Broad-billed Sandpiper in Brooklyn!
GAIL@UMDD.UMD.EDU
Sat, 29 Aug 98 20:10:34 EDT
Yes, there is a Broad-billed Sandpiper in Brooklyn -- to be specific, at
the West Pond of Jamaica Bay NWR, 4 hours door to door from our house in
Silver Spring (a little more than Chincoteague).
The announcement went up on Birdchat last night and we cancelled our
warblering plans for today and made arrangements for NYC. We left a bit
later than planned (6 am) because a Screech Owl was calling in the large
maple in our yard. We managed to see him briefly -- a good omen as it turned
out!
With one brief coffee stop, we reached Jamaica Bay NWR at about 10 am. We
were amazed to see that the parking lot wasn't full, although birders were
arriving. (If a bird of this rarity had shown up 20 minutes from Barry's
home town of Londaon, there would have been 1000 twitchers there the next
morning!) Anyway, we hotfooted it out to the NW edge, between benches
12 and 13, where a modest crowd was gathered. It was in the scopes! so we
quickly took peeks and then set up our own scopes to enjoy the bird.
The Broad-billed Sandpiper was lightly larger than the Semipalmated SPs
with which it was flocking, and definitely smaller than a near-by White-rumped.
However, it has quite a different jizz -- being longer, less "round", longer
neck, more oval head and then of course that long bill with the strange
little kink at the tip. This bird is an adult molting out of summer plumage,
and appear quite dark on the back and rather plain below. Closer examination
shows that its coverts appear fresh while the scapulars and mantle look
quite worn. The most obvious feature is the head pattern, resembling that of
a snipe to an extent -- there is a obvious split or forked supercilium --
and the powerful, long bill.
The whole time we were there, the bird fed avidly just at the edge of the
water, and sometimes ventured out into shallow water. Once in a while it
would drive a Semi-p away. A few times the entire peep flock would fly off
(there is the occasional Merlin or Peregrine) but always returned exactly to
the same spot. It was about 30-35 yards away from the viewing spot.
I spoke this evening with Paul Dumont and he said there have only been five
records on the Aleutians and one a few years ago in the Canadian Maritimes.
This is the first lower-48 record and as the Brits would say, the first
really "twitchable" one.
There are supposed to be some other birds around (e.g., both Godwits) but
by 1:30 we were hot and ready to go home. We did enjoy a beautiful Cape
May Warbler walking back to the visitor's center.
Directions are simple: North on I-95 (New Jersey Turnpike) to Exit 13,
I-278, over the Varrazano Narrows Bridge, bear left to get onto the Belt
Parkway East. Go to Exit 17, Cross Bay Blvd. So. 2-3 miles to Refuge entrance
on right. The Refuge Staff knows about the bird and are keeping tabs on
it (and also anyone who tries to get too close). The only painful thing
about the trip are the tolls (ouch!) and the traffic in the afternoon (what
ARE all these people doing out on the roads on Saturday?)
Go for it!
Gail Mackiernan and Barry Cooper
Silver Spring, MD
gail@umdd.umd.edu