Summer Birding

August Shore Birds

By Kyle Bardwell PHAS Board Member and Avid Birder

Often times August is ignored by many birders and considered a birding lull. In fact, August happens to be peak shorebird migration in New York. While many of these shorebirds migrate along the coast and rarely stop over in inland counties such as Putnam it is an annual 'must do' to go to Long Island and see these birds in their migration.

Fellow Putnam Audubon board member Sean Camillerri took me on a little bird tour of Cupsogue Beach, a birding hotspot I have never been to. We left Putnam County at 3:15 AM on Sunday August 18th. We arrived at the Parking lot of the beach at 5:30 AM right as the sun was rising. We had to get there at first light as the tide would start to rise shortly after.

We quickly organized our belongings and ventured through the salt marsh out to the tidal flats where we had looks at Saltmarsh and Seaside Sparrows. Once out of the grasses, we quickly got on a nice flock of shorebirds. We were delighted by the diversity of shorebirds that included Semipalmated Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers, Red Knot, Black bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, among a few others. With a little more patience we pulled out a Western Sandpiper and a lone Dunlin. Sean scanned a large egret flock out in the distance and pulled out an immature Tricolored Heron to add to the list.

We ventured further around the flats where added species such as Spotted Sandpiper, Royal Tern and a total of 5 Marbled Godwits! We were eventually forced back to land by the rising tide and finished with 17 species of shorebird before 8:00AM! After Cupsogue we made a stop at Jamaica Bay NWR. We quickly trekked to the lookout over the East Pond by Big John's Pond. We added White-rumped Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, and a surprise Caspian Tern to our trip list.

The mosquitos eventually pushed us out. We stopped at Croton Point to see the Western Kingbird that has hung out for over a week, and were home in Putnam by 3:00 PM.

Total Species for day: 57 - List Below

Piping Plover
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Stilt Sandpiper
Sanderling
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Least Tern
Caspian Tern
Common Tern
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Glossy Ibis
Osprey
Barn Swallow
European Starling
Gray Catbird
American Robin
Seaside Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Boat-tailed Grackle
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler