Jamaica Bay BioBlitz 2009 despite the bloodletting at Floyd Bennett Field Brooklyn NY...

I put off a day of birding in the field to volunteer my time on Saturday at the Jamaica Bay BioBlitz that was held at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn NY. This event, was concentrated around the Floyd Bennett area only and when I was asked to participate, I agreed to do the birding part of it. Somehow, I worked birding in...nice don't you think?

My friend MaryJo, one of the nicest NPS Rangers around.

I arrived for my shift which began from 7:00 AM - 3:00 PM and joined four others - later we were joined by another participant. Together we headed out to the North Forty trail. The moment we hit that trail, we were ambushed by hordes of mosquitoes and those of us who had not applied repellent were left scrambling to get some sort of protection. These mosquitoes were hungry and they were relentless in their attacks; in the beginning some folks were just covered with the buggers as they attempted to penetrate clothing too. It was so bad, some ended up with welts the kind you see after a paintball game. Nevertheless, the group weathered the assault and we covered our area without any losses.


The birding was slow with not much around; nevertheless, we birded on, covering our area until it was felt we had given enough blood and settled for 42 species, with the highlights being 4 Solitary Sandpipers and a female Scarlet Tanager.

Tags: Jamaica Bay BioBlitz, birding, Floyd Bennett Field, Solitary Sandpiper