Gulls, Shorebirds & Waterfowl

From Tuesday through Thursday of last week we experienced some pretty extreme winds around NYC. I have plenty of winter gear to handle the cold, so windchills are not usually an issue for me. I really wanted to get to the coast and look for gulls, shorebirds and waterfowl, but it's kind of pointless to go out looking for things with wings when winds were averaging >30mph gusts. Thursday was the worst of it with gusts of over 50mph. I barely left the house.

The worst of the weather finally passed and I eventually made it outside. I went down to Coney Island full of optimism that I'd locate a rare gull or, even better, an alcid paddling around offshore.

Coney Island looking west towards Sandy Hook

One of the first things I always do is to check the top of the historic Parachute Jump for Peregrine Falcons. A sure sign that they use that spot are the frequent remains of their meals on the boardwalk below. It's usually pigeons, but also an occasional starling.

Parachute Jump

The fishing pier is a great spot to scan the water for seaducks, grebes, gulls and loons. Some winters we'll see rare Razorbills or Thick-billed Murres around the coast and this is a perfect spot to look for them. So far it doesn't appear to be one of those years. Note: the official name of the pier is the "Pat Auletta Steeplechase Pier", but everyone just calls it the pier.

Pat Auletta Steeplechase Pier

Over the 2 days I birded the area I spent a lot of time scanning for birds from the end of the pier. There were plenty of Ring-billed, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, but nothing unusual. The walk west along the beach was dominated by hundreds of Ring-billed Gulls. The same was true for Gravesend Bay and Coney Island Creek to the north. The "typical" rarities on everyone's wish list in the winter are Black-headed Gull, Short-billed Gull, Glaucous Gull and Iceland Gull.

Assorted Gulls, but mostly Ringed-billed

1st cycle American Herring Gull

There were lots of Common Loons fairly close to shore during the low-tide cycle. If this individual is any indication of the food source, they were feasting on crabs.

Common Loon eating a crab

Long-tailed Ducks were oddly absent, but there were lots of Black Scoters and Surf Scoters around. Black Scoters are typically the most abundant of the scoter species around Brooklyn, followed by Surf Scoter. White-winged Scoters are much more scarce and I usually only see a few each year.

Male Surf Scoter

I always check the rock jetties for overwintering Purple Sandpipers. This arctic breeding shorebird winters around NYC and spends its time foraging in the rocky intertidal zone. There were 7 of them at the W. 37th Street jetty on Saturday. As an aside, Woody Guthrie's grandchildren said on a podcast, that Woody's ashes were spread near that jetty. I propose the jetty be officially renamed "The Woody Guthrie Memorial Jetty". Just sayin'...

Purple Sandpiper

Coney Island Creek used to stretch all the way from Gravesend Bay to Sheepshead Bay. Much of the eastern end has been filled in, paved and buildings erected over. Today, the wide section from W. 31st Street to the Cropsey Avenue bridge is a hive of waterfowl activity in the winter. A sandspit at the western end is a low-tide roost for gull, while the main waterbody, complete with rotting wooden barge hulls, is a great spot to look for waterfowl. On Sunday I tallied 14 species of ducks and geese. The highlights being Northern Pintail and Redhead.

Steaming boat wreck

Northern Pintail

Redhead

Gadwall

American Wigeon

Finally, Killdeer aren't rare around Brooklyn during most of the year, but they are fairly scarce in the winter. It was nice to see my first of the year foraging in the mud at low-tide. There were 3 in total at the edge of Calvert Vaux Park.

Killdeer