10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2013

If I had my druthers I would be birding the East Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge pretty much every day from July until September. Isn’t Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge a great place to see them? … Trips Jamaica Bay Queens shorebirds' Aren’t shorebirds awesome? Go find some shorebirds!

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Jamaica Wildlife Falcons Family 181

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2013

The national bird of Jamaica is the Red-billed Streamertail , known colloquially as the Doctor Bird and scientifically as Trochilus polytmus. It is endemic to the island of Jamaica, which means that Jamaica is the only place in the world where the Red-billed Streamertail can be found. But Jamaica is loaded with nice birds.

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Jamaica Birds Family Rights 149

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2015

That place is the fabled home of shorebirds, both common and rare, the East Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. American Avocet on Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge’s East Pond. It being mid-August in New York City there is one place where I have to be as often as I can.

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Jamaica Wildlife New York City New York 162

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2011

They are found in the Bahamas, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the Turks and Caicos, Antigua, Barbuda and Jamaica. West Indian Whistling Ducks in Jamaica The decline of the West Indian Whistling Duck has been a steady but gradual one. Until recently.

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Antigua and Barbuda Puerto Rico Dominican Republic Jamaica 243

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 31, 2015

Late morning this past Thursday, 27 August, I was on the East Pond of Jamaica Bay. I was only there because I had worked an overnight and therefore had the day free from work and Desi was busy at a day camp.

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Jamaica Wildlife 2011 Rights 157

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2018

Late Saturday afternoon a Tundra Swan was reported from the south end of the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. done I headed over to Jamaica Bay. A regional rarity around New York City, Tundra Swans are only regular at Hook Pond in Suffolk County, way out on the eastern end of Long Island.

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Jamaica Wildlife New York City Ducks 112

10,000 Birds

MAY 18, 2020

Mourning Warblers are never a guaranteed bird in Queens and seeing one at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge was a real treat. Somehow, despite seeing both species of cuckoo that show up in New York, two dozen species of wood-warbler, and host of other birds, he managed to narrow it down.

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2020 Jamaica New York Birds 353

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2011

That is until a recent Nikon’s BATV film trip to Jamaica revealed a unique avian femme fatale, the Crested Quail-dove -- also known colloquially as the mountain witch. A Crested Quail-dove by Biswarup Satpati Crested Quail-doves are found in limited habitat in the Blue Mountains and John Crow Mountains of eastern Jamaica.

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Hunting Jamaica Blackbirds Transported 235

10,000 Birds

MAY 29, 2017

I’ve lived in Queens for eight years now and have visited Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge over one hundred times while I’ve been here. Every spring American Redstarts get back to Jamaica Bay and set up territories and I’ve never failed to learn exactly where those territories are.

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Jamaica Wildlife Suffering Industry 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2011

“Jah Man (pronounced Jamon )&# is something you will hear often when visiting Jamaica. When our local driver asked me in Patois, an English-lexified creole language unique to Jamaica, if we would like to go and see Jamaican Owl , I had no idea what he was talking about. “Yu wan cu pan da patoo wid dem big eyes?

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Owls Jamaica Cats Rights 203

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 8, 2014

Damage to New York included floods caused by the storm surge, power cuts and disruption to transport, including the loss of the railway line that crosses Jamaica Bay. Two years on, the train line has been repaired at last and I paid a visit to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

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New Jersey Jamaica New York Transported 232

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 2, 2011

A Northern Potoo by Nick Athanas Northern Potoos are found from Mexico to Costa Rica and on the islands of Jamaica and Hispaniola. And it was this call that alerted us to its presence on a recent trip to Jamaica. “Whhhaaaaaaa, whu whu whu whu whu whu&#. “Its as easy as pie!

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Costa Rica Jamaica Eggs Cooking 258

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2014

So we tend to only get a couple of sightings a year, usually out at Fort Tilden where there are some wide open athletic fields or on the East Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, especially when water levels are very low, which leaves enough shoreline for plants to grow. Year after year birds would be reported only for me to miss them.

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Jamaica 2008 Killing Wildlife 225

10,000 Birds

JULY 30, 2018

That means it is time to look for shorebirds on the East Pond of Jamaica Bay. It is summer and I live in Queens. And look I did this weekend with visits to the pond on both Saturday and Sunday mornings despite the ferocious mosquitoes that insisted upon a blood donation as the price of admission to the pond.

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Jamaica Wildlife Geese Birds 103

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

You are also probably aware that Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, one of the best urban birding sites in the world, is on my regular list of spots that I like to stop by and visit. I have seen some absolutely amazing birds at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. I can’t abide the thought of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge without a West Pond.

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Jamaica New York City United States Wildlife 167

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 2, 2021

Corey went out onto the East Pond at Jamaica Bay both mornings this weekend and saw bunches of great birds. This is about the time of year American Goldfinches look their sharpest, especially when artfully staged atop one of my purple coneflowers.

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Jamaica Birds Experiments Experience 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2020

But his Best Bird of the Weekend was one he saw with his family on a visit to Jamaica Bay on Saturday evening. If you were wondering, the rabbit won this encounter. Corey enjoyed some good birding on both Saturday and Sunday mornings.

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2020 Rabbits Jamaica Pelicans 273

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2011

Then Seth and I grew tired of Nassau County and decided to wind up our day back in Queens, at Jamaica Bay. Though our birding there started slow we kept finding more birds, with Northern Pintail , Pied-billed Grebe , and Green-winged Teal being some of the highlights before we got to the really good birds.

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Jamaica United States Geese Barn Owls 217

10,000 Birds

MAY 22, 2017

Fortunately for me, a kind birder pointed out a ruby-throat in the process of building a nest at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge last week and the nest is relatively low and unobstructed.

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Jamaica Wildlife New York City New York 101

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2021

Corey explored the East Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge on Saturday morning and Fort Tilden on Sunday morning. As serene as that sounds, seeing these birds now just reminds me that they’re on their way to warmer climes and won’t be back for many months.

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Jamaica Turkey Birds Wildlife 251

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2020

Shorebird migration is in full swing and though Jamaica Bay’s East Pond is still full of water he saw some good birds on the beach. Corey spent most of Sunday driving to the Adirondacks for a week in the mountains, but he did get out birding in Queens on Saturday morning. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2020 Jamaica New York Birds 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2014

Sunday morning was a perfect morning to get out on the East Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. ” At Jamaica Bay in August the standard peep is the Semipalmated Sandpiper , which is present in the hundreds or even thousands. … Trips Jamaica Bay peeps shorebirds' Western Sandpipers sleep with one eye open.

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Jamaica Wildlife Species Rights 187

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2011

It took long enough but I have finally seen an Eurasian Wigeon in my home borough, at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge’s East Pond to be exact. It was nice to add bird number 284 to my Queens life list , though it seems kind of absurd that it has taken so long to see one of the most common of the uncommon ducks in Queens.

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Jamaica Ducks Geese Wildlife 210

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2012

So it was with a superlative, breeding-plumaged, male Scarlet Tanager today at Jamaica Bay. The particular Scarlet Tanager that caused my jaw to hit the ground today was found foraging in small trees on the west side of the West Pond at Jamaica Bay. Sometimes a species just stops you in your tracks.

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Jamaica Collecting 2009 Breeding 183

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2021

Corey went for a walk at Jamaica Bay with his family on Saturday evening, after the rain had stopped in New York City and went out again, alone, on Sunday morning before the rain picked back up. At least that’s where I added this species to my New York list.

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Charlotte New York City New York Jamaica 263

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2011

…at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge anyway. Yesterday’s eight plus inches of rain (as measured at JFK Airport)* have probably brought this year’s shorebird season at Jamaica Bay to an unfortunate and early end. Where else can we New Yorkers go for good shorebirds?

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Jamaica Wildlife Birds 160

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2012

On a recent walk around Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge I took the following picture. Here, let me zoom in for you… It’s a Gray Tree Frog , Hyla versicolor , a common species at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Why is it interesting? What if I give you a clue? Do you see it now? And do you know what it is?

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Jamaica Wildlife Species 157

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2014

There has been a Black-billed Cuckoo repeatedly reported from Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge since May and it had studiously avoided Corey until Sunday morning, when he heard it calling in the South Garden. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a bird that has frustrated him for quite some time now.

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Bald Eagle 2014 Jamaica 2008 230

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2011

Check out these shots of fish-eating birds at Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge! Do you know what is really annoying? When someone regularly birds the same spots that you do but manages to get much, much, much, better images.

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Fish Jamaica Birds Wildlife 169

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2012

On a recent visit to Jamaica Bay I took my time with each species that I found that was being remotely cooperative and also burned a bunch of time hoping that some fickle feathered freaks would become cooperative.

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Jamaica Wildlife Experience Experiments 217

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2011

Killdeer Charadrius vociferus at Heksher State Park, Suffolk County, New York Yellow Warbler Setophaga petechia in Queens, New York Eastern Kingbird Tyrannus tyrannus at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Queens, New York Baird’s Sandpiper Calidris bairdii at Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, New York Bobolink Dolichonyx oryzivorus in Queens, New York (..)

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New York Jamaica New York City United States 171

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2012

Early this morning I was out on the south end of the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge looking at common shorebirds and hoping for rare shorebirds. This one was not as bright as the one previously found but still retains some breeding plumage.

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Jamaica New York Wildlife Falcons 165

10,000 Birds

JUNE 19, 2014

No one heard any complaints from me about this, as I was out at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge with the rising sun. By 8:00 AM I had finished up my walk around Jamaica Bay and decided to head out to the Rockaways to check out a few birding spots out there.

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New York City Jamaica New York Wildlife 195

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2014

Every single summer when I am out experiencing the mud and heat and shorebirds on the the East Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge I find myself getting into the same silent argument with myself. … Birds Jamaica Bay shorebirds' Which of the two most beautiful juvenile shorebirds do I think is better. You see my problem?

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Jamaica Wildlife Birds Species 165

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2011

Well, I managed to digiscope this behavior at Jamaica Bay this past Friday. Sometimes the jealousy overwhelms their big corvid brains and they come up with crazy schemes to win the attention that they believe they deserve. For example, Fish Crows will actually swoop in and eat warblers you are trying to watch. Don’t believe me?

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Jamaica Fish Birds 198

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

Corey and I were most pleased to see that shorebirds haven’t entirely abandoned the Esat Pond at Jamaica Bay. Then, if ever, come perfect days…” Of course, he was on the mark concerning the quality of June days, but don’t you think he might have overlooked September? How about you?

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2014 Abandoning Abandonment Abandon 199

10,000 Birds

APRIL 14, 2013

He was walking along a trail at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge when he saw a flash of yellow up ahead. With the foresight to get my taxes taken care of early, I was free to enjoy the cold spring weather and lingering winter species around here. It’s nice to see that Red-breasted Nuthatches still haunt my home turf.

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2013 United States Jamaica Birds 216