We started the year off in Nassau County, birding with a good friend who has moved out there. He took us to 2 places, Willow Pond where we saw wigeons, which was a surprise, and Point Lookout, where we were exceedingly happy to find Harlequin Ducks. First because they're great looking ducks--probably in North America they only 2 birds more spectacular, in terms of coloration and pattern are the Painted Bunting and the Wood Duck, and secondly because that means we won't have to venture down to Barnegat Light (see two posts down) and "walk" (you actually hop and jump from rock to rock) on the slippery jetty to see these improbable ducks. Now, if the 69th Street Pier in Bay Ridge can yield Purple Sandpipers, there really won't be any reason to torture ourselves at Barnegat.
Willow Pond
Number of species: 8
Canada Goose 5
American Wigeon 2
American Black Duck 50
Mallard 20
Northern Shoveler 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron 4
Ring-billed Gull 3
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Point Lookout
Number of species: 11
Brant 25
Common Eider 100
Harlequin Duck 8
Surf Scoter 1
Long-tailed Duck 15
Common Loon 2
Horned Grebe 3
Sanderling 3
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull 3
Great Black-backed Gull 3
No comments:
Post a Comment