Rare Bird at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Over that past week Doug and a few other birders have been reporting some interesting arrivals at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. My friend Sean would be leading the annual Tom Davis Shorebird Walk at the refuge this weekend, but I was concerned that thunderstorms stirred up by the passing of Hurricane Bill would put a damper on that trip. Instead, Marge and I went over in the morning yesterday.
In the parking lot at the visitor's center, we ran into Art Drauglis, who was visiting from Washington, DC. He wasn't familiar with the refuge, or that there had been rarities reported, so we invited him to join us. The south flats and, in general, the southern end of the East Pond held few shorebirds. When I scanned the distant northwestern edge of pond I could see a lot of birds flying around. We returned to the parking lot and quickly made our way up to the north end.
When we arrived Andrew Baksh, Karlo Mirth, Vinny Pellegrino and others were present and gave us the rundown of which birds were still around. There was a flock of 50+ Black-bellied Plovers roosting on a mud spit just south of the cove. I located the American Golden-Plover within the flock fairly quickly. Andrew, Karlo and the others had spotted an American Avocet earlier, but had lost track of it. They continued walking back towards the cove and, a few moments later, motioned for us. An American Avocet was standing, preening within a flock of gulls. The bird's bold pattern of blacks and whites fit in nicely with the Laughing Gulls. I probably walked right passed it after crossing the cove. Nearby was a Pectoral Sandpiper.
I finished up this posting, looked out the window, and realized that all the thunderstorms had moved through the area early this morning. The sun was shining in Brooklyn. I hope Sean and the people who took a chance with the weather to go out to the refuge spotted some really good birds today.
5 comments:
I had the best laugh with the music behind the Wilson's Phalarope, that was brilliant. As a musician, that particular piece with its minor and dissonant notes has always stood out as the silly tune. It was great to see those shorebirds even in that sweltering heat. Only Mad Dogs, Englishmen and Birders go out in the noon day sun (and rain and bitter cold!)
Marge
I've been reading most of your posts in my blogline subscription. BUT... your links show up really light yellow against white - and I'm whining about it. (:
Most Excellent - I think we're going to do the eco cruise next sunday.
Pamela,
Thanks for pointing that out. Do you mean that they are the same color as my post headings, only on white? I'll see what I can do.
Pamela,
Got it, yellow hotlinks on green looks good, on white bloglines page, crap. Will fix going forward.
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