Brooklyn Birding in June

After the month of May's whirlwind of bird activity, June's slower pace is almost a welcomed breather. That's not to suggest that there aren't any birds left to enjoy, just don't expect to find too many local "year birds", especially around Brooklyn. There are always the nesting birds in New York City during this relatively slow period to track down. In Prospect Park and the immediate surrounding neighborhoods one can find, on average, 50 species of breeding birds during the month of June.



I was curious about just how productive birding is during this month so looked over my Brooklyn bird list from the past 5 years. The compiled "year birds" list for that period is depressingly short:

Brooklyn Year Birds for June

2009:
Acadian Flycatcher (Prospect Park, 6/12/09)

2010:
Semipalmated Plover (Plum Beach, 06/05/10)
Western Sandpiper (Plum Beach, 06/05/10)
White-rumped Sandpiper (Plum Beach, 06/05/10)
Short-billed Dowitcher (Plum Beach, 06/05/10)

2011:
Common Nighthawk (Prospect Park--Long Meadow, 06/10/11)

2012:
Acadian Flycatcher (Prospect Park, 06/07/12)
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Salt Marsh Nature Center, 06/10/12)
Willow Flycatcher (Salt Marsh Nature Center, 06/10/12)
Marsh Wren (Salt Marsh Nature Center, 06/10/12)

2013:
Cattle Egret (Gerritsen Creek, 06/04/13)
Marsh Wren (Gerritsen Creek, 06/29/13)

My 2010 shorebird list was unusually long due, in part, to good timing. Weather conditions and low-tides early in the morning had my birding buddy, Heydi, and I scanning a tremendous mixed flock of shorebirds at Plum Beach on June 5, 2010. I posted about it here. It would be great if we could always find large numbers of hungry shorebirds at that location every year in late-May/early-June.

Thankfully, birds aren't always predictable and in recent weeks some unexpected vagrants have appeared in some of the states close to New York City. Here are a few interesting birds seen so far this month. In New Jersey there were reports of an Anhinga, a Neotropic Cormorant and a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. In Pennsylvania a Wood Stork was reported. Rhode Island had their own Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. Also, in northwestern New York, near Lake Ontario, a Kirtland's Warbler spent some time. So maybe I shouldn't put my binoculars away and spend the rest of the month ignoring our avian friends. Never know what might decide to pay us a visit here in the Big Apple.

Below is the full list of 182 species recorded in Brooklyn during the month of June based on Cornell's eBird database.

Good birding this month!

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Kings County All Time June Species List (CAPS = very few records. In most cases less than 5.):

1) SNOW GOOSE
2) Brant
3) Canada Goose
4) Mute Swan
5) Wood Duck
6) Gadwall
7) American Black Duck
8) Mallard
9) NORTHERN SHOVELER
10) Redhead
11) Ring-necked Duck
12) Greater Scaup
13) SURF SCOTER
14) BLACK SCOTER
15) LONG-TAILED DUCK
16) HOODED MERGANSER
17) Red-breasted Merganser
18) Ruddy Duck

19) Ring-necked Pheasant

20) RED-THROATED LOON
21) Common Loon
22) HORNED GREBE

23) Double-crested Cormorant
24) GREAT CORMORANT

25) AMERICAN BITTERN
26) Great Blue Heron
27) Great Egret
28) Snowy Egret
29) Little Blue Heron
30) TRICOLORED HERON
31) CATTLE EGRET
32) Green Heron
33) Black-crowned Night-Heron
34) Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
35) Glossy Ibis

36) TURKEY VULTURE

37) Osprey
38) Northern Harrier
39) RED-SHOULDERED HAWK
40) Red-tailed Hawk

41) Clapper Rail
42) SORA
43) COMMON GALLINULE
44) American Coot

45) American Oystercatcher
46) BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER
47) Semipalmated Plover
48) Killdeer
49) Spotted Sandpiper
50) SOLITARY SANDPIPER
51) GREATER YELLOWLEGS
52) Willet
53) WHIMBREL
54) RUDDY TURNSTONE
55) RED KNOT
56) SANDERLING
57) DUNLIN
58) WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER
59) SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER
60) WESTERN SANDPIPER
61) SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER
62) AMERICAN WOODCOCK

63) Laughing Gull
64) Ring-billed Gull
65) Herring Gull
66) LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL
67) Great Black-backed Gull
68) Least Tern
69) GULL-BILLED TERN
70) CASPIAN TERN
71) Common Tern
72) Forster's Tern
73) Black Skimmer

74) Rock Pigeon
75) Mourning Dove

76) Yellow-billed Cuckoo
77) BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO

78) Great Horned Owl

79) COMMON NIGHTHAWK
80) EASTERN WHIP-POOR-WILL

81) Chimney Swift

82) Ruby-throated Hummingbird

83) Belted Kingfisher

84) Red-bellied Woodpecker
85) Downy Woodpecker
86) Hairy Woodpecker
87) Northern Flicker

88) American Kestrel
89) Peregrine Falcon

90) Monk Parakeet

91) OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER
92) Eastern Wood-Pewee
93) YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER
94) Acadian Flycatcher
95) ALDER FLYCATCHER
96) Willow Flycatcher
97) LEAST FLYCATCHER
98) Eastern Phoebe
99) Great Crested Flycatcher
100) Eastern Kingbird

101) White-eyed Vireo
102) YELLOW-THROATED VIREO
103) Warbling Vireo
104) Red-eyed Vireo

105) Blue Jay
106) American Crow
107) Fish Crow
108) Common Raven

109) Northern Rough-winged Swallow
110) Tree Swallow
111) Bank Swallow
112) Barn Swallow

113) Black-capped Chickadee
114) Tufted Titmouse
115) RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH
116) White-breasted Nuthatch
117) House Wren
118) Marsh Wren
119) Carolina Wren

120) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
121) RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET

122) GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH
123) SWAINSON'S THRUSH
124) Wood Thrush
125) American Robin

126) Gray Catbird
127) Brown Thrasher
128) Northern Mockingbird

129) European Starling

130) Cedar Waxwing

131) OVENBIRD
132) WORM-EATING WARBLER
133) NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH
134) BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER
135) PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
136) MOURNING WARBLER
137) KENTUCKY WARBLER
138) Common Yellowthroat
139) HOODED WARBLER
140) American Redstart
141) Northern Parula
142) Magnolia Warbler
143) BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER
144) Yellow Warbler
145) CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER
146) BLACKPOLL WARBLER
147) BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER
148) YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER
149) YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
150) PRAIRIE WARBLER
151) BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER
152) CANADA WARBLER
153) WILSON'S WARBLER

154) Eastern Towhee
155) Chipping Sparrow
156) Field Sparrow
157) LARK BUNTING (6/6/1959. Bob Gochfeld, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--Terrapin Point (Brooklyn))
158) Savannah Sparrow
159) NELSON'S SPARROW
160) Saltmarsh Sparrow
161) Seaside Sparrow
162) Song Sparrow
163) LINCOLN'S SPARROW
164) SWAMP SPARROW
165) WHITE-THROATED SPARROW

166) SUMMER TANAGER
167) SCARLET TANAGER

168) Northern Cardinal
169) ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK
170) BLUE GROSBEAK
171) Indigo Bunting
172) DICKCISSEL
173) BOBOLINK
174) Red-winged Blackbird
175) Common Grackle
176) Boat-tailed Grackle
177) Brown-headed Cowbird
178) Orchard Oriole
179) Baltimore Oriole

180) House Finch
181) American Goldfinch

182) House Sparrow