Registrar: Nick Dawson
Participants: 10
Weather: Mid 60s to low 70s, partly cloudy, moderate NE breeze
Bird species: 62
Fire Island has a certain magic to it, as do all barrier islands. There is always the chance of something rare and/or ridiculous turning up: a White Ibis; a Sage Thrasher. Or something a little more predictable, like a pelican.
On this particular day, there were no birds that caught us by surprise (until the very end), but the group led by Paul Sweet got to enjoy the diverse array of quotidian birds that can be found on this part of Fire Island on a late September day. Due to the slightly later-than-usual date of this walk, this year’s group did not see the two ammospiza species that breed in the Watch Hill marsh—Seaside Sparrow and Saltmarsh Sparrow—but the birds that we did see sparked joy.
For this crowd of mostly New York City birders, seeing good numbers of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Royal Terns at close range was a true pleasure. There were some unexpected ducks (Blue-winged Teal), and—literally as we were leaving the island on the ferry—eagle-eyed walk attendee Kenelma Perez spotted two Caspian Terns loafing on a dock. There was some good movement of migrating raptors (especially Merlins), and in the small patch of trees and shrubs above the marsh, a smattering of warblers and other migrating passerines could be seen, the most notable of which was a semi-cooperative (but vocal) White-eyed Vireo.
Species List
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Blue-winged Tea
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Greater Yellowlegs
Sanderling
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
American Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Royal Tern
Double-crested Cormorant
Black-crowned Night Heron
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Bald Eagle
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Phoebe
White-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Fish Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Tree Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Northern House Wren
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
American Goldfinch
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler
Northern Parula
Blackpoll Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
