JBWR & Plum Beach 10/24

If you were to type the word "ubiquitous" in the search box of Google Images I'm pretty certain the first picture to come up would be Yellow-rumped Warbler. They were all over the places we went today. It seemed like every time I saw movement in a bush, in a tree, or one the ground, it would turn out to be a YRWA. When I put my binoculars on about the 100th "yumper" today, I said to Shari, "I don't know why I even bother."

We birded Plum Beach seriously for the first time today. We've been there before, but only to stand on the beach to scan the water. There are some trails that lead to a salt marsh and the birding was pretty interesting even if we didn't come across the Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow that we were looking for. We'd read that they were reliably found there and another birder we ran into said he was pretty sure he'd photographed one but we never turned one up. We'll definitely be going back there during the winter--it's better than walking on the former garbage dump of nearby Dead Horse Bay.

The highlight bird of the day was a Tricolored Heron we found on the West Pond of JBWR. And the Brants are truly back in force--conservatively I estimated 4000 birds on the bay and in the pond. And yet, not one was on the East Pond. Maybe the East Pond isn't salty enough for them.

Lastly, we were happy to see 5 Buffleheads on the East Pond. Each week, it seems, another winter duck shows up.
The Lists:
Plum Beach
Number of species:    20
Brant    300

Great Blue Heron    1
Great Egret    1
Merlin    1
Sanderling    35
Ring-billed Gull    5
Herring Gull    5
Rock Pigeon    10
Downy Woodpecker    1
Black-capped Chickadee    5
Golden-crowned Kinglet    6

Ruby-crowned Kinglet    1
European Starling    5
Yellow-rumped Warbler    25
Chipping Sparrow    1
Savannah Sparrow    1
Song Sparrow    2
Swamp Sparrow    2
White-throated Sparrow    5
House Finch    2

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

West Pond

Number of species:    28
Brant    4000
Canada Goose    75
American Wigeon    30
American Black Duck    25
Mallard    75
Northern Shoveler    10
Greater/Lesser Scaup    5
Ruddy Duck    100
Double-crested Cormorant    25
Great Blue Heron    2
Great Egret    4
Snowy Egret    1
Tricolored Heron    1    Benches 2-4
Northern Harrier    2
Greater Yellowlegs    18
Ring-billed Gull    5
Herring Gull    5
Red-bellied Woodpecker    1    North Garden
American Crow    7
Carolina Wren    1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet    1    Visitor's Ctr
Northern Mockingbird    2
Yellow-rumped Warbler    110    Ubiquitous
Chipping Sparrow    2
Song Sparrow    6
White-throated Sparrow    20
White-crowned Sparrow    1
Dark-eyed Junco    4
Northern Cardinal    1    Parking lot

East Pond
Number of species:    24
Canada Goose    50
Mute Swan    75
Gadwall    20
American Wigeon    30
American Black Duck    25
Mallard    20
Northern Shoveler    30
Green-winged Teal    35
Bufflehead    5
Ruddy Duck    250
Double-crested Cormorant    50
Great Blue Heron    1
Snowy Egret    3
American Coot    20
Ring-billed Gull    1
Herring Gull    1
American Crow    1
Yellow-rumped Warbler    25
Common Yellowthroat    1
Chipping Sparrow    2
Savannah Sparrow    1
Song Sparrow    5
White-throated Sparrow    3
Dark-eyed Junco    2