Back on October 28th, some of those goodies drew Jeff Bittern and Peter Reed Warbler, in search of Nelson's Sparrow in Turtle Cove. Peter and Jeff found the Nelson's and a Le Conte's Sparrow too! The phone rang and alerted a bunch of us; thing is it was while I was leading a QCBC trip in Prospect Park. Grrrr!
As it turns out the weather was absolutely smashing, and the birding was the epitome of disappointing. So with several "prompts" from anxious participants, a vote was taken and rather than continuing on to Greenwood as planned, Earic Miller, Liz Ardcuckoo, Lisa Shrimpke, Chuck Wills Bielman, Avian Resnick and I reconvened in Da Bronx. Avian Resnick and I were amused, in so far as the location was part of our territory for the Bronx CBC. Avian also inquired if this was now an established modus operandi; that is, chasing a rarity in another NYC county as the finale of Prospect Park trips. Yes. That's ~exactly~ how I planned it....
A number of other birders were on location when we arrived. The bird had shown briefly a few times since its discovery, but as expected this bird lived up to its notorious skulkatorial repute. Matthieu Ben-Wandering Albatross clued us in to where the bird had been spotted. Karlo and Alison Murre also showed up due to Peter's report, and Alison was able to locate the bird a few times and make all of us waiting for a glimpse, very happy.
Flash forward a few days and Earic Miller calls me with a report that he and Jeff Bittern had found a Black-legged Kittiwake at Orchard Beach. It seems they wanted a better look at the Black-headed Gull and got a bonus! Agenda cast aside, I prepped and tried to assemble a posse. Avian Resnick was up for it, and together we went to Da Bronx having discarded what we were supposed to be doing.
On the way though, I learned that the bird had flown from its resting place and was in the process of trying to be relocated. We arrived and found a number of other birders looking, but it was not looking good. We decided to enjoy the Black-headed Gull loafing in the lot, which was in gorgeous plumage.
 |
| Black-headed Gull 2nd from left |
We scanned the gulls and did not find what we were looking for. Undeterred, I mentioned a report the previous day of about 35 Pipets, a bird that has so far eluded me this year. But as we were going to look in some of the more likely spots, Avian called my attention to a small bird that landed on the pavement some 40 feet in front of us; white flashes in the tail catching his eye.
It was not a Pipet, and though size and general jizz would suggest a sparrow, it was not one of those either. With nice profile looks and a distinctive chestnut mark on the wings we had spotted a Lapland Longspur! I alerted nearby birders and called Matthieu who spread the word farther, and several delighted birders descended upon the hapless bird in the unlikely middle of a parking lot.
 |
| Lapland Longspur |
"Effect" birds: ... Le Conte's Sparrow, Black-legged Kittiwake, Lapland Longspur...? ...!
No comments:
Post a Comment