If there's any place to do a Big Day in the state of New York, it's Jamaica Bay (or even better, add Jamaica Bay as a stop!). Without really trying to hard today I had 68 species (tying my previous record there - I have done no Big Days as you can see) and that's not including a calling Kingfisher, or a distant scaup species, or a fleeting glimpse at a likely Palm Warbler.
The day went as follows. First I birded the West Pond and found a few early ducks, like Blue-winged Teal and wigeons. Then I went into the gardens and had over a dozen species of warbler, including some nice fall Chestnut-sided, Prairie and a Canada. Also mixed in there was a Blue-gray Gnatcacther and my long overdue NY White-eyed Vireos. It was a juvenile (dark eye). Then came another, an adult, and a third! Broke my curse, and beat it to a pulp.
But right now, before the landbirds hit hard, the shorebirds steal the show. I missed the reported Baird's, and Wilson's Phalarope (heck, I'd had that one at Jamaica Bay earlier). But otherwise I was content. From the Raunt, a place on the East Pond easily accessible from the visitor center, I could only find a Solitary Sandpiper and a pair of White-rumpeds among the more common things.
Soooooo I found myself at the north end of the pond. I walk in and after a few peeps, there's a lonely Red-necked Phalarope minding it's own business. Another NY addition! Then farther down I found a whole lot of gulls and terns (almost exclusively Forster's), but not as many shorebirds as the beginning of August. But among the plentiful dowitcher, yellowlegs, and peeps, I figured out how to ID Stilts Sandpipers for myself (only my second encounter with them). They are much thinner (very apparent from head-on or heading-away view) and seem shaped more like a Lesser Yellowlegs in profile, despite being more similar in actions and plumage (at this time of year anyway). The one thing they do that dowitchers cant though is: look down! They're beak is short enough to allow a peek directly below without touching the water surface.
After them, I was looking at White-rumpeds and looking for Western Sands, when for no apparent reason, almost all of the birds there took off. It wasn't long before I found what I was looking for in there: big dark body, long, upturned beak, white tail with broad black subterminal band: Hudsonian Godwit! And shortly thereafter, I found a giant Semipalmated Sandpiper with a few reddish scapulars and a long long long beak. Western Sandpiper! (The bold birds were new to some record of mine.)
I had quite a full day of birding, and it was only 12:30 when I left!
The day went as follows. First I birded the West Pond and found a few early ducks, like Blue-winged Teal and wigeons. Then I went into the gardens and had over a dozen species of warbler, including some nice fall Chestnut-sided, Prairie and a Canada. Also mixed in there was a Blue-gray Gnatcacther and my long overdue NY White-eyed Vireos. It was a juvenile (dark eye). Then came another, an adult, and a third! Broke my curse, and beat it to a pulp.
But right now, before the landbirds hit hard, the shorebirds steal the show. I missed the reported Baird's, and Wilson's Phalarope (heck, I'd had that one at Jamaica Bay earlier). But otherwise I was content. From the Raunt, a place on the East Pond easily accessible from the visitor center, I could only find a Solitary Sandpiper and a pair of White-rumpeds among the more common things.
Soooooo I found myself at the north end of the pond. I walk in and after a few peeps, there's a lonely Red-necked Phalarope minding it's own business. Another NY addition! Then farther down I found a whole lot of gulls and terns (almost exclusively Forster's), but not as many shorebirds as the beginning of August. But among the plentiful dowitcher, yellowlegs, and peeps, I figured out how to ID Stilts Sandpipers for myself (only my second encounter with them). They are much thinner (very apparent from head-on or heading-away view) and seem shaped more like a Lesser Yellowlegs in profile, despite being more similar in actions and plumage (at this time of year anyway). The one thing they do that dowitchers cant though is: look down! They're beak is short enough to allow a peek directly below without touching the water surface.
After them, I was looking at White-rumpeds and looking for Western Sands, when for no apparent reason, almost all of the birds there took off. It wasn't long before I found what I was looking for in there: big dark body, long, upturned beak, white tail with broad black subterminal band: Hudsonian Godwit! And shortly thereafter, I found a giant Semipalmated Sandpiper with a few reddish scapulars and a long long long beak. Western Sandpiper! (The bold birds were new to some record of mine.)
I had quite a full day of birding, and it was only 12:30 when I left!
