You'd Call It A Flood

But it's actually a "vernal pool" at Mount Loretto Unique Area on Staten Island.

It isn't a park, it isn't a refuge, it's a "unique area." Basically, the state saved it from development because of the extensive prairie-like grasslands and now doesn't know what to do with the land. It is my favorite place to look for birds on SI. There are a variety of habitats (ponds, grasslands, trees, and frontage onto the beach of Raritan Bay) so you're likely to find a lot of different birds there.

In the spring the vernal pools form on the grasslands.

I took about a 3 1/2 mile walk there today: walked through the grasslands to a couple of ponds that had a lot of ducks on them including 1 Blue-winged Teal, then up a hill to the bluffs over Raritan Bay and down a trail onto the beach itself where there were Brant, Buffleheads, American Wigeons, and 1 hen Red-breasted Merganser, then back up another trail where I climbed to the top of the hill, walked along a grove of trees and back through the grasslands again. 23 species on the walk:
Mount Loretto Unique Area

Observation date:     3/6/10

Number of species:     23

 Brant     70

Canada Goose     100

Gadwall     25

American Wigeon     10

American Black Duck     30

Mallard     50

Blue-winged Teal     1

Northern Shoveler     20

Bufflehead     11

Hooded Merganser     20

Red-breasted Merganser     1

Double-crested Cormorant     2

Ring-billed Gull     10

Herring Gull     2

Belted Kingfisher     1

Black-capped Chickadee     1

Carolina Wren     2

Northern Mockingbird     1

White-throated Sparrow     3

Northern Cardinal     2

Red-winged Blackbird     2

Common Grackle     2

Boat-tailed Grackle     1