March 14th Will you Dance ? Woodcocks at marine park

Leader Peter Dorosh

Note windy conditions likely factor in no woodcock display.. but a nice social walk with 30 species reported within the 2 hour walk.

Many Thanks to Heydi Lopes for her assistance and checklist..

And to all who showed up for some fun,

Salt Marsh Nature Center at Marine Park, Kings, New York, US
Mar 14, 2026 4:52 PM - 7:38 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.911 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     BBC Walk with Peter
30 species (+1 other taxa)

Brant (Branta bernicla)  23
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  3
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)  4
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  5
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)  3
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)  17
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  11
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)  3
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)  34
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  3
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  37
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus)  7
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)  1
Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata)  2
Common Loon (Gavia immer)  1
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum)  1
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)  5
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)  1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  2
crow sp. (Corvus sp. (crow sp.))  1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  7     Flagged for count; one by one count.
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  2
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)  3
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  11
Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus)  1     Female type; coarse brown streaks below, white eyebrow.
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) (Junco hyemalis hyemalis/carolinensis)  5
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  3
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  12
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) (Setophaga coronata coronata)  2
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S309281808

"Lines Written in Early Spring" Summary

I heard a thousand interwoven notes of birdsong while I lay in a grove, where I was enjoying the kind of mood in which happy thoughts remind you of sad ones.

Nature connected my soul to all the beautiful creatures around me—and I felt terribly sad to think about what humanity has done to itself.

poet William Wordsworth

for full poem , see link below:

https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/william-wordsworth/lines-written-in-early-spring













   

March 7th Hempstead/Jones Beach trip list

"How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose, if there were no winter in our year!"

-- Thomas Wentworth Higginson

Leader Peter Dorosh


   

Common  Eider photo by Fabio Vera

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: D.Evans <
Date: Sun, Mar 8, 2026, 2:36 PM
Subject: Hempstead/Jones Beach trip list
To: Peter Dorosh <prosbird@gmail.com>

Peter-

What a great and memorable trip!

 

Here are the birds I recorded at each site, with notations if we'd seen them before.

[H] for Hempstead, [J] for Jones Beach.

 

Hempstead Lake State Park

Canada Goose

Great Blue Heron

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Greater Black-backed Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull (-imm, ID by PD)

Ring-necked Duck

Ruddy Duck

Hooded Merganser

Northern Mallard

Blue Jay

Fish Crow

Song Sparrow

Black-capped Chickadee

Downy Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker.                             Harlequin ducks in fog photo by. Fabio Vera

 

Jones Beach

Canada Goose [H]

Brant

Common Loon

Pacific Loon

Common Eider

Horned Grebe

Long-tailed Duck

Black Scoter

Surf Scoter

White-winged Scoter

Red-breasted Merganser

Bufflehead

Greater Scaup

Herring Gull  [H]

Ring-billed Gull [H]

Greater Black-backed Gull [H] 

Lesser Black-backed Gull  [H]  --(? not sure about this. My ID based on photo of bird resembling your [H] ID)

American Oystercatcher

Killdeer

Northern Harrier

American Robin

Fox Sparrow

Northern Mockingbird

European Starling

Rock Pigeon

 

Point Lookout

Sanderlings

Common Eider [J]

Greater Scaup  [J]

Red-throated Loon

Harlequin Duck

Brant  [J]

Purple Sandpiper

Long-tailed Duck  [J]

American Oystercatcher  [J]

 

(Harbor Seal)

 

Feb 14th Tribute to Paul Keim memorial walk Croton Point

 

Eastern Screech owl ( gray phased), zoomed photo by Marisa Hernandez 

Hilight 25 plus Bald Eagles and Eastern Screech Owl, a lifer for group participants 

Leader Peter Dorosh

Hilight : 25 plus Bald eagle from train ride to station to park interior  & Eastern Screech Owl a lifer for group participants 

Train ride along Hudson

https://ebird.org/checklist/S301080019

Croton Train Station

https://ebird.org/checklist/S301080339

Croton Point State Park

https://ebird.org/checklist/S301081306

Bald Eagle photos by Marisa Hernandez 

EASTERN SCREECH OWL zoomed photo by Yikun He

Juvenile Bald Eagle photos by Yikun He

GBBC Prospect walk by BBC Feb 15th

Leader Tina Alleva

"How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose, if there were no winter in our year!"

-- Thomas Wentworth Higginson

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Tina Alleva <>
Date: Sun, Feb 15, 2026, 1:38 PM
Subject: GBBC
To: Peter Dorosh <>

Hi Peter,

We had a great walk today for the Great Backyard Bird Count with about 35 participants. I love this time of year when the resident birds start to sing again.

Highlight today was a low flying adult Red-shouldered hawk.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S301030442

Tina

eBird Checklist - 31 Jan 2026 - Prospect Park - 28 species Goldberg Chklist leading BBC members

https://ebird.org/checklist/S297277875

Note Rusty Blackbird and Red tailed hawk meal

"It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it."

--John Burroughs, conservationist and author















   

January 11th Finchy walk in Greenwood Cemetery

Leader Megan Thornton (debut)

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Megan Thornton 
Date: Mon, Jan 12, 2026 at 9:31 AM
Subject: Re: Gwc walk 
To: Peter Dorosh 

Hi Peter,

It was a great walk! Lots of engagement and excitement from everyone : - D ! We had amazing views as a juvenile RTH attempted to catch a squirrel, and then we watched him practice his technique on an unsuspecting stick before he flew low over us. I was glad to get such a grand show! I'd say we had about 25 people, with a mix of new and familiar faces. 

Here's the checklist:

Red-bellied Woodpecker (6, only 1 male)

Mourning Dove (15)

Monk Parakeets (18)

White-breasted Nuthatch (4)

Red-breasted Nuthatch (2)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1)

American Crow (6)

Red-tailed Hawk (4, 2 of which were beautiful adults, perhaps a pair)

Cooper's Hawk (2 adults)

Sharp-shinned Hawk (1 adult)

Dark-eyed Junco (25)

Tufted Titmouse (2)

White-throated Sparrow (4, surprised there weren't more)

Eastern Towhee (1 female)

Fox Sparrow (6, woohoo!)

Northern Mockingbird (4)

American Robin (10)

Northern Cardinal (6)

Cedar Waxwing (8)

House Finch (10)

American goldfinch (6)

Carolina Wren (1)

Mallard (8)

Bufflehead (3 males)

Ruddy Duck (1 female)

American Black Duck (5)

and about 5 million Blue Jays! (I'm sure it was more like 30... hard to tell, they were EVERYWHERE as expected haha)

We didn't get deep enough in for the Orange-crowned warbler, but thankfully no one minded; everyone seemed eager to check out the feeders at Dell Water, so we hung to those familiar routes. :- )

Thank you again so much for having me lead this walk! I'll be in touch for leading another walk hopefully in late spring or early summer? 

Take care,

Megan

January 3rd Frosty beginnings Coney Island Winter Walk

Chris Laskowski leading

Hi Peter, 

16 people showed up today and toughed it through some chilly 🥶 conditions. It was a fun day nonetheless. We mostly birded the pier and creek (east end) . The highlights were several hundred scooters scattered about, they were mainly Black Scooters but there were also some Surf mixed in. We had 11 duck species in total so we had a nice variety. We saw a few purple sandpipers. A special Thank you to Adelia for helping me and to Sameer for doing the list.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S292150458

eBird Checklist - 1 Jan 2026 - Prospect Park - 29 species. BBC walk led by Stanley Greenberg

https://ebird.org/checklist/S291608713

“ We had 30 species, plus Radka’s brant and merlin, which she had on the way over. Highlights were three ring necked ducks, common merganser, two hairy woodpeckers, yb sapsucker and brown creeper. When I got there 8 people showed up and then a few more added on, so total of 15.

Cold and windy day 

Something to think about for the New year:

What is success?
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate the beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch Or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!

Ralph Waldo Emerson
















   

Fwd: Brooklyn Bird Club Trip to Staten Island 12/13/2025

"If we had not had a Christmas Bird Count in those early years, we would not have as strong an understanding of long term bird trends. Many of these changes take place gradually." - Chan Robbins, legendary biologist, retired USFWS employee, and creator of the North American Breeding Bird Survey
Robbins bio:
https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/robbins/index.cfm

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Tom Preston <t
Date: Wed, Dec 17, 2025, 5:54 PM
Subject: Brooklyn Bird Club Trip to Staten Island 12/13/2025
To: Peter Dorosh <

Hi Peter

We had a good trip to the Eastern shore of Staten Island on Saturday. It was a cloudy day, but not too cold, and without a great deal of wind. It featured a total of 59 species of bird.

Participants: Kathy Toomey, Louis DeMarco, Michele T, Asher Fusco, Fabio Vera,  Marleny Rafferty, Julian Elman, Haley Sh, Chris Miller. Tom Preston (leader)

Registrar: JoAnn Preston

Highlights included: an adult Iceland Gull at Wolfe's Pond Park, Greater White-fronted Goose at the New Creek Watershed, 2 Lapland Longspurs at Great Kills, and a Common Eider from Ocean Breeze FIshing Pier.

Many of today's birds were found by sharp-eyed Julian Elman

The eBird trip report is at:https://ebird.org/tripreport/442128

Regards

Tom

Fwd: Trip report Will you be my gullfriend December 6th

Leading Dennis Hrehowsik and Bobbie Manian 

"If we had not had a Christmas Bird Count in those early years, we would not have as strong an understanding of long term bird trends. Many of these changes take place gradually." - Chan Robbins, legendary biologist, retired USFWS employee, and creator of the North American Breeding Bird Survey
Robbins bio:
https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/robbins/index.cfm

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Dennis Hrehowsik <
Date: Mon, Dec 8, 2025, 3:07 PM
Subject: Re: Trip report
To: Peter Dorosh <
Cc: Roberta Manian <

Hey Peter!

We had a great day 40 birders met at Coney Island and observed 5 species of gull. ring billed, herring, laughing, lesser and great black back representing 11 different plumages. We also had 5 purple sandpipers as well as all three scoters for 26 species total.  A pleasure to birds with so many folks with sharp eyes and great questions. I think they're all ready for the CBC! Brooklyn winter birding at its best. 

Best,

Dennis and Bobbi

BBC Gull workshop
26 species

Brant  35
Canada Goose  17
Surf Scoter  5     Several in an around 25th streetarea about 59 yards offshore
White-winged Scoter  1
Black Scoter  50     Conservative count several small rafts all along beach and about 20 at 35th st jetti.
Long-tailed Duck  3
Bufflehead  10
Red-breasted Merganser  3
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  300
American Coot  1
Purple Sandpiper  5
Laughing Gull  1
Ring-billed Gull  450
American Herring Gull  500
Great Black-backed Gull  19
Lesser Black-backed Gull  2     Both on beach west of ford theater a few hundred yards apart yellow legs dark eye yellow bill with gonydeal spot smaller than Hegu
Red-throated Loon  1
Common Loon  2
Northern Gannet  50     Off of shore in direction of Atlantic highlands diving in a loose flock
Double-crested Cormorant  12
Great Blue Heron  1
Fish Crow  3
European Starling  100
Northern Mockingbird  1
American Robin  3
House Sparrow  5