Spring Peepers

This past Saturday I did some birding around coastal Brooklyn. One stop was at Floyd Bennett Field. With all the city's lakes and ponds finally thawed, I thought it might be worthwhile to take a peek at the Return-a-Gift Pond.

Located in the "North Forty" section of Floyd Bennett, the 2-acre Return-a-Gift Pond is a man-made seasonal oasis for waterfowl and wading birds. It is also a very good spot to look for dragonflies. The pond is named for its method of funding - the "return a gift to wildlife" checkbox on ones federal tax returns form. It is sometimes just referred to as "RAG Pond". Perhaps it's time to have a naming contest.

Other than a single male Wood Duck, a pair of Green-winged Teal, several Mallards and a few Canada Geese, it wasn't very active on the pond. One seasonal phenomenon that was a first for the year was the emergence of the very vocal Spring Peepers. It was nearly two weeks earlier than when I first heard them last year. Turn the volume up on your speakers before hitting the play button on the following video: