A recent visit to Jamaica Bay didn’t offer up the hoped-for and previously-reported White-faced Ibis, a bird that I have still not seen in New York State, but there was a host of other birds to enjoy, to say nothing of the simple pleasure of sunlight in a gorgeous environment. What follows are some of the birds and scenery that make Jamaica Bay the best birding location in New York City.
blossoming cherry tree
Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
West Pond of Jamaica Bay
digiscoped flyover Osprey Pandion haliaetus (uncropped image)
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor disheveled by the wind
Big John’s Pond
Barn Owl Tyto alba in the box at Big John’s Pond
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.
Are you trying to make it extra hard for Carrie?
🙂
Nice pics, Corey, nice pics, but again: those aren’t blossoms, those are roosting warblers.
Carrie will never see a Barn Owl!
To be fair, I’ve already seen a Barn Owl; it’s the Inimitable Todd who hasn’t.
I wouldn’t say no to seeing ANOTHER Barn Owl, of course.