Registrar: Nick Dawson
Participants: 10
Weather: 65 F, sunny, breezy
Bird species: 66
A small but hardy bunch of participants braved the trek from the five boroughs to the Watch Hill Ferry Terminal in Patchogue, where we embarked on the boat taking us to Fire Island. On board, we were treated to good looks at Royal Terns, and a Belted Kingfisher and a (seemingly ailing) Common Loon were the waiting to welcome us as we made landfall.
On the island itself, our leader Paul Sweet guided us around a mix of different habits, all offering up a different menu of birds. In small groups of trees, we saw an array of foraging warblers, including Cape May and Pine, while other migratory passerines included Rose-breasted Grosbeak and an injured Scarlet Tanager which some of the group took back to Wild Bird Fund in Manhattan! On the beach, our gull haul included almost as many Lesser Black-backed as the much more common Great Black-backed, a rare situation particular to Fire Island. Overhead, we saw Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Northern Harrier, Peregrine Falcom, American Kestrel and Bald Eagle, while one Merlin after another passed through — sometimes hunting, sometimes not — on their migratory journeys south. In the marshy area of Watch Hill, we had lingering looks at a number of Saltmarsh Sparrows, but were unable to see any of its Ammospiza cousin, the Seaside Sparrow, which was being too furtive to be evident. Other highlights included a brace of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and a Great Cormorant in amongst a slew of Double-cresteds.
Species List
Birds
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Forster’s Tern
Royal Tern
Common Loon
Great Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Bald Eagle
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Phoebe
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Fish Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tree Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
American Goldfinch
White-throated Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler
Northern Parula
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
