Registrar: Amy Simmons
Participants: 17
Weather: High 55/low 46 degrees, partly cloudy, winds 8-10 mph
Bird Species: 60
Many thanks to Peter Dorosh for leading a wonderful tour of coastal Brooklyn. Our trip was originally scheduled for Saturday the 19th, but due to a forecast of likely rain, we moved the trip to Sunday. While it didn’t end up raining on Saturday after all, Sunday proved to be an even more beautiful day. Also, our field trip had the distinction of taking place during both winter AND spring, as the March Equinox took place at 11:30 am on Sunday. (Thank you, Peter, for pointing this out!)
We started the trip at 7:45 a.m. at Calvert Vaux Park, where we enjoyed a variety of passerines and waterfowl, including Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, Eastern Meadowlark, Horned Grebe, Common Loon, Red-throated Loon, and Long-tailed Duck. This was our most productive location, with a total of 35 species seen or heard by at least one member of the group.
Our next stop was Coney Island Pier, where we saw 10 species, including three Northern Gannets and a vocalizing Fish Crow. We were also treated to a pair of Horned Grebes engaged in courtship behavior—the male beginning to show breeding plumage.
From Coney Island, we headed to Plumb Beach, where we added Great Cormorant and (a rather early) Laughing Gull to our species list.
Our penultimate stop was Floyd Bennett Field, where we birded several spots following a break for lunch at the Community Gardens there. Our total for this stop was 33 species, including American Oystercatcher, Killdeer, Great Cormorant, Field Sparrow, and Yellow-rumped Warbler.
Our final destination, the Salt Marsh Nature Center at Marine Park, yielded a total of 26 species for those who were able to stay until 5 pm. New species for the day seen here included Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Greater Scaup, Ruddy Duck, Great Egret, and Osprey.
In all, a great day—not just thanks to the birds, but thanks to an excellent leader and the wonderful camaraderie of such a positive, enthusiastic, and good-humored group of birders!
Species Lists
Birds
Snow Goose
Brant
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
American Black Duck
Greater Scaup
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Horned Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
American Oystercatcher
Killdeer
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Northern Gannet
Great Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Tree Swallow
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Brown Creeper
Carolina Wren (h)
European Starling
Northern Mockingbird
American Robin
House Sparrow
House Finch
Field Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Song Sparrow
Eastern Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
