July Wrap-up

The month ended on a successful note, finally adding one life bird (the GRAY-HOODED GULL, below, was the 250th bird of the year & #575 on the life list). This month's heat was a hindrance for birding (last weekend was lost). We got up to Massachusetts early in the month and were able to bird  some places we'd never been and see a few interesting birds while adding Veery and bluebird to the year list. Brigantine was fairly active when we were there, but not as active as it apparently is now. I birded Mount Loretto three times (once in the 100+ degree heat) and finding the Bobolink made the brain-boiling heat worth it. Today's excursion to the East Pond didn't work out as well as I would have liked--I was hoping to add some cool birds stopping over on their way south, but the water level is still too high out there.

This month I started 2 lists--one for the backyard our of new house and one for the WMA that is right behind it. I'm  looking forward to being able to do daily birding of the one small and one large area.

For the month 96 species which is just okay, not great, but not embarrassing either.

Counties birded:
Massachusetts: Berkshire, Hampden, Hampshire
New Jersey: Atlantic, Ocean
New York: Kings, Queens, Richmond

Species	First Sighting
Brant	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Canada Goose	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Mute Swan	JBWR--West Pond
Wood Duck	Mount Loretto Unique Area
Gadwall	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
American Black Duck	JBWR--West Pond
Mallard	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Greater Scaup	JBWR--West Pond
Ruddy Duck	Brigantine
Wild Turkey	Bromley Rd, Chester
Double-crested Cormorant	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Great Blue Heron	Quabbin Reservoir
Great Egret	Marine Park--Southwest
Snowy Egret	Marine Park--Southwest
Little Blue Heron	Mount Loretto Unique Area
Green Heron	Prospect Park
Black-crowned Night-Heron	JBWR--West Pond
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron	JBWR--West Pond
Glossy Ibis	JBWR--West Pond
Turkey Vulture	Upper Valley Road RR Tracks
Osprey	Marine Park--Southwest
Bald Eagle	Quabbin Reservoir
Peregrine Falcon	Brigantine
Killdeer	Mount Loretto Unique Area
American Oystercatcher	Marine Park--Southwest
Spotted Sandpiper	JBWR--West Pond
Greater Yellowlegs	Brigantine
Willet	Brigantine
Lesser Yellowlegs	Brigantine
Whimbrel	Brigantine
Semipalmated Sandpiper	Brigantine
Least Sandpiper	Mount Loretto Unique Area
Short-billed Dowitcher	JBWR--West Pond
Long-billed Dowitcher	Brigantine
GRAY-HOODED GULL	Coney Island Beach
Laughing Gull	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Ring-billed Gull	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Herring Gull	Marine Park--Southwest
Great Black-backed Gull	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Least Tern	Marine Park--Southwest
Common Tern	Marine Park--Southwest
Forster's Tern	Marine Park--Southwest
Black Skimmer	Marine Park--Southwest
Rock Pigeon	Marine Park--Southwest
Mourning Dove	Norwottuck Rail Trail
Chimney Swift	Mount Loretto Unique Area
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	Brigantine
Belted Kingfisher	Upper Valley Road RR Tracks
Hairy Woodpecker	Norwottuck Rail Trail
Northern Flicker	Upper Valley Road RR Tracks
Eastern Wood-Pewee	Cross Place Road
Willow Flycatcher	Marine Park--Southwest
Eastern Phoebe	Quabbin Reservoir
Eastern Kingbird	Cross Place Road
Warbling Vireo	Upper Valley Road RR Tracks
Blue Jay	Coles Brook Farm
American Crow	Quabbin Reservoir
Fish Crow	Brigantine
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	Cross Place Road
Purple Martin	Brigantine
Tree Swallow	Marine Park--Southwest
Barn Swallow	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Carolina Chickadee	35 Sunset Rd
Black-capped Chickadee	Cross Place Road
Tufted Titmouse	Brigantine
White-breasted Nuthatch	Whiting WMA
Carolina Wren	Brigantine
Marsh Wren	JBWR--West Pond
Eastern Bluebird	Norwottuck Rail Trail
Veery	Norwottuck Rail Trail
Wood Thrush	Coles Brook Farm
American Robin	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Gray Catbird	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Northern Mockingbird	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Brown Thrasher	Marine Park--Southwest
European Starling	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Cedar Waxwing	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Yellow Warbler	Cross Place Road
Yellow-rumped Warbler	Cross Place Road
Northern Waterthrush	Cross Place Road
Common Yellowthroat	Cross Place Road
Eastern Towhee	Marine Park--Southwest
Chipping Sparrow	Quabbin Reservoir
Song Sparrow	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Swamp Sparrow	Marine Park--Southwest
Dark-eyed Junco	Coles Brook Farm
Northern Cardinal	Norwottuck Rail Trail
Indigo Bunting	Mount Loretto Unique Area
Bobolink	Mount Loretto Unique Area
Red-winged Blackbird	Cross Place Road
Common Grackle	Marine Park--Southwest
Boat-tailed Grackle	JBWR--West Pond
Brown-headed Cowbird	Quabbin Reservoir
Orchard Oriole	Mount Loretto Unique Area
American Goldfinch	Cross Place Road
House Sparrow	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One

GRAY-HOODED GULL then JBWR East Pond Southern End

Gray-hooded Gull (click to enlarge)
Photo: Shari Zirlin

 GRAY-HOODED GULL is a common species in Southern Africa and South America, but this gull is either the 2nd or 3rd North American sighting, right here, mid-summer, on Coney Island's famous beach, just down from the Cyclone and Wonder Wheel, walking among the sunbathers, associating with the other common beach gulls, mostly Laughing.

I didn't relish the idea of looking for the bird (which has been around for the better part of a week) in and among the crowds but Shari thought we could give it a try in the relatively early morning before we went out to Jamaica Bay.

Sure enough, the beach was not crowded yet (birders and bathers in about equal numbers) and we easily found the bird strolling along the strand. There was no frisson of excitement seeing it though--gulls, to both of us, are just not that interesting, even if they are thousands of miles of from "home." Needless to say, it was life bird for us.

Then we drove over to JBWR as planned. We wanted to see what was on the East Pond. Because of clogged pipe, the pond is not draining as it should in the summer, so the northern end of the pond is impassable. The southern end is still very mucky and there isn't enough mud exposed for the really large numbers of shorebirds the East Pond can attract. The Brooklyn Bird Club was having a field trip today, so there were a lot of people I knew from Prospect Park there and it was good to see them. The big disappointment for me was missing the Sora that was detected running in and out of the reeds on the eastern shore--I would have loved to chalk that one up for the year.

Neither of us was too interested in slogging around the pond north up to The Raunt, so after seeing the expected species we just headed home, happy that we stopped off at Coney Island beforehand. I also wasn't really in the mood to count some of the birds we saw today--there were lots of swans, I can tell you that.

Canada Goose  X
Mute Swan  X
Mallard  4
Great Egret  3
Snowy Egret  1
Black-crowned Night-Heron  4
Glossy Ibis  1
Lesser Yellowlegs  X
Semipalmated Sandpiper  X
Least Sandpiper  1
Short-billed Dowitcher  2
Laughing Gull  1
Forster's Tern  1
American Crow  1
Barn Swallow  1
Gray Catbird  1
European Starling  X

Mount Loretto 7/30--Least Sandpiper

Not nearly as hot as last week at Mount Loretto and, happily, no biting bugs, which may explain the absence of swallows. What explains the absence of blackbirds I have no idea.

The two big ponds on the southwest part of the area were where most of the fun birds were. It was there that I found 2 Least Sandpipers foraging on the mudflats of the southernmost pond (I'm sure these ponds have names, but I don't know them) along with a couple of Killdeer and a Spotted Sandpiper. Great Egrets, Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, and Little Blue Heron were distributed between the 2 ponds and Wood Ducks were squealing on the more hidden pond. A couple of kingbirds and a kingfisher rounded out the entertainment. Lots of kingbirds in evidence today.
28 species at Mount Loretto.
Wood Duck  4
Mallard  4
Double-crested Cormorant  10
Great Blue Heron  1
Great Egret  2
Little Blue Heron  2    One in pond, one f/o
Green Heron  1
Killdeer  2
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Least Sandpiper  2
Laughing Gull  2
Ring-billed Gull  3
Herring Gull  10
Great Black-backed Gull  2
Common Tern  1
Belted Kingfisher  1
Willow Flycatcher  1
Eastern Kingbird  7
Blue Jay  1
American Robin  4
Gray Catbird  7
Northern Mockingbird  8
European Starling  20
Yellow Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  4
Song Sparrow  3
Northern Cardinal  1
American Goldfinch  1
A quick breakfast stop at Wolfe's Pond Park added Mute Swan, American Oystercatcher, Tree Swallow and House Sparrow to the day list, while Arden & Gurley Avenues both had Turkey Vultures above and the aptly named Fresh Kills had 2 Ospreys. 

Mount Loretto Unique Area (and I think that designation is unique in New York) was originally owned by the Archdiocese of New York and had an orphanage and a farm on it.  This grotto, overlooking the bay, is the only structure left standing from those days--it is still actively used. The land is now owned by New York.   Can you say, "Separation of Church and State?" 

Prospect Park 7/29

Lullwater

I hadn't been to the park in almost 2 months, so I decided to go this morning just to add, if nothing else, a Green Heron to the month list. Not that it's any great accomplishment, but I knew right where to look (the Lullwater) and there one was, perched on a floating tree branch.

While I was on the Peninsula I saw a sandpiper fly by and figured it was a spotted. Again, I knew a likely spot to find it (an area covered in black plastic to kill--I think--invasive plants) and coming around the bend of the path I found one, alternate plumage, tottering along the plastic.

Dead of summer, I didn't expect to find much else, so I was pleased with those two birds plus the another heron an egret, and a Wood Duck in eclipse.

Canada Goose population is starting to build up--I saw a lot of goslings. Don't tell the Dept of Ag. Hey, maybe their budget will be cut!

26 species
Canada Goose  42
Mute Swan  10
Wood Duck  1    Upper Pool
Mallard  98
Double-crested Cormorant  1    Lullwater
Great Blue Heron  1    Upper Pool
Great Egret  1    Lake
Green Heron  2    Lullwater & Three Sisters
Spotted Sandpiper  1    Peninsula
Herring Gull  1
Rock Pigeon  14
Mourning Dove  7
Chimney Swift  1
Northern Flicker  1
Warbling Vireo  1    Upper Pool
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  1
Barn Swallow  6
American Robin  55
Gray Catbird  8
European Starling  70
Northern Cardinal  6
Red-winged Blackbird  6
Common Grackle  7
American Goldfinch  1
House Sparrow  85

Mount Loretto 7/22--Bobolink

Okay, it was hot yesterday. We had to take the car for servicing to SI, so I thought I'd give it a try at Mount Loretto, not really expecting to find much in the heat--at 8:45 when I started it was over 90 degrees.

I was surprised to find as many species as I did--32--and some of them were "tasty" like the female Orchard Oriole I spied in some high bushes, or the Killdeer I found coming in off the bay.  But the most interesting of all the birds to me was the beautiful male Bobolink I flushed along the Wetlands Trail. Mount Loretto is the last large parcel of grasslands in NYC (much to the real estate developers' chagrin) and is perfect habitat for this declining species, but up until yesterday, I'd never seen one there. In fact, I hardly ever see them--I think the last time I was lucky enough to see one was a couple of years ago in Massachusetts. 

One problem I've never had at Mount Loretto, up until yesterday, was bugs. Maybe it was the extreme heat, maybe it was the perspiration on my legs, but the flies there were unbelievable in their numbers and their desire to bite--right through my socks. I think a lot of them were no-see-ums but a lot I saw--in fact they seemed to team up, 2 at a time to bite my knees, or especially aggravating, my hand while I was holding my binoculars trying to see a bird. 

While it was hot walking around the trails and while there was no breeze off the bay, the heat didn't really amaze me until we were going to lunch at a diner on Hylan Blvd. There, where the heat was radiating off the sidewalk and there were no trees to block the sun, it felt like I was standing on top of a grill and I was the hamburger. 

I have no idea if it was 101, or 104, or if the real feel was  110 or 111--really, these distinctions are meaningless to your skin and brain--all I can say is that with today looking like it will be very close to yesterday's weather (though, looking out the window I see the trees moving in a breeze), I'm staying in and birding by book--reading Avian Architecture by Peter Goodfellow. 

32 species on a ferociously hot day--4 hours and 45 minutes. 

Wood Duck  4
Mallard  1
Double-crested Cormorant  19
Great Egret  3
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1
Killdeer  1
American Oystercatcher  4
Laughing Gull  2
Herring Gull  25
Common Tern  2
Mourning Dove  1
Northern Flicker  1
Willow Flycatcher  2
Eastern Phoebe  1
Eastern Kingbird  1
Warbling Vireo  1
Blue Jay  2
Barn Swallow  1
Carolina Wren  1
American Robin  25
Gray Catbird  7
Northern Mockingbird  8
European Starling  100
Yellow Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  4
Song Sparrow  4
Northern Cardinal  4
Bobolink  1    Wetlands Trail
Red-winged Blackbird  40
Common Grackle  1
Orchard Oriole  1    Grasslands Trail
American Goldfinch  3

Piers One & Four 7/21--Common Terns

 I wasn't really intending to bird today; rather I was just taking a vigorous walk in the "cool" of the morning. Passing by Pier Four I saw a tern sitting on a piling. I thought I'd seen one about a week ago but it flew off before I could get my binoculars on it. However, this one, a Common Tern, was easily seen. It plunged into the East River a couple of times, coming up with zilch.  The East River seems an unlikely source of nutrition for a tern.

A few minutes later at Pier One I saw either another or the same tern, flying from piling to piling until it headed off toward Manhattan. I thought it probably was the same tern I'd seen a little farther south.

However, when I passed by Pier Four on my way back, there were 3 more terns flying around at the end of the pier. One eventually flew right over my head.

Obviously there are fish in the river--cormorants make a good living there. But cormorants dive to the bottom--I just find it hard to imagine any little fish near the surface for a tern to grab on a plunge dive. I certainly didn't see any successful dives and I anthropormorphize that the tern flew toward Manhattan out of frustration.

Volunteers

This winter while we were spending so much time in NJ tending to my parents Shari put up a bird feeder as one way to keep us somewhat entertained.

The birds in the neighborhood thought they'd found the mother lode and I remember walking around the backyard after the snow had melted looking at all the scattered hulls they left on the ground.

A week or so ago, my mother mentioned that her sunflowers were over 7 feet tall. I asked her why they had planted sunflowers in the middle of the yard when they used to plant them along the edge of the lawn. "We didn't plant them," she said, "they just grew from the bird seed."  

When I was a kid we used to sit in the backyard eating watermelon and spitting the seeds onto the lawn, always hoping that the seeds would take and we'd get some watermelons growing. Of course, they never did.

Volunteers 7 feet high, though, are just as impressive as the 25 lb watermelon that never grew. Plus, we've got a head start on seeds for the winter.
                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                                       

Marine Park--Southwest 7/17: The One That Got Away

Sparse summer birding at the marsh this morning--I was there from 8 to 11 as the tide was coming in--I figured the cool of the morning would be the best time to see any birds and that the incoming tide would keep the ATVs at bay.

On my way out I thought I heard a guy laughing on the other side of a small stand of trees. Looking up I saw a brown heron, legs trailing, flying up and out of my sight line. A few yards later I flushed it again, same odd laughing alarum, but this time it flew too far away to follow.

Now, I know that a couple of weeks ago another birder reported an American Bittern at the marsh, but since a bittern would be unusual there, eBird hasn't accepted the record. There aren't that many egrets or herons that are brown--I know it wasn't a Green Heron--too big, and I know it wasn't a juvenile BCNH--too brown, so I want to call it an American Bittern, but with its rarity and with the lousy fleeting glimpses I got, I can't, in goo conscience, call it. So I have to let it go as the one that got away, ending the day's birding on a frustrating note.

By the way, plenty of seating today along the trails.

Only 30 species for the morning; I'm starting to look forward to fall migration, which will probably start in another couple of weeks.
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Great Egret  3
Snowy Egret  1
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  1
Laughing Gull  10
Herring Gull  2
Forster's Tern  3
Black Skimmer  1
Rock Pigeon  1
Mourning Dove  15
Chimney Swift  2
Northern Flicker  1
Willow Flycatcher  5
American Crow  1
Fish Crow  1
Barn Swallow  20
American Robin  15
Gray Catbird  3
Northern Mockingbird  2
European Starling  5
Yellow Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  2
Eastern Towhee  1
Song Sparrow  3
Swamp Sparrow  2
Northern Cardinal  1
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Boat-tailed Grackle  1
American Goldfinch  1
House Sparrow  10

Week 7, Smart Car Wreck. 

Brigantine 7/15--Green-head Flies & Ruby-throated Hummingbird

We took a turn around the 8 mile loop at Brig today. It was high tide when we arrived, so there weren't as many shorebirds as we expected, though by the end of the circuit we'd tallied some good ones like Whimbrel, both dowitchers and both yellowlegs, as well as Shari's fave American Oystercatcher.

Green-head flies are the main problem in summer at Brigantine--they're big, they're annoying, and they're vicious--one bit me through my t-shirt this afternoon. The only good thing about them is that they're slow and therefor easy to kill. They also have a tendency to die in your car, especially in the brake light in the back window. It is a perverse point of pride among birders to compare the number of dead flies in their lights--the more flies the more you've been to Brig. No one can figure how they get in there and no one can figure how to get the corpses out. Shari has also recently discovered them in the ceiling light--again, we have no idea how they manage to get in there. We're going to have the car serviced next week and we want to ask the mechanics how to clean out the little bastards.

Interestingly, we found a lot of birds while eating lunch at one of the benches near the visitor's center, including my first Ruby-throated Hummingbird of the year--how did I go this long without seeing one? There were also a couple of Eastern Bluebirds (supposedly rare for Brig this time of year) picking bugs out of the grass and a couple of titmice, a bird I haven't seen since either late winter or early spring. 49 species today; if I'd felt more like fending off the flies I could probably have found more--someone said he had 82 species today--he must have some powerful insect spray.
Canada Goose  100
American Black Duck  5
Mallard  1
Ruddy Duck  11
Double-crested Cormorant  10
Great Blue Heron  5
Great Egret  75
Snowy Egret  45
Glossy Ibis  35
Turkey Vulture  1
Osprey  8
Peregrine Falcon  2
American Oystercatcher  10
Greater Yellowlegs  1
Willet  2
Lesser Yellowlegs  9
Whimbrel  3
Semipalmated Sandpiper  25
Short-billed Dowitcher  10
Long-billed Dowitcher  1
Laughing Gull  50
Ring-billed Gull  2
Herring Gull  2
Great Black-backed Gull  3
Forster's Tern  150
Black Skimmer  2
Mourning Dove  3
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  1
American Crow  3
Fish Crow  1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  1
Purple Martin  25
Tree Swallow  2
Barn Swallow  25
Carolina Chickadee  1
Tufted Titmouse  2
Carolina Wren  1
Eastern Bluebird  2
American Robin  1
Gray Catbird  3
Northern Mockingbird  3
Brown Thrasher  1
Yellow Warbler  1
Eastern Towhee  1
Chipping Sparrow  2
Red-winged Blackbird  25
Common Grackle  1
Boat-tailed Grackle  3
American Goldfinch  3