Short Note on Winter Birding

The New York City region is, for some birds, “the south” they migrated to in winter. Open fresh water and sheltered salt water bodies attract ducks like Pintails, Wigeons, Gadwells, Canvasbacks, Red-heads, Scaups, Mergansers, Buffleheads, Shovellers, Teals, Long-tailed, and Scoters. The Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in the late afternoon is home to an amazing display of Snow Geese returning to the shelter of the ponds after a day of foraging elsewhere. Long skeins of the white, black-wing-tipped birds fly out of and into the setting sun. It is an amazing sight, and it’s accessible by public transportation. North Atlantic pelagic species, those birds that spend the majority of their lives at sea, are more likely to be seen close to shore this time of year. Last week, two Razorbills were sighted from the Coney Island Boardwalk. A few Snowy Owls, in this major irruptive year, have been seen along the city’s shoreline. Loons, who nest in fresh water, can now be found off-shore. On solidly dry ground, a White-Winged Crossbill was spotted briefly in Prospect Park last week; this northern finch is an infrequent visitor to our city.

Cycles, the nature of nature blogging: a year ago I posted this about the thousands of Greater Scaup in Gravesend Bay.
Northern Shovelers, Anas clypeata, with the males in full breeding plumage. Called “shovelers” because of their unusually long bills, which they use to strain food from the water. Here, on the Prospect Park Lake, they’re clustering in a tight scrum and moving around in circles to stir up plankton, seeds, etc.