Don’t Sleep on Birding Long Island

In my last post, I discussed my trip to New York City and the persistent questioning of traveling for purposes other than birding. On our brief trip to The Big Apple, we also visited another area where we were consistently met with another question: “Why are you here?”. Judging from the reaction we got from Long Islanders when we told them we were visiting from Oregon, it seems they do not receive many tourists. Many birders are used to visiting off-the-beaten-path locations, so we had a good answer to that: “to see birds”.

Checking our target species for New York, the Purple Sandpiper was high on the list, and several hotspots seemed like good chances. So off to Long Island we went! After a busy day of birding in Manhattan and Brooklyn, we picked up a rental car at JFK International, checked into one of the few hotels we could find, and went to the nearest Purple Sandpiper spot, which was Point Lookout Town Park. It was 7:00 pm by the time we parked in the giant, empty parking lot (except for American Oystercatchers) and walked out to the beach. We did not see much from the boardwalk ramp, so we ventured down towards the water, where a flock of shorebirds was standing.

It was chilly, and the wind was blowing the sand in waves, so it was not particularly pleasant. The flocks were mostly Sanderlings. Up the beach were a few rocky outcroppings with strong waves splashing over them. Perfect habitat for the rock-loving shorebird we were on the search for. After making our way over, we were greeted by 14 droopy-billed Purple Sandpipers hunkered down in the rocks. Success!

Another target that we were hoping to see was Saltmarsh Sparrows. One of the more commonly reported hotspots was Big Egg Marsh on Jamaica Bay. First, a stop at A&S Bagels, thanks to a recommendation from a bartender at Lost Farmer Brewing Co. What a fantastic selection of bagels and spreads!

We parked at the ball fields next to the marsh and started to wander around. Not knowing where to go or how to look for these birds, we found our way to the beach and searched for a suitable habitat. Walking around the bend, we had the usual suspects: Red-winged Blackbird, Double-crested Cormorant, and Common Terns… but no Saltmarsh Sparrow. We were about to give up when a small sparrow jumped between dried cattails. We held our breath, willing it to come back out. It eventually made another little leap – there it was! Our lifer Saltmarsh Sparrow!

We tried to bird around the rest of Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but didn’t come up with much. So, we set out to see some more warblers before leaving for home. A quick look through eBird brought us to Floyd Bennett Field, just on the other side of Jamaica Bay. This site was NYC’s first municipal airport, built in 1931 and active for 40 years before being decommissioned. It is a vast area with numerous activities, including a model plane field, community gardens, and general recreational facilities.

The North Forty is located near the model plane area and has some excellent habitat. There are grassland areas and sections of shrubland. Not too far in, we stumble upon a good flock of foraging migrants. White-eyed and Red-eyed Vireos, Black-and-white Warblers, Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak were active in the trees. It was hard to tear ourselves away to continue the loop we had set out to do. Not too much else along the trail, besides a perched Merlin, Osprey, and Turkey Vultures. But we kept an eye out for some more foraging flocks.

Visiting Long Island was a pleasant surprise. There are some great birding sites that should not be overlooked when visiting New York!