Sept 4 Nighthawk Watch

 

Host leader Karen O'Hearn

The annual event despite the favorable northwest wind didn't produce the high count of nighthawks but the party of birders didn't mind.Its always a crapshoot but tonight did get us several nighthawks.

It wasn't until 710 pm for the first nighthawk to appear and it was a fast direct flyer.Over the Nethermead spotted coming fast and straight through along the lull water,most birders saw it while others missed it. It was the second bird I spotted that offered a little more time flying the same route as the first . Then the third bird appeared behind the group heading northwest .Overall I was told 5 nighthawks were tallied.. Oh well,it's better than none!

Fwd: Thursday BBC Fall Migration Walk 9/3/26

Season kicks off..led by Chris Miller

Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a joy for all seasons, a possession for all eternity.

--Oscar Wilde,author


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---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Chris Miller <cmnyc79@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 3, 2026, 5:07 PM
Subject: Thursday Fall Migration Walk 9/3/26
To: prosbird@gmail.com <Prosbird@gmail.com>, Tom Stephenson <12toms@gmail.com>, Dennis Hrehowsik <deepseagangster@gmail.com>

Hi Peter,

We had a great group of roughly 30 people today to kick off the first fall walk!

Highlights for the day were Scarlet Tanager, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, and 5 Warbler species.

Here's the list:

Mute Swan 
Wood Duck 
Mallard 
American Black Duck 
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove 
Chimney Swift 
Spotted Sandpiper 
American Herring Gull 
Pied-billed Grebe 
Double-crested Cormorant 
Green Heron 
Great Blue Heron 
Turkey Vulture
Osprey 
Cooper's Hawk 
Red-tailed Hawk 
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker 
Hairy Woodpecker 
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird 
Eastern Warbling Vireo 
Red-eyed Vireo Vireo 
Blue Jay 
American Crow
Common Raven 
Barn Swallow 
Northern House Wren
Carolina Wren 
European Starling 
Gray Catbird 
Veery 
American Robin 
Cedar Waxwing 
House Sparrow 
House Finch 
American Goldfinch 
Baltimore Oriole 
Common Grackle 
Northern Waterthrush 
Black-and-white Warbler 
American Redstart 
Magnolia Warbler 
Chestnut-sided Warbler 
Scarlet Tanager 
Northern Cardinal 

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

https://ebird.org/checklist/S389442985

Best,

Chris Miller

Greenwood Cemetery BBC walk August 29th

Leader Matthew Wills

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Matthew Wills <>
Date: Mon, Aug 31, 2026, 2:16 PM
Subject: Re: Gwc
To: Peter Dorosh <prosbird@gmail.com>

Hi, Peter

Big group: 35 people. List of boids below, a modest amount considering we were also looking at plants and other life forms: skippers, dragonflies, cicadas, numerous other insects; turtles (two species); American Bullfrog (heard); Groundhog, Grey Squirrel. 

No redcoats (above ground).

Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, US
Aug 29, 2026 7:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Brooklyn Bird Club Late Summer Bounty Walk
29 species

Canada Goose  8
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  6
Mourning Dove  6
Chimney Swift  2
Spotted Sandpiper  2     Could have been the same bird following us from Valley Water to Sylvan Water
Laughing Gull  1
Osprey  1
Red-tailed Hawk  3     Minimum number. Two vocal juveniles at Crescent Water; one silent juvenile above Valley Water.
Belted Kingfisher  1     Female around Sylvan, seen and heard.
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  1
American Kestrel  2
Monk Parakeet  25     Leaving cemetery at 7 am like commuters.
Great Crested Flycatcher  1     Maybe two.
Eastern Warbling Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  3
European Starling  X
Gray Catbird  5
Brown Thrasher  2     Together in Dell Water's waterless depths.
Northern Mockingbird  6
American Robin  X
Cedar Waxwing  15
House Sparrow  X
House Finch  1
Black-and-white Warbler  2
Common Yellowthroat  1
American Redstart  10
Northern Cardinal  1

"Learn from yesterday. Live for today. Look to tomorrow. Rest this afternoon." 

Snoopy, "Peanuts"

Birding Prospect Park on the Battle of Brooklyn’s Semisesquicentennial August 27

Providential rainbow before the walk from Long Meadow

🇺🇲🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇲🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Leader Peter Dorosh 

Checklists ( courtesy of Campos and Abrams)

https://ebird.org/checklist/S387404707

https://ebird.org/checklist/S387489092?continue

--

"Learn from yesterday. Live for today. Look to tomorrow. Rest this afternoon." Prosb

Snoopy, "Peanuts"

The Maryland Monument that honors the Marylanders 400 colonists who saved General Washington's retreating army.

All photos below taken by Nicky Abrams

Black throated Blue Warbler

Black throated Green warbler

Ovenbird

For once a Blue is chasing a red ( coat). Great blue heron and Red tailed hawk over Wellhouse

August 15th Southbound Shorebirds Passing Through Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge August 15 Leader: Peter Dorosh Focus

Leader Peter Dorosh 

Trip report courtesy of Ross Kruse

https://ebird.org/tripreport/560509

Hilight Eared Grebe in breeding plumage on West Pond, a few Stilt Sandpipers on high water East Pond.

The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach.

--Henry Beston

Psithurism (pronounced SITH-ur-iz-um) is a noun that means the sound of the wind rustling through trees and leaves. It describes a soft, whispering, or sighing noise. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Origin and Pronunciation

Pronunciation: The initial "p" is silent, so it sounds like "sithurism".

Word origin: It comes from the ancient Greek word psithurisma, which means "whispering" or "to whisper". [1, 2, 3, 4]


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July 25th "Hot" Boiding in Coney Island

Glacous Gull photo by Amanda Bielskas

Leader Peter Dorosh

Attendees: Amanda, Christine,Kenelma ,Anjali and Rusty

Hilights : Glaucous Gull in Coney Island under Palm Tree sprinkler ,Little Blue Heron in Coney Island Creek, high number Yellow crowned Night Herons flagged Coney Island Creek

Little Blue Heron photo by Amanda Bielskas

Coney island Beach and Pier

https://ebird.org/checklist/S376366567

Coney Island Creek

https://ebird.org/checklist/S376366093

Calvert Vaux Park

https://ebird.org/checklist/S376366495

Glaucous Gull under the "Palm Tree"

The earth has its music for those who will listen,
Its bright variations forever abound;
With all the wonders that God has bequeathed us,
There is nothing that thrills like the magic of sound.

-- Reginald Vincent Holmes



   

Black crowned night heron immature ,photo by Amanda Bielskas

July 18 Summer oasis in Carnarsie Park

Leader Rusty Harold

American Black Duck
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Mourning Dove
Greater Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Laughing Gull
American Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Common Tern
Double-crested Cormorant
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron
Osprey
Willow Flycatcher
Eastern Warbling Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
American Robin
House Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Song Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Red-winged Blackbird
Boat-tailed Grackle
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Cardinal
Brown-headed Cowbird

The earth has its music for those who will listen,
Its bright variations forever abound;
With all the wonders that God has bequeathed us,
There is nothing that thrills like the magic of sound.

-- Reginald Vincent Holmes










   

Annual BBC Member’s Night Picnic and Bug Expo July 11

Leader Matthew Wills with assistance from Louis Wong

Organized by Karen O'Hearn

Species seen the night of July 11th, Butterfly Meadow on Lookout Hill in Prospect Park at UV lights set up by Matthew Wills and Louis Wong.

This is a dynamic list, as not everyone likely to post iNaturalist observations has reported in and many of these identifications are tentative. (A lot of the little brown moths and tiny beetles are hard to get to species.)

Moths:

Merrick’s Crambid Moth Loxostegopsis merrickalis

Curved-horn Moths Superfamily Gelechioidea two species?

Tribe Phycitini moth

Chionodes thoraceochrella  moth

Subfamily Galleriinae moth

Triangle-marked Twirler Moth Taygete attributella

Olethreutine Leafroller Moths Subfamily Olethreutinae

Maple Webworm Moth Pococera asperatella

Bluegrass Webworm Moth Parapediasia teterrellus

Broad-banded Eulogia Moth Eulogia ochrifrontella

Orange-headed Callima Moth Callima argenticinctella

Suzuki's Promalactis Moth Promalactis suzukiella

Canadian Sonia Moth Sonia canadana

Genus Larisa moth

Brown-blotched Amydria Moth Amydria effrenatella

Ipsilon Dart Agrotis ipsilon moth

Common Tan Wave Pleuroprucha insulsaria moth

Genus Melanolophia moth

Beetles:

Prosternine Click Beetle Hemicrepidius memnonius

Tribe Elaterini click beetle

Genus Mycetochara beetle

Genus Ptilodactyla beetle

Tribe Alleculini beetle

Genus CaenocaraPuffball Beetle 

Reddish-brown Stag Beetle Lucanus capreolus (male and female)

Rough-coated Longhorned Beetle Ecyrus dasycerus

Genus Dacne beetle

Grapevine Beetle Pelidnota punctata

Genus Monocrepidius beetle

Genus Ecyrus beetle

Phyllobaenus unifasciatus beetle

Family Lampyridae beetles (fireflies) in area 

Others:

Family Leptoceridae Long-horned Caddisflies 

Infraorder Tipulomorpha Crane Fly Possibly Genus Molophilus

Xenoliarus placitus planthopper

Ozophora picturata seed bug

Hyaliodes harti plant bug

Eastern Harvestman Leiobunum vittatum

Genus Hapithus cricket (nymph)

Genus Phanerotoma wasp

Genus Spathius wasp

Genus Lomamyia Nearctic Beaded Lacewings 

Leia bivittata fungus gnat

--

" Preserve and cherish the pale blue dot,the only home we've ever known"

                                                                            --Carl Sagan

Summer Insects at East Arverne in Far Rockaway

American Sand Wasp. Cellphone pic Kenelma Perez

Leader Rusty Harold

Rusty Harold's I naturalist checklist

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&user_id=elharo&verifiable=any

Bird list ( pending)

https://ebird.org/checklist/S361297903


Donna's bird list

Osprey

Killdeer

Fledgling Piping Plovers ,photo Rusty Harold

Piping Plover

American Oystercatcher

Laughing Gull

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Least Tern

Common Tern

Rock Pigeon

Mourning Dove

Chimney Swift

Willow Flycatcher

Crow (sp)

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

American Robin

European Starling

Northern Mockingbird

Grey Catbird

Yellow Warbler

Song Sparrow

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

House Sparrow

Wildflower checklist 

Silver spotted skipper photo Rusty Harold

Spiderwort species ( Virginian or Ohio )

Yucca

Pasture rose 

Milkweed

Chicory

Red clover

Alfalfa

Ditch Lily 

Butterfly weed

Japanese honeysuckle

Common mullein

False Sunflower

St Johns Wort

Autumn hawkbit

Hedge bindweed

Rabbits foot clover

Queen Anne's lace

Ditch Lily

Deptford Pink

Yarrow 

Black eyed Susan

Prickly Pear

Purple Coneflower

Reference for images

https://www.wildflower.org/plants-main

"Woods are filled with the music of birds, and all nature is laughing under the glorious influence of Summer"

. ~Charles Lanman, "The Dying Year," 1840










   

Beach Nesters of Nickerson Beach (Lido Beach, Long Island) June 13

Leader Tom Stephenson 

Hi everyone (and Peter),

It was a  beautiful weather and a great group today at Nickerson, with some really nice finds.

Highlights for me included the walk-away views of a close Roseate Tern, the (Common?  with longer snout than Atlantic Bottlenose?) Dolphins that were putting on a great show, the plethora of Saltmarsh Sparrows, and the fairly friendly Marsh Wren.

Here's the list of the 44 species I remember. Let us know what I may have missed.

And thanks to Barbara for doing the eBird list.

See you all again in the field.

Best regards,

Tom

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Green Heron

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Canada Goose

Gadwall

Osprey

Clapper Rail

Piping Plover

Willet

Laughing Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Roseate Tern

Common Tern

Forster's Tern

Black Skimmer

Rock Dove

Mourning Dove

Chimney Swift

Eastern Kingbird

Purple Martin

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Marsh Wren

American Robin

Gray Catbird

Northern Mockingbird

European Starling

Yellow Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Northern Cardinal

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

Boat-tailed Grackle

House Finch

House Sparrow

Barbara S. Ebird checklists with photos

Here are the bird lists:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S356998019

https://ebird.org/checklist/S356998541

https://ebird.org/checklist/S356998876 

"The poetry of the earth is never dead"

--John Keats