On Thursday, me and Ryan went to Governors Island to look for its specialties. I needed Common Tern for the list, and he needed Fish Crow. Both are pretty easy to get on the island, as many of both species nest there. My first bird on the island was a Laughing Gull, not the most common bird, but still regular here. We then headed over to see the pair of Yellow-Crowned Night Herons that was nesting. We had a general direction, but we didn't know exactly where to find one (one is seen on most occasions). But I spotted the first one as is flew briefly (and subsequently was mobbed by a kestrel), and Ryan spotted the second one on the nest. By this point, we had already seen several Fish Crows, including a fledgling on the ground. We headed to the gull nesting field to look for Killdeer. There were strangely few gulls there (including a trio of Laughing Gulls in the water), but what was stranger is that light refracted of a Herring Gull in the field in such a way, that it made it appear sky blue! Only when it flew away did we realize it wasn't covered in anything, as another gull elsewhere was reported to have fell into curry and turned orange a few weeks before. We saw no Killdeer, but we did see my first Common Terns (#146) of the year, many in fact, going to and from the colony fishing. At Hammock Grove, we saw many Red-Winged Blackbirds and Song Sparrows, along with some Barn and one or two Tree Swallows. We then went to the tern colony at Yankee Pier, where we saw the terns feeding their young. An OK day with 23 species seen.
Species:
Double-Crested Cormorant
Laughing Gull
Ring-Billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-Backed Gull (just 1)
Common Tern (many)
Rock Pigeon
Chimney Swift
Northern Flicker (heard-only)
Eastern Kingbird (near nesting field)
Fish Crow (many)
Tree Swallow (1)
Barn Swallow (many, including 5 fledglings)
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird (mimicking several species)
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing (at least 3)
Song Sparrow
Red-Winged Blackbird
Common Grackle (just 1)
House Sparrow
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