Jamaica Bay during high shorebird season

THURSDAY, AUGUST 1:

This afternoon, after three days in NYC making music and meeting with friends, I finally had a free afternoon to get out birding. The catch: it was one of the hottest, muggiest days of the summer with a high of 92 and near 100% humidity. Well, I threw on my swimming trunks (just in case) and decided to get over to Jamaica Bay for the first time in a long while since there were some interesting shorebirds being seen there recently. Probably the best target bird would be an immature White-faced Ibis that has been frequenting the area recently. This would be a New York life bird for me. Other nice species around recently have been Gull-billed & Least Terns and Western Sandpiper.

Google maps said it would take almost two hours to get there by subway from Sunnyside, Queens (where I was staying with my friend Abby), so I outsmarted google maps by heading deeper into Queens on the 7 and M trains before transferring to the Q53 bus which would take me all the way to Jamaica Bay. This single-handedly shaved an hour off of my commute — too bad I don’t run Google Maps!

My first destination was East Pond where the bulk of the shorebirds hang out on the flats. From the southernmost vantage point I scoped out a bunch of LAUGHING GULLS with a couple GREAT BLACK-BACKED thrown into the mix.

Then, I spotted one of my targets for the day: GULL-BILLED TERN! This is only the second time I have ever seen this bird my entire life so I was thrilled to see this nonbreeding-type individual (as evidenced by the black eye patch). Note the stubby “gull” bill:

Flyover OSPREY:

On my way to the “Birding Bench” lookout, this GRAY CATBIRD mobbed me; I was probably too close to a fledgling or something.

A YELLOW WARBLER also came in to investigate:

There were many birds seen from Birding Bench including these AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS mixed in with the MUTE SWANS:

Flyover BANK SWALLOW:

COMMON TERN:

One of the first “Peeps” (small sandpipers) I saw of the day was one of my target birds, a WESTERN SANDPIPER, distinguished from the similar Semipalmated by the rusty “shoulder patches” — super cool to get this bird right off the bat!

Two shorebird quizzes: can you ID these birds correctly in the next two photos? Test yourself before you read on

The answers:
Photo 1, L to R: 2 COMMON TERNS, 1 FORSTER’S TERN, 1 EASTERN WILLET, 1 PECTORAL SANDPIPER, 1 KILLDEER
Photo 2, L to R: LEAST SANDPIPER, PECTORAL SANDPIPER, SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER, LESSER YELLOWLEGS

If you want specific ID tips on any of these, leave me a comment below. Shorebirds can be tricky, especially in the hot sunny weather!

Another look at a Dowitcher:

GLOSSY IBIS was nice, though not the White-faced for which I was hoping:

Some other people moved into the Birding Bench area so I took that as my cue to leave for Big John’s Pond. There, I saw this SOLITARY SANDPIPER:

And a BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON escaping the searing heat:

MOURNING DOVE:

GREAT BLUE HERON:

LEAST SANDPIPER:

Male AMERICAN GOLDFINCH:

After this brief stop, I made the incredibly grueling, hot, buggy walk (I had my shirt off by this point) to the northern access to the East Pond which is typically the most productive for shorebirds. Indeed it was, with thousands of shorebirds in view! I had never birded Jamaica Bay quite during peak shorebird season before so this was so cool to see. SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS were everywhere:

As were SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, the most common shorebird of the day:

SNOWY EGRET (with a Lesser Yellowlegs photobombing):

Least Sandpiper:

Lesser Yellowlegs with Least & Semipalmated Sandpipers:

STILT SANDPIPERS, super cool to see:

Then, I photographed the immature WHITE-FACED IBIS for which I had been looking! Note that, ironically enough, immature birds have a red facial patch (and a clear red eye). So cool and a New York lifer, and my first one ever seen east of the Mississippi!

GREATER with Lesser Yellowlegs — see the difference now? The overall “giss” of the Greater is that of a much more imposing bird with an oversized bill.

Many Short-billed Dowitchers with some Stilt Sandpipers and Laughing Gulls intermixed:

Lots of birds in this photo, how many can you identify? I see: Semipalmated, Least, & Solitary Sandpipers, Lesser Yellowlegs, Laughing, Ring-billed, and Great Black-backed Gulls, Common & Gull-billed Terns, and one new one for the day: a single BLACK SKIMMER!

So, what is the new species in this photo?

That’s right, an AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER! (center left)

Roosting Semipalmated Plovers and Sandpipers, the most common shorebirds of the day:

The new bird in this photo is in the center; a beautiful RUDDY TURNSTONE!

Gull-billed, Forster’s, and Common Terns with Semipalmated Plovers & Sandpipers, Killdeer, Ruddy Turnstone, and Glossy Ibis:

Another good luck at Glossy Ibis:

Semipalmated Sandpipers in flight:

Another Osprey:

GREAT EGRET, Canada Geese, Herring, & Great Black-backed Gulls:

Pectoral with Semipalmated & Least Sandpipers, and a Killdeer:

Pectoral (the larger one) with Semipalmated Sandpipers:

The rump of an Eastern Painted Turtle to end the day:

After three hours of solidly drenched-in-sweat but rewarding shorebirding, I called it an afternoon and reversed my commute back to Sunnyside, Queens which again worked seemlessly. Bird-of-the-day to the NYS rare White-faced Ibis with runners-up to the Western Sandpiper and Gull-billed Terns. What great birding!!! It was such a treat to be back at Jamaica Bay and pretty much during peak season for East Pond.

Now I am off to Vienna for a week of conducting, followed by almost two weeks on my annual Idaho trip with family and friends! Stay tuned for more — hopefully I’ll find a bird or two in Vienna. And I definitely will in Idaho!

Happy birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1304 Species