On Saturday, I participated in the Christmas bird counts in Queens and Brooklyn.
In anticipation of the event, I had stocked the backyard feeders late in the evening the previous day and so by 6:00 a.m. I was sipping my coffee and counting birds.
I got good numbers of the usual visitors with one notable newbie...a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk. I monitored the backyard to about 9:30 and then headed out to meet up with my friend Don Riepe.
Don and I had planned to conduct a portion of the Jamaica Bay count from the boat weather permitting.
Unfortunately, due to the winds and icy conditions we decided against going out into the bay. 
Since we were over by the Marina, we decided to head over to Floyd Bennett Field; our visit was not a wasted one as we got excellent looks and photographs of Horned Larks and Snow Buntings.
After about an hour there, we headed out to Fort Tilden.
There we saw a huge flock of Starlings, observed a flock of Long-tailed Ducks out over the water and a Northern Gannet.
We then drove towards Breezy Point and checked out the beach.
There was not much happening there, but on our way out we did get a Yellow-breasted Chat, which was a good bird to have for the count. The weather conditions were tough for birding and birders across the boroughs had to deal with the cold and winds; nevertheless, many birders like
Joe Giunta toughed it out and it is this type of dedication that makes the Christmas counts successful.
I got good numbers of the usual visitors with one notable newbie...a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk. I monitored the backyard to about 9:30 and then headed out to meet up with my friend Don Riepe. Don and I had planned to conduct a portion of the Jamaica Bay count from the boat weather permitting. Unfortunately, due to the winds and icy conditions we decided against going out into the bay. 
Since we were over by the Marina, we decided to head over to Floyd Bennett Field; our visit was not a wasted one as we got excellent looks and photographs of Horned Larks and Snow Buntings. After about an hour there, we headed out to Fort Tilden. There we saw a huge flock of Starlings, observed a flock of Long-tailed Ducks out over the water and a Northern Gannet. 
We then drove towards Breezy Point and checked out the beach. There was not much happening there, but on our way out we did get a Yellow-breasted Chat, which was a good bird to have for the count. The weather conditions were tough for birding and birders across the boroughs had to deal with the cold and winds; nevertheless, many birders like Joe Giunta toughed it out and it is this type of dedication that makes the Christmas counts successful.
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