Jamaica Bay Shorebird Trip 2016

On Saturday, I went to Jamaica Bay with the New York State Young Birders Club. We started out on the north side of the East Pond, which was not as muddy as it usually is. Immediately, we found 3 Stilt Sandpipers at close range. We also saw common summer residents such as Glossy Ibis and a large flock of Great and Snowy Egrets (more of the later). There was also a young Little Blue Heron in the egret flock. We then saw a mass of shorebirds fly from the southeast end of the pond to a sandy area almost opposite to us. We went to a nearby sandy spit which was directly opposite to the flock (as well as having some close birds on it). The flock was mostly made out of Semipalmated Sandpipers and Plovers, and Short-Billed Dowitchers, with some yellowlegs (both species) Least Sandpipers, a few Willet mixed in. Good birds within the flock were Ruddy Turnstone and Red Knot. There were some more birds further south, but the only ones I could identify were a large flock of Black-Bellied Plovers. After looking at shorebirds for a while, we decided to make our way out to Big John's Pond to try and see what could be there. But before we could make it to the exit, we found a Yellow-Billed Cuckoo, a rare nester in the refuge. Anyway, we arrived at the pond and found several Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers as well as a Solitary Sandpiper. We then received word of a White-Rumped Sandpiper at the East Pond overlook a few minutes away. We went over there, and only some of us (including me) were able to find the bird, only told apart from the semis by being slightly larger. A great day with around a dozen species of shorebird seen and over 50 species seen in total!