Species 121-124: "Peep-Lo!" cries the Piping Plover

Back in the summers of 1999, 2000, and 2001 (and briefly in 2005), I strolled along the beaches of Long Island and New York City monitoring the breeding of the endangered Piping Plover. When it comes to getting to know a bird, it doesn't get much more familiar than I was able to get with these little tan puffballs.

As soon as I heard the call this weekend at Jones Beach's West End, I instantly recognized what bird made it, and began scanning the uninterrupted expanse of sand for movement or a little of the black and white on the Piping Plover's plumage. Plovers avoid predators by squatting down in depressions in the sand and not moving, their camouflage being so effective that they are almost impossible to see. Only when this particular bird moved and began to tilt to the side letting its wing hang limply did I begin to see it. The "broken wing display" draws predators away from the nest in normal situations. In the presence of an experienced plover steward like myself, I expect the bird finds it disconcerting that its usual display results in me walking away from it and probably closer to the nest it is trying to protect.

Don't be fooled! Piping Plover's Broken wing display

I walked the expanse of the beach from one walkway to the Jetty, then back east to the next walkway. I only saw 13 species, but 4 were new for the year. Ocean side beach like this is a habitat I haven't been to this year, but need to come to more frequently as the season wears on. Now that we have passed the summer solstice, days will begin to get shorter and the birds in the far north will begin their long migrations back to the southern hemisphere. I hope to get back to the Long Island beaches for birding at least once a month this summer so I can catch the rest of these species.

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
121	Willet	2	Jones Beach SP--West End	US-NY	19-Jun-10
122	Piping Plover	13	Jones Beach SP--West End	US-NY	19-Jun-10
123	Common Tern	12	Jones Beach SP--West End	US-NY	19-Jun-10
124	Least Tern	8	Jones Beach SP--West End	US-NY	19-Jun-10

Species 119 and 120: Summer in Swing Part 2 - Patience is Hard

Today I had approximately 90 minutes to speed through Sunken Meadow State Park before I had to go back west to get my significant other from church. When speed is of the essence, it works against a birder. You have to be willing to part with a potential sighting for the sake of other commitments or other birds. This is not one of my strong points - I make notoriously slow progress down a trail when there are birds to be seen in the bush.

So, there I was on the higher elevation forested trails of Sunken Meadow, already having seen Tufted Titmice, Chickadees, Cardinal, and a VERY loud Eastern Towhee who was still calling in my ear. I stood frozen while other hikers passed me by and probably made some odd looks over at me. I heard a very different call than usual - it sounded like "DIP baby DIIIIP," coming from a skulker who didn't want to be seen. Minutes ticked by, and I kept looking at my phone to see my time of departure get closer and closer - 25 minutes, 20 minutes, 15 minutes. Mind you, I was about at the halfway point of my walk and thanks to closed roads on account of molting Canada Geese, had a long distance of parking lot to walk before I could get back to the car.

Finally after about 20 minutes of walking back and forth over 30 feet of trail, I spotted my target, a White-Eyed Vireo, for about 45 seconds. I guess sensing my intense concentration, a hiker stopped before crossing my line of sight to the bird and waited at least 30 seconds before I stopped muttering self-congratulations and told him he could walk past. What a bird though - the name is right about the eye - it has a very distinctive ring of white in the iris, and is just attractive all around. It looks like someone painted it using only black, white, and yellow. Just as I was getting into a full moment of admiration, the secretive vireo at last accommodated my wife's plans, and dove back out of sight into the bush. I double timed my way back, having to be satisfied for now.

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
119	Black-crowned Night-Heron	1	Sunken Meadow State Park	US-NY	13-Jun-10
120	White-eyed Vireo	1	Sunken Meadow State Park	US-NY	13-Jun-10

Species 115-118: Summer in Swing Part 1 - Port Washington

It's been a busy month in our lives. We moved this past June 1st, picking up our stuff from the 3rd flight walk-up in Astoria and moving it all to a house in Port Washington. It's great having some land to plant and some space to spread out. So far we haven't unpacked all that much, but I've gotten to plant a small garden and a flower bed. I'm also experimenting with the Topsy-Turvy tomato grower - basically a tomato plan suspended upside-down in a fancy bag of dirt. It's nice living the suburban life, especially now that there's plenty of daylight to be had at this change of the seasons to summer.

With the craziness of the move and packing, it was hard to get out during the May peak of migration. I'm sure there are a bunch of species I'll have missed for the year thanks to the transition (I'm still kicking myself for not finding the Prothonotary Warbler in Northport around Easter). This past weekend I finally got back out into the world to look for birds, and the first place I went was the very odd Sands Point Preserve right here in my new home of Port Washington. The preserve is along the north and east shore of the "neck" that contains Port Washington, and it has got a variety of purposes. It seems the major attraction are the two castles - literally, castles - that were once homes for the rich and famous. All the land around there, the forests and the crumbling sea wall one might call a beach, show evidence of a more bourgeoisie past. Thanks to time and disrepair though, a lot of the beach is reverting to very tidal shoreline and the forests are in varying stages of succession - everything from Japanese Knotweed to full grown maples.

The variety of habitats makes it a nice place for birds to stop over during migration (which I missed) or just for breeding. I got to see a bit of the latter, and it contributed nicely to my year list. The best sighting were Bank Swallows which seem to nest in abundance in the North Shore's steep and mostly stable beach cliffs. I saw many dozen active nest holes (see picture at left) on my walk at the shoreline. The swallows were all over the grounds of the preserve, swooping and twisting in the air, always leaving me with a sense of expectation they might land, but almost always at the last minute twisting away in an acrobatic effort for another insect on the wing.



Here's the list for that day:

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
115	Yellow Warbler	2	Sands Point Preserve	US-NY	12-Jun-10
116	Bank Swallow	10	Sands Point Preserve	US-NY	12-Jun-10
117	Cedar Waxwing	3	Sands Point Preserve	US-NY	12-Jun-10
118	Wood Thrush	2	Sands Point Preserve	US-NY	12-Jun-10

Species 118 - Wood Thrush - best ID'd by their trilly, lyrical call, but the ones I heard weren't much in the mood for singing.

Species 115 on the other hand - Yellow Warblers couldn't shut up!

Species 75-114: I know, I know, I've been busy.

How bad have I been at keeping up with this? Reeeeeaaaalllly bad. I haven't posted in almost 2.5 months. I have gone birding a lot in that time, although not lately. Some of the places I've been during this peak of migration have been Jamaica Bay, Sweetbriar preserve in Suffolk, and Montauk Point in early April. I'm going to post the updated list for now and let you peruse it for your enjoyment. This time, I am attempting to make links for some of the more exciting birds so you can read about them on Cornell's "All About Birds" website.

Now that school is letting out, I will be getting myself and my binoculars out more often. There are still lots of shorebirds I have not seen since they came in during migration. Namely, I need some terns, piping plovers, skimmers, and peeps. In the woods, there are still a lot of warblers and flycatchers out there waiting to be found. And of course, let us not forget that on June 29th, Kim and I will be flying to Puerto Rico. I've already started compiling species I should see there. With any luck, maybe I'll see one of the 50 or so P.R. Parrots that still remain in the wild.

The list since March 27th:

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
75	Ring-necked Pheasant	1	Sagaponack - Fairfield Pond Rd.	US-NY	30-Mar-10
76	Common Eider	50	Montauk SP	US-NY	31-Mar-10
77	Black Scoter	400	Montauk SP	US-NY	31-Mar-10
78	Northern Gannet	4	Montauk SP	US-NY	31-Mar-10
79	Surf Scoter	50	Montauk SP	US-NY	1-Apr-10
80	White-winged Scoter	3	Montauk SP	US-NY	1-Apr-10
81	Wilson's Snipe	3	Montauk - Theodore Roosevelt SP 3rd House	US-NY	1-Apr-10
82	Osprey	2	Sears-Bellows County Park	US-NY	2-Apr-10
83	Eastern Towhee	1	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	10-Apr-10
84	Swamp Sparrow	3	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	10-Apr-10
85	Hermit Thrush	10	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	10-Apr-10
86	Winter Wren	1	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	10-Apr-10
87	Laughing Gull	15	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
88	Great Egret	2	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
89	Green-winged Teal	16	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
90	Glossy Ibis	2	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
91	Chipping Sparrow	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
92	Brown Thrasher	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
93	American Oystercatcher	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
94	Tree Swallow	50	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
95	Snowy Egret	3	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
96	Palm Warbler	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	17-Apr-10
97	Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	2	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	20-Apr-10
98	Pine Warbler	1	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	20-Apr-10
99	Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	20-Apr-10
100	Wood Duck	1	Central Park--The Pond	US-NY	20-Apr-10
101	Gray Catbird	3	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
102	Boat-tailed Grackle	3	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
103	Least Sandpiper	5	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
104	Orchard Oriole	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
105	American Redstart	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
106	Little Blue Heron	2	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
107	Black-and-white Warbler	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
108	Yellow-crowned Night-Heron	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
109	Tricolored Heron	1	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
110	Barn Swallow	4	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond	US-NY	30-Apr-10
111	Chimney Swift	4	Flushing International High School - 147th St and Barclay Ave.	US-NY	4-May-10
112	House Wren	2	Sweetbriar Nature Center	US-NY	8-May-10
113	Hairy Woodpecker	1	Sweetbriar Nature Center	US-NY	8-May-10
114	Blue-winged Warbler	2	Sweetbriar Nature Center	US-NY	8-May-10

Species 74: At Risk

The Rusty Blackbird is a migrant on its way North after spending the winter here. I was lucky enough to catch them at Central Park today. Anywhere there are relatively clean, wooded creeks with lots of leaf litter, there should be this bird. Unfortunately, their populations have been on the decline the last several decades, probably due to loss of this habitat. While it's nice to see them in the heart of NYC, it's been several years since I saw them last. Despite the nagging feeling at the back of my mind, I always hate to think this is a "Last chance to see" situation. There is a national campaign in place, the Rusty Blackbird Blitz, to track them in their wintering habitat in the US. Hopefully with some more attention, conservation scientists can begin to understand the cause of the decline of this beautiful species.

(above) Male in breeding plumage
(below) "Rusty" winter plumage

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
74	Rusty Blackbird	3	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	27-Mar-10

Species 69-73: Spring is Here

This weekend and last, the sun has come back to warm up New York. OK, today was only 45 degrees F, but the sun made it a whole lot more bearable. Mixed with the remaining birds of winter, I'm starting to see more of the summer residents of New York. Lots of ducks still remain on the ponds of Prospect Park and Sunken Meadow. There are still Common Loons on Long Island Sound as of last weekend, as well (see prior post).

However, Common Grackles showed up in force this week, Eastern Phoebes are back in both Prospect and Central Parks, and in Central Park today I saw a Golden-Crowned Kinglet for the first time this year. Another oddly absent bird in the winter is the Double-Crested Cormorant. Two were at the Belvedere Castle in Central Park today, foreshadowing the onslaught of thousands that will decimate our fish populations in the summer.

Eastern Phoebe - its call is easy - "Phee-bee"

DC Cormorants aren't waterproof because they don't have oil glands like other waterfowl, so they have to air-dry.

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
69	Common Grackle	30	Sunken Meadow State Park	US-NY	20-Mar-10
70	American Coot	4	Prospect Park - Lullwater	US-NY	21-Mar-10
71	Eastern Phoebe	1	Prospect Park	US-NY	21-Mar-10
72	Golden-crowned Kinglet	1	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	27-Mar-10
73	Double-crested Cormorant	2	Central Park--The Ramble	US-NY	27-Mar-10

Species 68: Cooper's Hawk in Traffic

Driving from Flushing to Northport for her birthday dinner with the folks, Kim decided the scenic route of 25A would be faster. In Huntington one of her shortcuts diverted us around the traffic of Main Street, but then put us into the parking lot of the Elk's Lodge. I am told that normally there are never any cars in this parking lot. On this night, the Elks must have been meeting because the lot was packed and there was a line of cars trying to get back out onto Main St.

Whiling away the time in the passenger seat, I saw a silhouette not too high up flying toward us from the East. As it got closer, the long tail and good size told me I was seeing my first Cooper's Hawk of the year. It kept going west while we were still in the lot a while longer. We definitely didn't save time, but it sure was scenic and productive.

At twilight, this is about what I saw.

Row #	Species	Count	Location	S/P	Date
68	Cooper's Hawk	1	Huntington - Elk's Lodge Inn	US-NY	19-Mar-10