Leader Peter Dorosh
7 members attending
We enjoyed a fantastic day from my re-scheduled Brooklyn Bird Club walk from stormy Saturday with quality birds and a terrific sparrow list under strong windy northwest winds. Of the locales visited, Fort Tilden shone the most with quality sightings and numbers whereas Riis Beach golf course produced the best bird on our walk.On a day dominated by over flying blackbird flocks, mostly Red-winged Blackbirds, 67 species including 11 species sparrows and WESTERN KINGBIRD added a little drama.
Of the best sparrows, 2 LINCOLN's and VESPERS were most beneficial to my group. The two Lincoln's worked the chain link fence next to the Riis Golf course south entrance , by the Riis men's restroom. VESPERS , 3 total in the Tilden Community Garden on a courteous tip from Andrew Baksh, enabled us to see two of them , one cooperatively on the picket fence in close proximity. Also FIELD, & WHITE-CROWNED added to the day list.
A large flock of AMERICAN PIPIT , est at 60 was seen well on the Tilden Rugby / soccer field after an initial 12 on the little league field earlier.One Horned Lark was among them.
Best duck observance was the 300 + strong BLACK SCOTER flock with several SURF and fewer WHITE-WINGED, a good observation for my group seeing all three species at one time.The flock was near a jetty 700 feet east of the Fisherman's west lot.
A nice surprise, especially from where it took off, a WILSON's SNIPE on the busy car road from the turn after the little league fields, towards the beach. The snipe's takeoff certainly "spooked" us .
At lunchtime, a soaring RED-SHOULDERED HAWK delighted us, affording great views on this clear sunny day.
But best for us as we walked a circuit of the golf course counterclockwise, was the WESTERN KINGBIRD. As we rounded the last leg , along the north fence of the Riis golf course, facing the inlet, I noted a flying bird coming from the inlet side and landed & perched on a cherry right above us. All of us saw the bird quite well and low before it, after half a minute, flew into the Riis golf course..
I also heard second hand reports of NORTHERN GOSHAWK ( Steve Walter, later Rob Bate), & BALD EAGLE ( Walter). the former hanging around and working the abundant food sources throughout Tilden's habitats.
Peter
BBC
(note: Home computer not working at the moment, hence late post from work)
date = October 30th, 2011
site = Rockaway Inlet parks: Fort Tilde/Riis Beach/Floyd Bennett
observers = Brooklyn Bird Club 7 members
leading Peter Dorosh
WESTERN KINGBIRD seen perched at north fence cherry tree, then flew into Riis Golf course
Common Loon
Northern Gannet
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Cormorant
Great Egret
American Black Duck
Canada Goose
BLACK SCOTER~300 flock at fort tilden
White-winged Scoter few with black scoters
Brant abundant
Surf Scoter several with black scoters
Mute Swan
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
American Kestrel
Merlin
Killdeer
Black-bellied Plover
Sanderling
WILSON'S SNIPE-- ft tilden roadway edge near little league field
Laughing Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Forster's Tern
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
American Crow
Blue Jay
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Brown Creeper
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Hermit Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
AMERICAN PIPIT flock ~60 tilden rugby/soccer field
Cedar Waxwing
Blackpoll Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Swamp Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
LINCOLN'S SPARROW-- 2 next to Riis golf course south entrance path
White-throated Sparrow
VESPER SPARROW tilden community garden , 2 of 3 seen per Andrew Baksh alert
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Field Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Purple Finch male adult
House Sparrow
Horned Lark
Photo by Sandy Paci, Vesper Sparrow on Fort Tilden Community garden picket fence
