birdsoup

We usually think of migration as an autumn event.  When the weather starts to turn colder, birds think about heading south to warmer climates.  But the actual migration trip may take some time, particularly if you will be travelling a very long distance.    And shorebirds generally are long distant migrants.  So they do not wait until fall to begin their southern journey.  They actually start in what we might consider mid-summer, July and August.

Last week (July 16^th), for example, temperatures were in the 90s, certainly not fall weather.  But there were over 4,500 migrating shorebirds on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge.  17 different species were seen although the majority of them were Short-billed Dowitchers which are starting their migration to S. America.