Registrar: Karen Asakawa
Participants: 11
Weather: Sunny, wind calm, mid 80 degrees Fahrenheit
Bird Species: 58
Eleven participants ventured out to Great Kills, Staten Island to see the Bank Swallow colony at low tide and were not disappointed. We had great looks at the swallows as they swooshed in and out of their colonies in the sandbanks. Next, at Lemon Creek, we saw adult Purple Martins and young at very close range perched at their houses and gourds. We continued to Mt. Loretto where we sighted an uncommon dragonfly, Needham›s Skimmer, and many birds such as Indigo Bunting, Belted Kingfisher, Bald Eagle, Rough-winged Swallow and more. Our last stop was at a new location for many participants, Oakwood Beach Tidal Marsh, where we heard the Clapper Rail and saw three Little Blue Herons. Interestingly, we learned that Oakwood Beach Tidal Marsh has one of the densest populations of Boat-tailed Grackles nesting in New York City. We had a total of 58 bird species, 12 butterfly species and 14 odonate species.
Species Lists
Birds
Canada Goose
Mallard
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Clapper Rail (h)
American Oystercatcher
Killdeer
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Common Tern
Double-crested Cormorant
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Glossy Ibis
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Warbling Vireo
American Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
House Wren
Carolina Wren (h)
European Starling
Gray Catbird (h)
Northern Mockingbird
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Field Sparrow (h)
Song Sparrow (h)
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Butterflies
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Black Swallowtail
Spicebush Swallowtail
Cabbage White
Clouded Sulphur
Orange Sulphur
Summer Azure
Common Buckeye
American Snout
Red-spotted Purple
Monarch
Broad-winged Skipper
Moths
Bumblebee Clearwing Moth
Sphinx Moth Species Caterpillar
Odonates
Bluet species
Green Darner
Black Saddlebags
Carolina Saddlebags
Spot-winged Glider
Wandering Glider
Eastern Amberwing
Painted Skimmer
Needham’s Skimmer
Twelve-spotted Skimmer
Common Whitetail
Slaty Skimmer
Blue Dasher
Eastern Pondhawk
Herps
Bullfrog (h)
Mammals
Whitetail Deer
Eastern Gray Squirrel
