Registrar: Pearl Broder
Participants: 10
Weather: sunny, slight breeze, upper 40’s-upper 50’s F
Bird Species: 42
We all want to thank our Excellent leader, Gordon Lam for this exciting trip with unexpected sightings. The highlight was a Western Kingbird. The Blue Grosbeak was also a highlight. Royal Terns are attracted to Fort Tilden, and we saw 26 of them. Another big surprise was the sighting of an immature Bald Eagle. A harbinger of the changing season was the return of the Common and Red-throated Loons. We were entertained at lunchtime by the sudden appearance of 22 Black Skimmers. The lunchtime show continued with the arrival of two flocks of Sanderlings. We observed two Black-bellied Plovers, and this species will be seen throughout the winter. The Yellow-rumped Warblers were the dominant warbler species. We enjoyed watching the soon-to-depart Forster’s Terns, last of the genus sterna to bid us farewell, until their return next year.
Gordon also explained to us the history of Fort Tilden. He has a strong interest in ecology. We learned more about the relationships among the various plant and animal species. We did see evidence of a Ghost Crab, which is a more southern species. We saw the remains of an Atlantic Sharpnose Shark. It is a small shark inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean in the northeast. This area is home to Bottlenose Dolphins, and one did make a brief appearance.
Species Lists
Birds
Common Eider
Black Scoter
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Black-bellied Plover
Sanderling
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Forster’s Tern
Royal Tern
Black Skimmer
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
Osprey
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Bald Eagle
Northern Flicker
Merlin
Eastern Phoebe
Western Kingbird
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
American Robin
House Sparrow
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Blue Grosbeak
Butterflies
American Lady
Monarch
Buckeye
Odonates
Green Darner
