An Educational Mixed Flock

I was upstate again this past weekend, collecting Desi from his week with his grandparents, and took a couple of hours early Sunday morning to visit my favorite Saugerties birding spot, the Great Vly. As is to be expected in late August there were many young birds around getting the hang of living life on their own. Green Herons, Eastern Kingbirds, Tree Swallows, Cedar Waxwings, and a host of other species were successful in breeding and there were a lot of birds around. But what really drew my attention was a particular patch of trees that had quite a few small passerines foraging.



There were Tufted Titmice and Black-capped Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches and American Redstart. The birds were busy, intent on finding their forage, so they paid little attention to the giant biped with his tripod.

Then I caught a quick glimpse of a small bird, very white below, that didn’t look quite like the Warbling Vireos that were also occupying the space. I’m not sure what keyed me in to this bird, but something seemed different. I tried to get another look at it but it seemed to have disappeared further back into another tree. Oh well. The Warbling Vireos were still around and I enjoyed watching a fledgling begging and its parent ignoring it.

GET READY FOR GLOBAL SHOREBIRD COUNTING!

Clear your calendar for September 4-6! That’s when thousands of people worldwide will head out to a beach near them for Global Shorebird Counting. It’s part of World Shorebirds Day (celebrated annually Sep. 6), which raises awareness of the perils threatening shorebirds and the need to protect them and their habitats.
                 

I’ve always been intimidated by the idea of counting, so maybe this is a good way to start. (For sure, shorebirds are less likely to hide out in dense foliage, and probably also more stationary, save for the occasional patrolling raptor or off-leash dog.) Will I finally make it to one of the Jersey Shore’s birding meccas in search of Ruddy Turnstones, Red Knots, American Oystercatchers, and tons of plovers and peeps? If I do, I’ll register it here—hopefully you can do the same at your local shorebird hotspot!

The effort uses eBird to tally the numbers of shorebirds that people spot the world over. Interestingly, citizen science isn’t its primary goal. (Though researchers who mind eBird data will no doubt benefit from these data.) Rather, according to the organizers, “This program aims to give a picture of the power of field work, to help non-counters to improve their counting skills, and to increase the number of counters worldwide.”