CACKLING GEESE. The latter 2 species
were seen from a vantage point on the east shore of the lake. But the
Barnacle Goose was not seen until I and 2 out-of-state birders decided to
move over to the west side of the lake in a final attempt at finding it.
We drove over to the parks administration building lot and walked down to
the shoreline, from where one of the other birders (James from Iowa) was
first to spot the BRNG. The bird was on the ice hugging the western side
of the larger of 2 islands, which had completely obscured it from view at
our earlier location. Anyone looking for the bird in the future might want
to start here: 40.734383, -73.343812
Contrary to previous reports to the list, the bulk of the geese were still
on the lake when I left at 10, with only a few small groups having flown out
by that time. Other waterfowl present included 1 Wood Duck, 1 N. Pintail,
4-5 Common Mergansers, and a few Ring-necked Ducks, Ruddy Ducks, and Coots,
among the expected large numbers of Mallards.

>From Belmont I headed southeast to Capri Lake in Babylon. It was at least
75% covered by ice, and the remaining open water held only a fair number of
waterfowl, but that did include ~20 REDHEAD.

The rest of my day afield was spent continuing to cover my Waterfowl Count
territory farther east in Suffolk County. Again there was much ice, on both
fresh and salt water bodies, which reduced overall numbers relative to
past counts. But it concentrated the birds present, making my work a bit
easier. Notable counts included 145 American Wigeon on the West Sayville
Golf Course, 385 Bufflehead on Great South Bay off Green Creek, and 21
Pintails and 74 Ring-necked Ducks on Mill Pond. Another nice find were 2
WILSON'S SNIPE and a Killdeer on Sans Souci Lakes, where the water that
wasn't frozen was at the lowest level I've seen it compared to past winters.
The muddy margins attracted several Robins in addition to the Snipe. Access
to this spot is here: 40.754922, -73.063375 



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[nysbirds-l] Fwd: Hudson River Dutchess-Columbia Counties

[John Askildsen]

i have been told that my post below did not transmit properly to the list for some people, so at the risk of duplication for some with apologies, i will resubmit.JPAJohn AskildsenMillbrook, New York
 Forwarded message From: John Askildsen Date: Jan 16, 2011Subject: Hudson River Dutchess-Columbia CountiesTo: nysbirds-l@cornell.edu

I birded the the east shore of the Hudson River today from Clermont, Columbia County, to Staatsburg, Dutchess County. The river was pretty well frozen over, with the exception of the ship channel.There was little to report other than 12 Bald Eagles, with four at Clermont State Historic Site, four at Rhinecliff and another four scattered individuals from there south to Norrie Point State Park. Perhaps 1/3 were adults.Waterfowl was limited to about 100 or so Common Mergansers and a handful of Black Ducks. Herring, Ring-billed and Great Black-backed Gulls were also present.The highlight of my day might have been a red morph eastern screech owl that i observed in an oak tree beside my driveway before entering my vehicle, being harrassed by blue jays. The oak still holds much of its leaf mast in place, where the screech thought it was likely safe and sound. The owl took a few good jabs from the jays and then fled.Slightly off topic, i feel i must note that despite the icy, relatively birdless landscape, the view of the Hudson River, with the snow covered Catskill high peaks as a back drop is quite impressive scenery to behold.   JPA John AskildsenMillbrook, Dutchess County, New York

[nysbirds-l] Out of place Common Goldeneye

[Steve Walter]

This was on Nassau county's Mill River, which runs between the villages of 
Rockville Centre, East Rockaway, and Oceanside. This is often a good place to 
look for ducks when surrounding fresh waters are frozen, particularly Common 
Mergansers (of which 17 were present). This was my first record of Common 
Goldeneye on the river. Overall, the species is scarce on the southern side of 
Nassau (even the bay waters) and, I believe, was missed on the CBC. 

The goldeneye (a female) was associating with Hooded Mergansers (in a section 
of the river where it's crossed by Pearl Street). It's a strange association 
for those of us used to seeing these birds in their winter range and habitats. 
But it brought back memories for me. The last time I can remember seeing this, 
the goldeneye was, in fact, half merganser (a hybrid).  

Steve Walter
Bayside, NY
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[nysbirds-l] Hermit Thrush & Cooper's hawk at the feeders

[Andrew Block]

Just had a Hermit Thrush at my window feeder.  Hadn't had one in the yard all 
winter so it was nice to finally get one.  Also, the resident female 
Copper's Hawk just attacked the flock of Mourning Doves (15+) that comes to my 
feeders.  Once again it missed though did get some feathers.  Got some nice 
close looks again as it sat in our hemlock tree at eye level.  Those pale eyes 
are something.

Andrew
 Andrew v. F. Block
Consulting Naturalist/Wildlife Biologist
37 Tanglewylde Avenue
Bronxville, Westchester Co., New York 10708-3131
Phone: 914-337-1229; Fax: 914-771-8036


  
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[nysbirds-l] Varied Thrush--Central Park

[Karen Rubinstein]

The Varied Thrush was seem this morning (1/17) at around 7:30 AM in its
usual place --near the east side of the men's room in the Maintenance Field
area. It was scratching around in the leaves near the padlocked, green box
by the men's room.

Approaching the area at around 7:15 from the east, the first bird I saw was
a Cooper's Hawk perched in one of the tall trees. When we were about the
leave the Cooper's swooped down, scattered many sparrows, but did not
succeed in capturing one.  It was a dramatic conusion to

An attempt to find the Red Headed Woodpecker near the Sheep Meadow was not
successful.

Karen Rubinstein.

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Re:[nysbirds-l] Blackbird Frequency vs. Abundunce

[Shaibal Mitra]

I think the conflicting impressions described below by these two highly 
experienced observers highlight the distinction between two distinct measures 
of bird occurrence: frequency and abundance.

Although I don't spend a lot of time doing winter birding in the Queens area 
Steve mentioned, I've participated in close to 100 CBCs from just east of there 
(Southern Nassau County), elsewhere on Long Island, and in coastal southern New 
England--and paid fairly close attention along the way to which species are 
considered tough to find in the various circles. I agree with Ken that Common 
Grackle is the least frequently encountered during winter of the three common 
blackbird species--a property that could be measured by the number of distinct 
entries on an individual observer's field sheets, the number of parties 
recording the species on a count, or the tendency for the species to be missed 
entirely on the CBC. But I also agree with Steve that Common Grackle, when 
present, sometimes occurs in much larger numbers than any of the others--a 
"feast or famine" pattern of occurrence.

To test this, I've pulled the numbers from three regional counts that vary 
quite a bit in terms of habitat composition, but which average comparable 
species totals in the 120-130 range: Southern Nassau County, Montauk, and South 
Kingstown, RI. During the 40 years from 1971 through 2010, the likelihood that 
a species would be missed entirely was consistent with Ken's impression:

Red-winged Blackbird was missed 1/40 NYSN, 0/40 NYMK, 1/40 RISK;
Common Grackle was missed 12/40 NYSN, 10/40 NYMK, 5/40 RISK;
Brown-headed Cowbird was missed 3/40 NYSN, 6/40 NYMK, 0/40 RISK

But maximum abundance was more consistent with Steve's impression:

Red-winged Blackbird 316 NYSN, 1540 NYMK, 551 RISK;
Common Grackle 264 NYSN, 3399 NYMK, 2753 RISK;
Brown-headed Cowbird 504 NYSN, 502 NYMK, 581 RISK

Shai Mitra
Bay Shore




From: bounce-7662358-3714...@list.cornell.edu 
[bounce-7662358-3714...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Steve Walter 
[swalte...@verizon.net]
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 8:16 PM
To: NYSBIRDS-L@cornell.edu
Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Connetquot River S.P. and West End/Jones Beach Birds 
(Suffolk/Nassau Counties)

Ken,

I just want to make a point about Common Grackle "rarity" in winter, depending 
on what you meant by "our area". Are you referring to the Captree CBC? There 
were 3000 of them on the recent Queens count. Most winters, a large flock roams 
the residential areas of northeastern Queens (rather than places that birders 
go to -- so they may get missed on the count). They usually stick around until 
the weather gets extreme -- sometimes well through the winter. This year, I 
suspect they may have pulled out after the first big snow -- I haven't seen 
them in a while, and my backyard has been in their crosshairs in the past. The 
Bronx-Westchester CBC has also seen large numbers in some years. Although 
local, Common Grackle may actually be the most numerous blackbird overall 
during the CBC period (sometimes longer into the winter) in downstate New York.

Steve Walter


From: ken feustel
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 4:17 PM
To: NYSBIRDS-L@cornell.edu
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Connetquot River S.P. and West End/Jones Beach Birds 
(Suffolk/Nassau Counties)

At a mostly frozen Connetquot River State Park this morning was an adult Bald 
Eagle. On the river there were 120 Common Mergansers. Behind the park offices 
there was a Northern Bobwhite feeding on the spillage from the feeders. It is a 
commentary on the two different directions that these two species population's 
are trending that I considered the Bobwhite the rarer species. A stop at Bayard 
Cutting Arboretum in Great River was not particularly productive, partially 
owing to the fact that the tidal portion of the Connetquot River was mostly 
frozen. i did however, see my first of season Common Grackle (the rarest 
blackbird in our area in winter based partially on CBC data).

West End 2 did not have many birds but they were interesting ones. At the  WE2 
marina there were two Lapland Longspurs on the lawn west of the rest rooms. 
Approx. fifteen Common Repolls were wondering around the median. Eight American 
Pipits were feeding on the shoulders of the parkway. At JBSP Field 6 there was 
an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull on the beach with the common gull species. 
Despite the cold weather this morning, the afternoon was one of the nicer days 
so far this year (the birds helped, too).

Ken Feustel





Think green before you print this email.

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[nysbirds-l] Brooklyn Black-headed Gull: Yes

[Benjamin Van Doren]

Hi all,

Jacob Drucker and I birded Veterans Memorial Pier this morning. There were few 
gulls on the pier itself, but many in the surrounding waters. We located the 
immature BLACK-HEADED GULL just south of the pier, in water close to the rocks. 
It gave incredible views. When we left it had drifted ~100 m further south, but 
still very visible from the path. There were several Bonaparte's Gulls around 
too, plus scattered Purple Sandpipers. No sign of the adult gull.

Good birding,

Benjamin Van Doren
White Plains, NY
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[nysbirds-l] Brooklyn Black-headed Gull: Yes

[Benjamin Van Doren]

Hi all,

Jacob Drucker and I birded Veterans Memorial Pier this morning. There were few 
gulls on the pier itself, but many in the surrounding waters. We located the 
immature BLACK-HEADED GULL just south of the pier, in water close to the rocks. 
It gave incredible views. When we left it had drifted ~100 m further south, but 
still very visible from the path. There were several Bonaparte's Gulls around 
too, plus scattered Purple Sandpipers. No sign of the adult gull.

Good birding,

Benjamin Van Doren
White Plains, NY
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[nysbirds-l] Varied Thrush--Central Park

[Karen Rubinstein]

The Varied Thrush was seem this morning (1/17) at around 7:30 AM in its
usual place --near the east side of the men's room in the Maintenance Field
area. It was scratching around in the leaves near the padlocked, green box
by the men's room.

Approaching the area at around 7:15 from the east, the first bird I saw was
a Cooper's Hawk perched in one of the tall trees. When we were about the
leave the Cooper's swooped down, scattered many sparrows, but did not
succeed in capturing one.  It was a dramatic conusion to

An attempt to find the Red Headed Woodpecker near the Sheep Meadow was not
successful.

Karen Rubinstein.

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Hermit Thrush Cooper's hawk at the feeders

[Andrew Block]

Just had a Hermit Thrush at my window feeder.  Hadn't had one in the yard all 
winter so it was nice to finally get one.  Also, the resident female 
Copper's Hawk just attacked the flock of Mourning Doves (15+) that comes to my 
feeders.  Once again it missed though did get some feathers.  Got some nice 
close looks again as it sat in our hemlock tree at eye level.  Those pale eyes 
are something.

Andrew
 Andrew v. F. Block
Consulting Naturalist/Wildlife Biologist
37 Tanglewylde Avenue
Bronxville, Westchester Co., New York 10708-3131
Phone: 914-337-1229; Fax: 914-771-8036


  
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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Out of place Common Goldeneye

[Steve Walter]

This was on Nassau county's Mill River, which runs between the villages of 
Rockville Centre, East Rockaway, and Oceanside. This is often a good place to 
look for ducks when surrounding fresh waters are frozen, particularly Common 
Mergansers (of which 17 were present). This was my first record of Common 
Goldeneye on the river. Overall, the species is scarce on the southern side of 
Nassau (even the bay waters) and, I believe, was missed on the CBC. 

The goldeneye (a female) was associating with Hooded Mergansers (in a section 
of the river where it's crossed by Pearl Street). It's a strange association 
for those of us used to seeing these birds in their winter range and habitats. 
But it brought back memories for me. The last time I can remember seeing this, 
the goldeneye was, in fact, half merganser (a hybrid).  

Steve Walter
Bayside, NY
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[nysbirds-l] Fwd: Hudson River Dutchess-Columbia Counties

[John Askildsen]

i have been told that my post below did not transmit properly to the list for some people, so at the risk of duplication for some with apologies, i will resubmit.JPAJohn AskildsenMillbrook, New York
 Forwarded message From: John Askildsen askild...@verizon.netDate: Jan 16, 2011Subject: Hudson River Dutchess-Columbia CountiesTo: nysbirds-l@cornell.edu

Ibirded the the east shore of the Hudson River today from Clermont, Columbia County, toStaatsburg, Dutchess County. The river was pretty well frozen over, with the exception of the ship channel.There was little to report other than 12 Bald Eagles, with four at ClermontState Historic Site, four at Rhinecliff and another four scattered individuals from there south to Norrie PointState Park.Perhaps 1/3 were adults.Waterfowl was limited to about100 or soCommon Mergansers and a handful of Black Ducks.Herring, Ring-billed and Great Black-backed Gulls were also present.The highlight of my day might have been a red morph eastern screech owl that i observed in an oak tree beside my driveway before entering my vehicle, being harrassed by blue jays. The oak still holds much of its leaf mast in place, where the screech thought it was likely safe and sound. The owl took a few good jabs from the jays and then fled.Slightly off topic, i feel i must note that despite the icy, relatively birdless landscape, the view of the Hudson River, with the snow covered Catskill high peaks as a backdrop is quite impressive scenery to behold. JPAJohn AskildsenMillbrook, Dutchess County, New York

[nysbirds-l] Belmont Lake S.P. Barnacle, White-fronted, and Cackling geese-All YES

[John Gluth]

I spent 2 hours this morning (from 8-10) at Belmont Lake State Park
observing the large flocks of geese roosting on the water. Among the
hundreds of Canada Geese were the recently reported BARNACLE GOOSE,
4 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, and 2 CACKLING GEESE. The latter 2 species
were seen from a vantage point on the east shore of the lake. But the
Barnacle Goose was not seen until I and 2 out-of-state birders decided to
move over to the west side of the lake in a final attempt at finding it.
We drove over to the parks administration building lot and walked down to
the shoreline, from where one of the other birders (James from Iowa) was
first to spot the BRNG. The bird was on the ice hugging the western side
of the larger of 2 islands, which had completely obscured it from view at
our earlier location. Anyone looking for the bird in the future might want
to start here: 40.734383, -73.343812
Contrary to previous reports to the list, the bulk of the geese were still
on the lake when I left at 10, with only a few small groups having flown out
by that time. Other waterfowl present included 1 Wood Duck, 1 N. Pintail,
4-5 Common Mergansers, and a few Ring-necked Ducks, Ruddy Ducks, and Coots,
among the expected large numbers of Mallards.

From Belmont I headed southeast to Capri Lake in Babylon. It was at least
75% covered by ice, and the remaining open water held only a fair number of
waterfowl, but that did include ~20 REDHEAD.

The rest of my day afield was spent continuing to cover my Waterfowl Count
territory farther east in Suffolk County. Again there was much ice, on both
fresh and salt water bodies, which reduced overall numbers relative to
past counts. But it concentrated the birds present, making my work a bit
easier. Notable counts included 145 American Wigeon on the West Sayville
Golf Course, 385 Bufflehead on Great South Bay off Green Creek, and 21
Pintails and 74 Ring-necked Ducks on Mill Pond. Another nice find were 2
WILSON'S SNIPE and a Killdeer on Sans Souci Lakes, where the water that
wasn't frozen was at the lowest level I've seen it compared to past winters.
The muddy margins attracted several Robins in addition to the Snipe. Access
to this spot is here: 40.754922, -73.063375 



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[nysbirds-l] Brooklyn LBBG

[Rob Jett]

This afternoon I spotted an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull at Coney  
Island Creek. I had walked down to the beach at Bayview Avenue and  
West 37th Street to scan the water when I noticed a small flock of  
Bonaparte's Gulls feeding very close to shore a couple of hundred  
yards to the west. I noticed the LBBG a few feet from shore as I was  
setting up my scope. Doug Gochfeld  Shane Blodgett were in the area  
and also got on the bird after it had flown farther out towards the  
middle of Gravesend Bay.

The coordinates for where I initially observed the bird are:

40°34'55.29N
74° 0'21.34W

Good birding,

Rob

The City Birder Weblog
http://citybirder.blogspot.com


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[nysbirds-l] 1/17- Brooklyn (inc. Lapland Longspur, thousands of LTDU)

[fresha2411]

 I met Shane Blodgett at Plum Beach in Brooklyn this morning and we proceeded 
to bird from there through several locations in southern Brooklyn, with the 
following highlights:

Plum Beach:

 American Tree Sparrow- Roving flock of 20+ individuals in the dunes
Ipswich Savannah Sparrow- 2
Swamp Sparrow- 1 in the dunes
Black-bellied Plover- 1

Brooklyn Golf Driving Range (Flatbush Avenue):
Lapland Longspur- 1 (adult male displaying a sizeable amount of breeding 
plumage)
Horned Lark: 58

Floyd Bennett Field (once in the morning and then again in the late afternoon):
Gray Catbird- 1
Hermit Thrush- 2
Field Sparrow- 2
Swamp Sparrow- 1
Fox Sparrow- 2
Merlin- 1
One each of Northern Harrier, and Red-tailed, Cooper's, and Sharp-shinned Hawks

Ring-billed Gulls- The usual large late afternoon/evening aggregation by the 
Boat Ramp with birds constantly cycling in and out and between 700-900 on the 
ground at any one time. I decided to take the rate of birds going by and 
counted over 100/minute heading south to roost. This rate stayed relatively 
steady for the 10 minutes I was counting it. It's not a stretch to say that 
every afternoon several (10+ even?) thousand Ring-billed Gulls go by here every 
afternoon during the winter.

Spring, Hendrix, and Fresh Creeks:
Canvasback- 2 (Spring, Hendrix)
Green-winged Teal- 85 (Hendrix)
Ruddy Duck- 375 (Hendrix)
Pied-billed Grebe- 2(Fresh)
Great Blue Heron- 1-2 (Spring/Hendrix)
Night Heron sp.- 1 juvenile (Hendrix)
Wilson's Snipe- 1 (Hendrix)
Killdeer- 4 (2 Spring, 2 Hendrix)
American Coot- 1 (Hendrix)
American Pipit- 2 (flyovers, Hendrix)
Swamp Sparrow- 2 (Hendrix)

Coney Island Creek Area:
Redhead- 1 (continues in Creek, now associating with Mallards)
Lesser Black-backed Gull- 1 adult (Found in Gravesend Bay by Rob Jett who we 
ran into upon our arrival)
Bonaparte's Gull- 29+ (only one young bird)

Coney Island Pier:
Long-tailed Duck- 5,100  Looking far to the SW over Lower New York Bay we 
observed an intense short-distance flow of Long-tailed Ducks heading roughly 
east, the number of which, when I counted by 10's, came out to 4,960. There 
were also at least 150 sitting on the water closer to the Pier.

Good Birding
-Doug Gochfeld. Brooklyn, NY.



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