Registrar: Debbie Mullins
Participants: 17
Weather: Overcast skies, 55-64 degrees F, northerly winds at 4 mph
Bird Species: 58
Seventeen birders went out to Queens to explore several points around Jamaica Bay. To comply with LSNYC covid-19 safety guidelines, we divided into two groups lead by Peter Dorosh or by Anne Lazarus and Alice Deutsch. We started at Sunset Cove Park/Big Egg Marsh where we found hundreds of Brant, as well as other wintertime species, including Greater Scaup, Bufflehead and Red-breasted Merganser. Several Savannah Sparrows posed on a fence rail for us, while a Northern Harrier glided overhead. At the Jamaica Bay N.W.R, we circled the West Pond. Ducks were abundant, and we caught a glimpse of a Barn Owl sheltering in its box. An elusive Orange-crowned Warbler was briefly glimpsed near the breach. We walked out to the East Pond overlook near Big John’s Pond where one group was fortunate to arrive in time to see about 300 Snow Geese who lifted off en masse as were leaving. Hundreds of Ruddy Ducks, several Pied-bill Grebes, a Horned Grebe, Greater and Lesser Scaup, Green-winged Teal and other duck species were also present.
Species Lists
Birds
Snow Goose
Brant
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
American Black Duck
Green-winged Teal
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
American Coot
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Barn Owl
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Merlin
American Crow
Fish Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Northern Mockingbird
American Robin
House Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Chipping Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Butterflies
Cabbage White
Buckeye
Clouded Sulphur
Cloudless Sulphur
Odonate
Green Darner
Mammal
Eastern Gray Squirrel
