Our tradition on Thanksgiving is to avoid traffic and go to Jamaica Bay to find birds. Today, ducks were the predominant species, 10 different kinds, including a hen Common Merganser out on the bay with the Brant & Horned Grebes.
The rare bird of the day (rare for this time of year) was the immature Little Blue Heron we found in the marsh near the Osprey Nest. Even without the scope the size and shape didn't look right for either Snowy Egret or Great Egret and once we zoomed in on it, its bluish beak gave it away immediately.
We did the circuit in just 2 hours. We were going to go across the street to the East Pond but as we stepped into the parking lot it began to drizzle, as was forecast. With 4 species of waders and all the waterfowl, along with a few passerines, we considered the morning a success.
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
Number of species: 32
Brant 400
Canada Goose 50
American Wigeon 60
American Black Duck 20
Mallard 10
Northern Shoveler 100
Green-winged Teal 2
Greater Scaup 1000
Bufflehead 100
Hooded Merganser 8
Common Merganser 1
Ruddy Duck 300
Horned Grebe 12
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1
Little Blue Heron 1 Immature. Near Osprey nest
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1 Immature. Benches 2-4
Northern Harrier 3
American Coot 7
Herring Gull 4
Downy Woodpecker 1
American Crow 3
Carolina Wren 1
American Robin 7
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 2
European Starling 50
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Song Sparrow 3
White-throated Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 1
No comments:
Post a Comment