Registrar: Nick Dawson
Participants: 17
Weather: 35°F – 45°F, sunny
Bird Species: 30
On a cold, bright winter day, Annie Barry led an enjoyable walk on Governors Island when, truth be told, the birding gods did not seem to be want to cooperate. Although the group ultimately saw and/or heard 30 species, it was a bit of a grind at times, with long stretches where all that seemed to be on the water were Ring-billed and Herring Gulls and, on land, the passerines had gone silent. Luckily, that made every new species for the day something of an event (“I hear a nuthatch!” “Look, it’s a Mallard!”) in the way it would not normally be. Sadly, Purple Sandpipers were not around to be seen and admired, and the undoubted highlight of the walk was a handful of Bonaparte’s Gulls — a group of eight, and later two more — flying kinetically as they actively fed in the waters of New York harbor, right next to the island.
Species Lists
Birds
Brant
Canada Goose
Gadwall
Mallard
American Black Duck
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Bonaparte’s Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Red-tailed Hawk
Downy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
European Starling
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
