Cruising and scrambling for new birds

Lapland Lonspur

Last weekend, a Lapland Longspur was spotted on Randall's Island. This was the first sighting of one on land in New York County since probably the 1950s (there have been some flyovers). I was lucky enough to get a nice look at it after some adventures.

Sunday began with an Audubon harbor "eco-cruise" through New York harbor, past the Verrazano Bridge to Hoffman and Swinburne Islands. Elena and I and our friends Barbara and Jim were among the 60 or so people who piled on a NY Water Taxi at the South Street Seaport. There were a lot of other birders, but most people were there to see the Harbor Seals that winter around the islands.

Bonaparte's Gull (and Ring-Billed Gull)

We saw plenty of birds first, pointed out by tour leader Gabriel Willow. We stopped off Governor's Island where Double Crested Cormorants and a couple of Great Cormorants basked on the piers, and we saw a sizable flock of Black Ducks around the Island. There were dozens of Bonaparte's Gulls swimming off and flying around the Brooklyn shore.

Long-Tailed Duck

There were a large number of Long-Tailed Ducks, many in flight, recognizable by their bold black-and-white pattern. They were hard to photograph, as were the several Red-Throated and Common Loons we spotted.

Swinburne Island

Hoffman Island and Swinburne Island are artificial islands that were used for quarantining immigrants. Long abandoned, they are now home to large numbers of gulls, to nesting colonies of egrets and herons in the summer, and to overwintering seals in winter.

the seal also watches you

The seals who were basking on rocks offshore slid into teh water as the boat approached, but they seemed curious about us.

gulls on the rocks with a twist of cormorant

The rocks off both islands were covered with loafing gulls, One Double-Crested Cormorant was hanging out with the Herring Gulls there.

composition with Great Black-Backed Gulls

There were also Great Black-Backed Gulls, who stayed mostly a bit apart from the Herring Gulls. They also took over all the wood pilings.

doing the Great Cormorant hop

One Great Cormorant was on the pilings with the Great Black-backeds. Bigger gulls get a bigger cormorant.

distant Surf Scoter

I spotted this unfamiliar duck well to the south of Swinburne Island. Gabriel Willow ID'd it as a Surf Scoter, the first he'd seen on a harbor cruise, and a life bird for me. I really recommend these Audubon cruises; you can get details of upcoming cruises from the NY Water Taxi website.

While we were on the boat, an email from the NYSBIRDS-L mailing list reached my phone about a Lapland Longspur on Randalls Island. I had some trouble getting there--thanks MTA!--and whej I arrived it started to rain. Luckily there were several birds watching the Longspur. Unluckily, just as I was getting to where they were, a dog someone had let off leash (illegally, of course) flushed the bird.

Longspur taking a look around

All ended well when William Haluska refound the bird and pointed me at it. Thanks, William! I watched the bird creep through the brush along the rocks at the water's edge while the rain grew heavier and everyone else left, and then suddenly it popped up on a rock and posed in the open for a minute.

Great Cormorant taking off

Here's a Great Cormorant I saw off the south shore of Randall's Island the other day.



Note the white patch on the flank. I believe that's diagnostic, as is the white around the base of the bill.

I got a nice series of the takeoff, which I did not expect to work; the little Panasonic GX7 performed admirably. If only I could get it to focus on small birds in branches more consistently...

Randall's Island, Christmas Eve

On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, I made my first trip to Randall's Island, having finally figured out that since I'm not working, it's no more out of my way than anywhere else.

I went to the northern end of the island. It was empty and desolate. A lone man sat on the bench of one of the baseball fields. Once in the almost three hours I was there, a woman rollerbladed past. Otherwise, just me and the birds.

I was greeted by the rattle of a Kingfisher, a female, who perched on the Bronx shore near the bridge and swooped over to the island. (And swooped back, eventually; repeat.) Gulls and pigeons commanded the roof of the New York Post printing plant across the river.

A flock of about a hundred Canada Goose, and nearby about 170 Brant, all rested on the water. The saltmarsh itself was pretty quiet--there were a couple of American Tree Sparrows and a Song Sparrow lurking in the shrubs.

Out in the broad East River, two Double-Crested Cormorants fished, and on a small rock to the north-east, four Great Cormorants rested with three of their smaller cousins. The Great Cormorants are my 175th New York County species of the year.