August 3 - Jamaica Bay rarities

Wow, a banner day today. My friends, who yesterday had seen the rare asian migrant of Red-Necked Stint here, decided to make a return trip and I fortunately joined them.
I had seen this Stint species once before, up in Connecticut in July 2006.

While searching for this bird, another birder in Phil Jeffrey, saw a Sharp-Tailed Sandpiper !!

credit: www.birdingintaiwan.org

This bird appeared very dark, due to the heavy barring of the chevrons, and it's red cap stood out especially as the day progressed & the lighting got brighter. We were able to see the bird on three separate occasions, with the views getting better each time, due to better light.
credit: Ed Coyle

credit: Doug Gochfeld

This is just the 3rd accepted record of this species in New York State.
This siberian breeder does have records of juveniles that reach northwestern Alaska.



Later this morning I spotted the Red-Necked Stint which has been here since Friday, August 1.
The Stint is the 5th accepted record for the State of New York. Typically this species is found in Asia, with a breeding range that reaches into northwestern Alaska

Stint photos courtesy of Doug Gochfeld.
More can be seen @ http://picasaweb.google.com/fresha2411/JBWR2008

We had incredible views of this bird from just about 25 feet away. In fact it was too close for a spotting scope at certain times !

Visit Doug's website for a pair of quick videos showing the bird feeding.