Plumb Beach & Anhinga Twitch
Brooklyn, NYC
Thursday 4 May 2023
50 °F
FRIDAY, APRIL 28:
This morning, I visited one of my favorite spring haunts in Brooklyn: Plumb Beach! My targets included Seaside Sparrow, Clapper Rail, Black Skimmer, assorted shorebirds, and any other marine-type species that might be hanging around. I wanted to make sure to hit this location at least one last time before graduating in just under three weeks from now! Afterward, I would make a quick stop at Prospect Park to pick up a continuing rarity there, an Anhinga that has taken up residence at Prospect Lake and is part of an overall invasion of Anhingas into the northeast over the last week or so.
So, after a ride on the D, B trains, and my scooter, I arrived at Plumb Beach, dumped my scooter in the bushes, and started birding!
The usual first thing on my Plumb Beach agenda is a beach-walk which today only yielded common species like LAUGHING GULLS in their breeding plumage (so much more attractive than their nonbreeding IMO):
BRANT:
GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS:
This juvenile had a good-sized crab for breakfast (this is not a small bird by any means!):
FORSTER’S TERNS, my first-of-the-year:
Here’s one in front of Breezy Point, another one of my favorite birding destinations:
HERRING GULL:
GREAT EGRET:
WILLET:
Female BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE:
At one point, I spotted a suspicious-looking sparrow running through the grasses but it turned out to a SONG SPARROW rather than my hoped-for Seaside (that would likely never pose long enough for even a photo of this quality, hah!):
More Terns with Laughing Gulls:
SNOWY EGRET:
Though I ended up dipping on my main saltmarsh targets, Seaside Sparrow & Clapper Rail, I did get another saltmarsh specialty in the form of these GLOSSY IBIS:
GREATER YELLOWLEGS:
AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER:
AMERICAN BLACK DUCK:
It was chilly and windy — I really should have considered this prior to making the effort to going all the way to Plumb which is quite a trek from the Upper West Side. But I guess that’s just birding!
After a thorough sweep of the entirety of the saltmarsh, it was time to call it quits so I took the B train back to Prospect Park in hopes of the rare Anhinga at the lake. Right off the bat, I had this WOOD DUCK:
And soon enough, I spotted a birder who was looking at the target ANHINGA! Though it was a bit obscured by leaves, it sure enough was roosting on Three Sisters Island right where it was supposed to be! Awesome! You can make out its distinctive bare, snake-like neck even through the leaves.
This bird, as I mentioned, is part of a general invasion of Anhingas into the northeast this week which has included birds in New Jersey and an amazing flock of twenty-two that appeared in Rome, NY further upstate the other day! So it was nice to catch part of this phenomenon (especially after missing out on the Arctic Tern craze that was last spring).
GREAT BLUE HERON:
Bird-of-the-day to the Anhinga and runner-up to the Glossy Ibis — though I didn’t fare well bird-wise in the chilly, windy weather at Plumb Beach, I made up for it with a successful twitch!
Happy birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1150 Species
Enjoyed your photos! Man, years ago I thought the Anhinga was only in Georgia and Florida (for the U.S.) crazy to have an entire flock come up there. The black backed gull juvenile with a crab: great catch!
by Mary McCutchan