Staten Island 11/23--Cave Swallow

We had to be in Brooklyn this evening to celebrate a friend's birthday, so on the way we stopped off on Staten Island to do some quick birding. Our first stop was the Cemetery of the Resurrection across the street from Mount Loretto. I always feel a little creepy when I'm in a cemetery for anything other than a funeral. I feel like I'm trespassing even though I know that cemeteries, like Green-Wood, have set themselves up as tourist attractions. The attraction for us was a rare bird for NYC (or the northeast, for that matter)--Cave Swallows. We got to the area called the Perpendicular Pond and waited for a few minutes. A car pulled up and immediately I thought it might be a cemetery official wanting to shoo us away, but instead it was another birder asking if we had seen any swallows when at that moment one whizzed by our heads. Off it went over Sharrot Avenue. "Damn," I thought, "Is that going to be my look at a Cave Swallow--a half-second blur?"

Fortunately, no. Above us a few more swallows were flying, identifiable by their shape and orange throats. I was pretty happy, because this was a life bird. Or so I thought. When I got home I found that I had seen Cave Swallows twice in Puerto Rico. When you have a life list of well over 500 species, it gets hard, sometimes, to keep track of what you've seen where and when. However, Cave Swallow is a new

• United States bird (for birding purposes, Puerto Rico is not considered the U.S.)
• New York bird and
• Richmond County bird.

Ain't databases grand?

We didn't have enough time to do Mount Loretto justice so we drove up to Great Kills Park which has just recently been partially reopened after sustaining significant Sandy damage. Only the entrance road up to the first parking lot is open. That lot overlooks what's call the mud flats, always a good place to find waterfowl, waders, plovers, sandpipers and in the spring and summer--Bank Swallows.

We were surprised to find that the 10 foot high bluffs that stood over the beach (in which the Bank Swallows would nest) were washed away--instead there was a very gentle slope from the water up to the scrubby field in front of the parking lot. Won't the swallows be surprised when they return in the spring and find no place to nest! Admittedly, this is minor considering the damage the storm wreaked, but it is a good example of just how fragile the habitat for birds can be.

It was hard to tell if the mud flats were now buried beneath the sand or if the tide was just high. It was difficult, in fact, to orient ourselves, since most of the trees that stood along the edge of the bluff were just gone along with the trail that ran behind them. I didn't bring the scope, so a couple of distant rafts of waterfowl had to go unidentified, but we did see 3 Horned Grebes and one Red-throated Loon close in among the breakers. There were too many people on the beach (each one Omigodding the damage) for any winter peeps to be around. We didn't stay long--it was pretty depressing and for some reason the construction vehicles suddenly started blowing sand all around. As we drove up Hyland Blvd toward the bridge, looking down each block to the bay, it was easy to see where the water had come up and destroyed property. We certainly weren't about to be ghouls and actively go looking for damage. That would have been even creepier than being in a cemetery.

14 species for the 2 spots and an excellent meal afterward with dear friends.

Species     Count     First Sighting

Gadwall     10     Cemetery of the Resurrection

American Black Duck     25     Great Kills Mud Flats

Mallard     10     Cemetery of the Resurrection

Bufflehead     1     Cemetery of the Resurrection

Ruddy Duck     5     Cemetery of the Resurrection

Red-throated Loon     1     Great Kills Mud Flats

Horned Grebe     3     Great Kills Mud Flats

Great Blue Heron     1     Cemetery of the Resurrection

Ring-billed Gull     5     Great Kills Mud Flats

Great Black-backed Gull     1     Great Kills Mud Flats

Rock Pigeon     3     Cemetery of the Resurrection

Blue Jay     4     Cemetery of the Resurrection

Cave Swallow     4     Cemetery of the Resurrection

Black-capped Chickadee     1     Cemetery of the Resurrection