benjaminrosen's Journal

Time: 5:15-6:45
Date: 5/1/202
Location: Around my neighborhood in Wantagh, NY
Weather: 65 deg. Fahrenheit, sunny, no wind
Habitat: suburban trees and small woodlots

Time- 7:10-12:15
Date: 5/18/20
Location: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Weather: sunny, slight easterly breeze, 65 deg. Fahrenheit
Habitat: seashore/mudflats, marsh land, small wood lots

I tried to pay lesser attention to the everyday street birds such as Cardinals and Robins, but it should be noted that these species were plentiful during my entire visit. The most notable aspect of the visit was the sheer quantities of Red-winged Blackbirds and Tree Swallows... they were everywhere; my count of individuals for those 2 species are definitely on the lower side (as well as for the Canada Goose being that they their flocks were so large they drowned out the background sounds of NYC. Unfortunately, I ended up going down a long path that led me away from the shore and into the forest so I lost my opportunity to see shore species such as pipers and plovers for a good portion of the trip, but when I did see them it was awesome (albeit extremely difficult)!!

Time- 6:45-12:00
Date- 5/19/20
Location- Edgewood Oak Bush Plains Preserve
Weather- 60 deg. Fahrenheit, strong easterly wind, sunny
Habitat: Mature forest with a VERY dense understory

The name of this location is very misleading as there was no plains to be found. Instead, I was presented with a forest covered in various vines and epiphytes, making it difficult to find any bird, let alone one that is typically found in a grassland. Although I could not find a grassland, I suspect there may have been a hidden one being that I saw species such as the Bobolink. Lets hope tomorrow is more fruitful!!

P.S.- Sorry for no pictures today, I was having camera trouble but the dense understory would have made taking pictures extremely difficult anyway.

Time- 7:15-12:00
Date- 5/20/2020
Location- Connetquot State Park
Weather- 57 deg. Fahrenheit, sunny, very slightly east-southeasterly breeze

Habitat- Mature coniferous and deciduous Forest, freshwater lake

Today went much better, not only did I find some target species, there was a large lake which provided me with an opportunity to see some waterfowl (albeit there was nothing particularly interesting). I may have gotten my count of Scarlet Tanager wrong as I struggle to identify small yellow birds; I may have confused some female Scarlet Tanagers with American Goldfinch or Yellow Warbler, but the habitat led m e to assume them to be Tanagers.

Time- 7:00-12:00
Date- 5/21/2020
Location- Hempstead Lake State Park
Weather- 60 deg. Fahrenheit, sunny, slight southerly wind
Habitat- Mature Deciduous Forest, freshwater lake

Sorry for the limited number of species yesterday, I hope I did a little bit better today. I will try my best to seek out new vocalizations tomorrow.

Time: 6:50-12:15
Date: 5/22/2020
Location: Wantagh County Park
Weather: 70 deg. Fahrenheit, sunny, no wind
Habitat: Ocean seashore, mudflats, riparian forest, open field

This session made me realize my ID skills are much stronger for water birds then other habitat-linked species so I know what to work on. I also realized that I definitely saw a lot of Piping Plovers at Monday's location without realizing it.
I am wondering how a colony of Monk Parakeets established themselves and continue to survive so far away from their native habitat? Does science have any hypotheses?

P.S.- I decided not to include the woodpecker because I could not get a solid ID on it, tho I suspect it may have been a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker based upon previous observations at the same park.