Leader: Rob Jett
Subject: Birding Brooklyn's Coast
From: Rob Jett
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 17:33:26 -0400
I led a trip for the Brooklyn Bird Club today
to several coastal areas in Brooklyn. We started
the morning at Dreier-Offerman Park (Calvert
Vaux) and also birded Plum Beach, Dead Horse Bay
and Floyd Bennett Field. A strong NW wind early
in the day kept a lot of birds down, but
we did manage a few nice highlights.
The first bird of the day was an extremely
cooperative Yellow-billed Cuckoo. We had just
parked the cars and were headed down the path
when Michael Yuan spotted the bird perched 3 feet
off the ground and only about 15 feet away. It allowed
ridiculously long, close looks before eventually
flying across the path and into more dense cover.
The main soccer fields were being blasted by cold
winds off the bay, but there was still a few Killdeer
and a Wilson's Snipe hunkered down in the
grass. We didn't see a lot of sparrows, but
yellow-rumps were abundant and, on our way out, a
very brightly plumed Nashville Warbler foraged
a short distance from where we had seen the cuckoo.
The target species at Plum Beach was Nelson's Sparrow,
of which we quickly found two.
Dead Horse Bay was pretty much a bust, with a
brief Osprey sighting being the only highlight.
It was noon by the time we got to Floyd Bennett, so
there wasn't much sparrow activity at the community
garden, just lots and lots of yellow-rumps. We did
spot one male Purple Finch. A single Cattle Egret
remains on the main grasslands making this nearly
two weeks since it was first spotted. We watched it
drinking from a small puddle next to a NPS truck.
At the Return-a-Gift Pond there were several Green-winged
Teal, three Wood Duck and a single Northern Pintail.
There was a lot of raptor activity all day, with
many Sharp-shinned Hawks seen at all locations.
Other raptor species observed were Osprey, Northern
Harrier, Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American
Kestrel, Merlin and Peregrine Falcon.
Observers: Alejandra Borunda, Eddie Davis,
Donna Evans, Rob Jett, Michael Johnson, Phil Malek,
Janet Schumacher, Bob Washburn, Michael Yuan
Good birding,
Rob
The City Birder Weblog
http://citybirder.blogspot.com
**********
Location: Dreier-Offerman Park
Observation date: 10/23/10
Number of species: 38
Brant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Sharp-shinned Hawk (6.)
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon (2.)
Killdeer (3.)
Spotted Sandpiper
Wilson's Snipe
Great Black-backed Gull
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Cedar Waxwing
Nashville Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Brown-headed Cowbird
American Goldfinch
Other common species seen (or heard):
Canada Goose, Mute Swan, American Black Duck, Herring Gull, Rock
Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, American Robin, European Starling,
Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, House Finch, House Sparrow
*********
Location: Plum Beach
Observation date: 10/23/10
Number of species: 26
Brant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk (4.)
American Oystercatcher (4.)
Sanderling
Ring-billed Gull
Northern Flicker
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Northern Mockingbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Nelson's Sparrow (2.)
Other common species seen (or heard):
Canada Goose, Mallard, American Black Duck, Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon,
American Crow, European Starling, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird,
House Sparrow
*********
Location: Dead Horse Bay
Observation date: 10/23/10
Number of species: 21
Brant
Double-crested Cormorant
Osprey
Sharp-shinned Hawk (2.)
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Black-capped Chickadee
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Other common species seen (or heard):
Mallard, Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon, American Robin, European Starling,
Song Sparrow
*********
Location: Floyd Bennett Field
Observation date: 10/23/10
Number of species: 43
Brant
Wood Duck (3.)
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal (14.)
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Cattle Egret
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk (4.)
Cooper's Hawk (2.)
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel (2.)
Merlin
Black-bellied Plover (14.)
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Tree Swallow
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Northern Mockingbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow (3.)
Dark-eyed Junco
Purple Finch (1.)
American Goldfinch
Other common species seen (or heard):
Canada Goose, Mallard, Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove,
American Crow, American Robin, European Starling, Song Sparrow, House
Finch, House Sparrow
--
NYSbirds-L List Info:
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