A New Bird For My Queens County List!

Thursday is the day I have come to associate with good birding fortune. This past Thursday  was set aside to perform several chores and tasks, a number of which are long overdue... And then an email alerted me to the discovery of a very good bird, a Yellow Throated Warbler! What’s a power-birder to do?

After  making some calls and emails, I set off hoping to meet up with others who had the bird located, or at least help me find the correct area. I arrived in Alley Pond park to find the discoverer Bobby Kurtz with Andrew Baksh, but they were not deliberate in their birding manner, so I perused the flock of birds that I encountered on the way.

Many Pine Warblers were around, as were noisy Goldfinches. A Hermit Thrush made an appearance, as did a lingering Junco, but no YTWA as far as I could find. Meeting up with the other two, we walked about the Acadian Kettle Hole area, to no avail.

We were joined by others and we birded the park. At Decodon pond we found some Rusty Blackbirds, a Swamp Sparrow and a Louisiana Waterthrush. And HOOO should show up?

We then made our way back to the ‘Acadian Kettle Hole’ area, and made a pass or two
in another as of yet unsuccessful attempts to relocate our target. As it got towards noon, our band of seekers broke up for lunch and other locations; some of us planning on returning later in the day.

I set off to get lunch, and stopped at the bayside marina to get a look at a heretofore unheard of occurrence: Northern Gannets were plunge diving on the south eastern end of Littleneck Bay! Gannets are not too common an occurrence in the Long Island Sound, but in a shallow bay? Wow!  I wonder what they were feeding upon. 

At my lunch stop, Eric Miller called and informed me that he was able to get out to Alley  sooner than anticipated, so I once again put off some things I should have been doing to return to Alley. Birding is such a demanding mistress.

Meeting at the Kettle Hole area, there was also a small crowd of fellow birders with Eric and we all perused as best we could, continuing to hope to find this elusive beauty. But once again time slipped by and a good number of the party’s members had to head off.

Ed, Trudy and Joan took off pone way while Bobby & Colleen headed down a path to return to their car alone. Eric, Steve and I remained, and I suggested that we try along the bicycle path as we had been everywhere else. Eric thought some other areas might be good as well and we were headed in that direction when Eric’s phone rang: Colleen had found the bird!

We all headed down the path to meet up with them, and there as promised was the bird! Way to go Colleen!! Steve and I started calling people, and then watched the bird put on a show.

This beauty was very amenable giving nice long looks as it foraged in the trees along the edge of Cloverdale Blvd. And in atypical warbler behavior, it did not flit about constantly instead posing quite nicely. Usually warblers make taking their photo a study in frustration.

The best part was that the warbler stayed pretty faithful to a limited location and what must have seemed like an eternity to Trudy and Joan, Andrew, and Corey, the bird stuck around for all to see that day.