JBWR 6/19--Wilson's Phalarope

A few notable birds on our walk around the West Pond:

Between bench 5 & 6 a couple of birders were scoping out pretty intensely the  western shore. We had just seen our FOY Tricolored Heron dancing around on the bay side on the spit off the (closed) Terrapin Trail. Upon inquiring, they told us there were 3 Wilson's Phalaropes among the many geese and ducks waddling and snoozing on the beach.

It is an event to see one WIPH, especially in the summer--3 is a bonanza, especially when the female is in breeding plumage. Phalaropes are an oddity in terms of sexual dimorphism in birds--unlike the vast majority of birds, it is the female that is the more colorful of the sexes while the males are the drabber sex. There was one female and two males scurrying about on the beach picking at who knows what while the geese snoozed and the ducks wandered aimlessly.

Phalaropes are also fun to watch when they're in the water--they spin wildly stirring up any little animal life to the surface where they can eat it. But these birds stayed on the beach.

Also on the same beach was what had been reported as Greater White-fronted Goose, which would be a true oddity at Jamaica Bay any time of the year and especially in the summer. It was hard to get a good look at for a while since it too was taking a siesta. Eventually though it raised its head and indeed did look like the a Greater White-fronted. However, after comparing it the field guide it just didn't look  "right." It wasn't dark enough for one thing, and it had a white belly instead of being barred brown. It also seem to show something of a "grin patch" on its orange beak. So we figured it must be a hybrid, probably with a Snow Goose, though a domestic goose can't be ruled out. Too bad. It would have been nice to add Greater White-fronted to my NY and Queens lists.

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Photo: Shari Zirlin

Big John's Pond had 3 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons--2 adults and a juvenile. The East Pond was Swan City, with at least 95 swans on the water, but the only bird there we hadn't already seen was a Least Tern.

46 species + the weird hybrid:

Greater White-fronted x Snow Goose (hybrid)  1    

Canada Goose  325

Mute Swan  98
Gadwall  2
American Black Duck  11
Mallard  150
Double-crested Cormorant  10

Great Egret  6
Snowy Egret  15
Tricolored Heron  1
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 3
Glossy Ibis  2
Osprey  6
Clapper Rail  1
Semipalmated Plover  1
Killdeer  1
American Oystercatcher  28
Willet  1
Semipalmated Sandpiper  10
Wilson's Phalarope  3   

Laughing Gull  100
Herring Gull  7
Great Black-backed Gull  2
Least Tern 1

Forster's Tern  9
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1
Willow Flycatcher  1
American Crow  2
Tree Swallow  100
Barn Swallow  1
Marsh Wren  1
American Robin  1
Gray Catbird  36
Northern Mockingbird  1
Brown Thrasher  2
European Starling  4
Cedar Waxwing  5
Yellow Warbler  15
Common Yellowthroat  4
Eastern Towhee  2
Song Sparrow  2
Northern Cardinal  3   

Red-winged Blackbird  15
Common Grackle  1
Boat-tailed Grackle  2
House Sparrow  2