September 2 - Jamaica Bay & Jones Beach

I started this day at Garret Mountain, however it was dreadfully slow there.
As luck would have it I ran into my friends Andy and Jennifer. We all decided to give Jamaica Bay a try.

The birding here today was great. For Jennifer, she was able to see the Red-Necked Phalarope for just her third time. Also there were two very cooperative Wilson's Phalaropes.
credit - Cam MacDonald


The birds that had my interest were the Hudsonian Godwits.
It was great to see the black under-wing of this species:

Godwit photos - Kurt Muenz


Many other fine birds were seen here today. They included Sandpipers of White-Rumped, Pectoral, Stilt, Least, Semi-Palmated, Western, and Spotted. Blue-Winged Teal was seen, as was, Merlin and Northern Harrier.

While at Jamaica Bay we ran into Lloyd Spitalnik who was kind enough to tell us of a Lark Sparrow being seen at Jones Beach. We jumped in the car and headed east. Upon arriving we were able to see two of these sparrows.
As you can see, this bird breeds in the Midwest/West, but a few end up on the east coast during every fall migration.

Finally we went to the West End area of Jones Beach where we had fine looks at five Buff-Breasted Sandpipers and a Baird's Sandpiper. More on these birds in my next posting...