Registrar: Ursula Mitra
Participants: 15
Weather: 28 degrees F, sunny to overcast, winds SSW 10-20 mph, light snow from time to time
Bird Species: 56
We thank Richard ZainEldeen for leading this wonderful trip to several locations on Staten Island. This was approximately the 120th trip he has guided for The Linnaean Society of NY in 40 years, an impressive contribution to the Society.
It was cold and slightly windy as 15 participants gathered at Great Kills Park. We met at the second parking lot, where Buffalo Street turns along the ocean beach. From there, we saw Common Goldeneye, Red-breasted and Hooded Mergansers, Common Loon, and Horned Grebes. Since it was high tide, we then focused on the bay side, but returned to the parking lot at low tide later in the day, just to check again for the King Eider that had been reported at that location for some time. Unfortunately, we didn’t see it.
Next we visited Blue Heron Park, a lovely place with a beautiful Nature Center and bathrooms. Behind the Nature Center were feeders that attracted a nice group of birds. Highlights were a Brown Creeper and a Hairy Woodpecker, and two Red-shouldered Hawks flying over. We were also fortunate to glimpse an Eastern Screech Owl (red morph) sleeping in its cavity in the park.
Our next stop, Wolfe’s Pond Park, yielded Killdeer, Dunlin, Sanderlings, Common Goldeneyes, a Ruddy Turnstone—and a Bald Eagle!
We stopped next at Arbutus Lake, hoping to see Ring-necked Ducks—and we succeeded, eliminating the need to go to the Moravian Cemetery (our fallback to find this species). Concluding the trip was an optional visit by five members of the group to the Staten Island Hospital parking lot to see 45 Wild Turkeys (maybe not quite “Wild,” as they seemed fairly tame and paid us no attention, allowing for some very close looks at these magnificent creatures.) Thank you for the tip, Richard!
Overall it was a wonderful outing. A big thank you to everyone for coming and contributing. Good birding!
Species Lists
Birds
Brant
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Mallard
American Black Duck
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Wild Turkey
Horned Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Killdeer
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Dunlin
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Great Cormorant
Turkey Vulture
Cooper’s Hawk
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Eastern Screech-Owl (red morph)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Carolina Wren (h)
European Starling
Northern Mockingbird
American Robin
House Sparrow
House Finch
Dark-eyed Junco
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Mammals
White-tailed Deer
