Wordless Wednesday...

A day of conservation work and birding…

When my friend Shai Mitra, posted about a planting project at Jones Beach State Park NY, I immediately signed up. The project was to be led by Ed Coyle, a birder and photographer enthusiast and was scheduled for November 21st and 22nd. The initiative, was to replenish the dwindling stands of Japanese Pitch Pines with native pitch pine seedlings in the hopes that if enough took, they would fill in the area known as the West End. The West End Area at Jones Beach has small stands of trees, which provides important habitat for many bird species including wintering Owls. On November 21st, I joined 8 other volunteers and together we planted seedlings around the Coast Guard Station and along the medium around the West End area.
As it happened, I ended up teaming up with naturalist and fellow NYC Butterfly Club member, Rich Kelly; together we planted over three hundred seedlings. The final number for Rich and I being 350 seedlings planted, give or take a few. We had a good chuckle over this as it was a good story for Rich to rib many of the members of our NYC Butterfly Club, on where they were they on such a day of volunteerism. The small but enthusiastic group did such a good job at planting that Ed, had to hold back a few bundles of seedlings in order to keep plants for those volunteers that had signed up for the following day.

Following the planting, Rich and I decided on a bit of birding. Our first stop was at Point Lookout in search of a King Eider that was reported the day before by birder Ken Feustel. We had one false alarm when a Common Eider was mistakenly taken for a King, but as it got closer the ID was confirmed, so no King. Following Point Lookout, we went to field 6 at Jones Beach in the hopes of finding Black-legged Kittiwakes that were reportedly streaming by in good numbers earlier that morning. At field 6, we picked up lots of Ocean activity, but no conclusive looks at Kittiwakes. While there, Tom Burke called and told me that he had just seen about 6 Black Legged-Kittiwakes in close at Point Lookout. I conveyed the message to Rich and we hurried back over to Point Lookout. Once at Point Lookout, we joined Tom and Gail Benson and conducted our vigil for Kittiwakes.

We had some distant looks at Kittiwakes, but nothing as close as Tom had earlier. While scanning for Kittiwakes, we picked up and had nice looks at a first cycle Iceland Gull. We also had fascinating looks at a Seal who seemed to have much better success at fishing than the local fishermen; first, landing a Flounder and then a huge Stripe Bass. We stayed for a while enjoying the Ocean view counting the Scoters, Gannets and other birds. Soon the light began to fade and Rich decided to leave. Tom, Gail and I continued to bird for another hour or so enjoying some Common Eider that were in close, but we eventually called it a day and headed our separate ways. It was a satisfying day of conservation work and birding.

Tags: Birding, Jones Beach State Park, Conservation, Common Eider

Wildlife poisoning in Africa devastating birds...

Wood Sandpiper

A few weeks ago, I referenced an article carried by Bird Life International with regards to shorebird conservation taking place in Barbados after years of hunting. It was welcoming news! Unfortunately, evidence of birds subjected to pressure all over the world just keep popping up. Today, I focus on a rather distressing article from Bird Life International that covers the use of Carbofuran – or Furadan a poison designed to control insect pests in a wide variety of field crops. Poachers in Africa have found another use, in that it is being used to kill off wildlife. Wood Sandpipers, White-backed Gyps africanus and Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus are just some of the species affected. Read on about Wildlife Poisoning in Africa.

White-backed Vulture

Tags: Birding, Wildlife poisoning in Africa

Birding Staten Island - the forgotten borough of NYC…

On Saturday November 7th, I joined my friend Howard Fischer for some birding out in Staten Island. My first stop would be Mount Loretto; a place I had not visited since participating in the NYC Million Tree initiative with NYC Audubon, back in November of 2008. After arriving at Mount Loretto, I headed in to meet up with Howie; on my way in, I picked up a couple of Eastern Bluebirds working the field to my right. Unfortunately, I could not get Howie on them as he was on the other side of the field and that was the only Bluebird sighting for the day. By the time I met up with Howie, I had already tallied another 8 species.

We decided to do a little sea watch out into Raritan Bay to look for any Grebes and other species that might be lurking nearby. That was not as productive as we would have liked, but we did add both Common and Red-throated Loons and a few Gannets way out along with some other species. As we continued up the pat towards the Ranger’s quarters, I spotted a warbler flitting around near a clump of Virgina Creeper. It flew into a patch of Goldenrods where we got a better look and identified it as a Male Blackpoll Warbler; a late one for this time of the year (not sure what the record is for Staten Island). We tried to get clear open photos, but the bird was not too cooperative and soon we left it to continue its foraging.


We headed back near the field by the parking lot and visited the first of two ponds that are connected by a small creek. On our way to the pond we saw Swamp Sparrows, American Kestrels, Cooper’s Hawk and a Downy Woodpecker. At the ponds, we picked up Hooded Mergansers, Black Ducks, Northern Shovelers, Canada Geese and Green Winged Teal. We had left the ponds heading to look for the reported Cackling Geese, when Howie spotted an Adult American Bald Eagle soaring over the church; the Eagle caused all the Geese in the fields across the road to take flight and they headed into the ponds. We headed back to the ponds in the hopes of finding the Cackling Geese and we did. One bird looked like a typical "Richardson's" Cackling Goose, the other dark-breasted bird is POSSIBLY an example of B.h. minima? I am sure the Staten Island birders are having quite the discussion on this as Howie indicated.

We left Mount Loretto and headed for the Great Kills area. Along the way we spotted a Red-tailed Hawk on one of the roadside light poles and pulled over for a few photos. We continued to Great Kills and birded there for a bit, but it was quite slow. Howie left shortly for other commitments and I continued to bird an area called “The Flats”, where I picked up American Wigeons, Buffleheads and an Osprey fishing quite close to the shore.

Leaving Staten Island I headed back to Queens, first stopping at Plum Beach in Brooklyn for a bit of birding. It was rather quiet birding though I enjoyed looking at the large numbers of Brandts milling around, which was well over 500. Sadly, I also observed behavior that bothered me given the importance of that area to wildlife. Beach goers with their dogs off their leashes and several times the dogs playfully ran at the Brandts that were feeding close to shore. In another instance, I observed Jet skiing close to an area that had Sanderlings feeding that took off once the "Yahoo" got close. I am not sure why NPS cannot enforce the rules that are in the books at this area. I helped NYC Audubon with a Shorebird/Horseshoe Crab monitoring project this past Spring and this site was designated as important to migrant shorebirds. Why then, is there not more monitoring done to safeguard the migratory species that use the area is beyond me.

My next and last stop was Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. With the light fading, I birded the West Pond. Many of the usual winter Waterfowl were present; I also picked up a few new arrivals in a Male and Female Redhead Ducks. Also new were about 6 Common Goldeneyes, 5 females and one male Drake. Over in Pumpkin Channel across from the West Pond, the number of Horned Grebes had increased – I counted around 23 with definitely more around. I finally wrapped up my day of birding around 6:45 p.m. ending with a total of 62 species for my day list:

1. American Bald Eagle
2. American Black Duck
3. American Goldfinch
4. American Kestrel
5. American Wigeon
6. Black Scoter
7. Black-crowned Night Heron
8. Blackpoll Warbler
9. Blue Jay
10. Brandt
11. Bufflehead
12. Cackling Goose
13. Canada Goose
14. Carolina Wren
15. Common Goldeneye
16. Common Loon
17. Cooper’s Hawk
18. Dark eyed Junco
19. Double Crested Cormorant
20. Downy Woodpecker
21. Eastern Bluebird
22. European Starling
23. Field Sparrow
24. Gadwall
25. Gray Catbird
26. Great Blue Heron
27. Great Egret
28. Great Black-backed Gull
29. Greater Scaup
30. Green winged Teal
31. Herring Gull
32. Hooded Merganser
33. Horned Grebe
34. House Finch
35. House Sparrow
36. Lesser Scaup
37. Lesser Yellowleg
38. Long-tailed Duck
39. Mallard
40. Mourning Dove
41. Northern Cardinal
42. Northern Gannet
43. Northern Mockingbird
44. Northern Pintail
45. Northern Shoveler
46. Osprey
47. Pied-billed Grebe
48. Red-bellied Woodpecker
49. Redhead Duck
50. Red-tailed Hawk
51. Red-throated Loon
52. Red-winged Blackbird
53. Ring-billed Gull
54. Ruddy Duck
55. Savannah Sparrow
56. Sharp-shinned Hawk
57. Snow Goose
58. Song Sparrow
59. Swamp Sparrow
60. White-throated Sparrow
61. Winter Wren
62. Yellow-rumped Warbler

Tags: Birding, Mount Loretto Staten Island, Cackling Goose, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

Shorebird Conservation...

Here we are as birders vying for looks at shorebirds all through their migratory period. In NYC, during the shorebird season birders anxiously await any breaking reports of any shorebird rarities at Jamaica Bay. Yet, in some countries, these same birds are hunted, with thousands killed every year. Yep, no need to rub your eyes, "Hunted". In a country notorious for this activity a small step in the right direction was taken with BirdLife International leading the way with support from local conservationists and ex hunters. Read on about the 'No-shooting' shorebird refuge established in Barbados.

Wordless Wednesday...

Rare vagrant, Ash-throated Flycatcher in Queens NY....

Thanks to alert birders, Rudy Bedia, Richard Aracil and Heidi Lopes, an Ash-throated Flycatcher was discovered in an unlikely area - a vacant lot in Queens NY. Though, when one really thinks about it, maybe...it was in the right place making me wonder how many such goodies we are missing.

I was at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge co-leading a walk with my friend Don Riepe when I first learned about the bird from Shai Mitra who called to alert me about the find and pending report; The walk was coming to a close, so I grabbed a pen and took some notes such as street crossing, exits - anything, that would help me pinpoint the location, keeping in mind that Shai was relaying what he was told. Shortly after my conversation with Shai, I got a call from, Gail Benson, who was with Tom Burke in New Jersey - I indicated to them that I was gathering intelligence (I like saying that...it sounds so cool :) on the whereabouts of the location.

From then, things just evolved. The power of technology was on full display as birders used cell phones and GPS systems to coordinate and navigate their way to the area where this bird was found. When I got there, the three birders who had reported the bird were just leaving; I chuckled at the incredulous look on their faces when I pulled up and asked if they were the ones that reported the bird. They could not believe that I had received the information and gotten there that quickly. Such, is the power of technology coupled with friends who were willing to share information. Rudy, Richard and Heidi displayed true altruism by getting out of their car and returning to the location where they had the bird in an effort to get me on it; they ended up staying for a few more hours helping to get other birders that arrived later to get on the bird.

Not long after I got there, I was joined by Seth Ausubel and we both got on the bird with outstanding looks. While Seth called Tom Burke, I called Shai who was on his way. Soon we were joined by Shai Mitra and Patricia Lindsay who also got fantastic looks and further confirmed the ID of the bird. I then put in a call to Karlo Mirth (remember him from the Golden Plover find at JBWR), who had called me earlier about Black-legged Kittwakes being seen close in at Fort Tilden and relayed instructions on how to get to our location. In 20 minutes, Karlo was also enjoying excellent views of the bird. Later on, Tom Burke and Gail Benson, finally arrived - they had rushed back from a trip out at Sandy Hook New Jersey. They also got on the bird and got super looks of it as well. Another gentleman whose first name I got, Tom, but not his last name was also there and he too got on the bird.

Huge, huge thank you to Shai Mitra, Tom Burke and Gail Benson who called and relayed the information I needed to get on that bird as quickly as I did. Lloyd Spitalink also deserves a lot of credit in getting the word out as quickly as he did once he got the report of the bird.

Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens), is a rare vagrant to the East Coast. Recently, individuals have been turning up nearly every year, and have been found in all coastal states and provinces. Sightings are less frequent from inland areas in the East and Midwest. After some feedback (see the comments section below) I did some checking and the NYSARC report seem to indicate this would be the 5th such sighting in Queens NY if it is accepted. Bull's Birds of New York State pg 371. indicates that the first possible sighting in Queens could have been at Riis Park in 1978. Enjoy the photos!






Additional photos of the Ash-throated Flycatcher will be posted to my Flickr account. Check back for a link to be posted soon.

Tags: Birding, South Ozone Park Queens NY, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge