I checked several known fresh water spots in South East Queens this morning finding all them either frozen over or almost frozen.
Just for anyone interested in the spots, here is a summary: Springfield Park - Frozen Over Idlewild Preserve - Frozen Over Brookville Park - the pond is almost frozen over with a small sliver of open water on the north end where the water begins to stream north. Mostly Canada Geese and Mallards were tucked in that area. This spot is known for holding Greater Yellowlegs; none there today. At Baisley Pond - two small areas of open water the most productive is all the way at the north end. The numbers of Redheads continue to hold steady and I counted 97 today a few more than my January 2nd count of 94. Other waterfowl numbers were down most notably among the Ring-necked Ducks. Down to 27 today from 43 noted on January 2nd. I saw Bob Anderson who informed me that the Ross's Goose was reported earlier. It was not on the pond during the time I was there and neither was it on the field (south of the pond across Rockaway Blvd) where it was later refound by Tim Healy. I have been trying to nail down where the Geese relocate to from the pond and it appears they are using several sites. If I am able to better pin down their movements, I will share the details. Continuing to Brooklyn, I covered Bush Army Terminal, Greavesend Bay and Caesar's Bay. Nothing of note at Bush Army Terminal. At Greavesend Bay, there were Lesser and Greater Scaup giving close looks. In that area a couple of Purple Sandpipers were gleaning food from rocks that were not iced over. The Gulls present were the expected species. Ceasar's Bay did not hold much with small numbers of Ring-billed Gulls. A Turkey Vulture was a surprise sighting near the Fort Hamilton Exit. Stay warm and safe. Cheers, -------- "I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence." ~ Frederick Douglass 風 Swift as the wind 林 Quiet as the forest 火 Conquer like the fire 山 Steady as the mountain Sun Tzu The Art of War > (__/) > (= '.'=) > (") _ (") > Sent from somewhere in the field using my mobile device! Andrew Baksh www.birdingdude.blogspot.com -- 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/ --