New York State 2024: Some Highlights

An early highlight of 2024 was a trip with my friend Sean Sime on February 19th to chase some rare birds. In Dutchess County we saw Golden Eagle near Dover Plains where they have tended to winter in recent years. On the way back south we went to the Shawangunk Grasslands in Ulster County to see an over wintering Loggerhead Shrike, a bird I last saw in New York in 2010.

Loggerhead Shrike - February 14, 2024.   ©️ Joseph DiCostanzo

Every year I hope to add at least one or more birds to my personal New York State bird list. Not surprisingly, every year it gets harder. This year I managed to pick up two new species, both in the first half of the year. In late April my friend Ed Eden and I did a weekend trip out Long Island to Montauk. We had originally scheduled it for the winter but had been forced to cancel because of a friend’s illness. Ann and I and our friend Georgia Rose did a trip out west to see the total solar eclipse in Texas on April 8. I picked up a few life birds on that trip. Ed and I rescheduled our Montauk trip for the weekend of April 20/21. It turned out we had great luck in our rescheduling. We started off the weekend with a Swainson’s Warbler at Brooklyn Bridge Park on the morning of April 20. It had been found there a day or two earlier. 

Swainson’s Warbler - April 20, 2024      ©️Joseph DiCostanzo

The Swainson’s was not a new bird for me in NY, but I had only seen it a couple of other times. Ed and I had a good trip out Long Island with lots of year birds. That evening I got a message that a Lazuli Bunting had been identified at a feeder in Flanders on the North Fork. This would be a New York bird for both of us, but that Saturday evening it wasn’t clear if the feeders where the bird was being seen were accessible to the public. We decided we would bird Montauk as planned the next morning and wait for any additional information. The next morning we were birding Camp Hero on the south side of Montauk Point when word came the bunting was still there and the feeders it frequented were visible from across the public street on front of the owner’s house. As we started to leave Camp Hero, Ed said: “Joe. Look out the driver’s side window.” On the ground was a an adult male Blue Grosbeak. When we got to Flanders it was easy to find the house with the feeders by the crowd of birders across the street. The bunting was sporadic in its appearance at the feeders, but finally it came in and put on a nice show. The bunting was my 444th species for my New York list.

Lazuli Bunting - April 21, 2024.   ©️Joseph DiCostanzo

Spring migration was about average, but at the end of May came the exciting news of an American Flamingo out at Georgica Pond on eastern Long Island. Ann, our friend Georgia and I went out early in the morning on June 1st. Legal parking was a problem. There was a parking area for local residents only. You could park there before 9:00 am, but after that the police ticketed nonresidents. We didn’t think we could get out to the bird and back by 9:00 so Georgia stayed with the car while Ann and I went down the beach to the pond inlet and saw the bird. Then I stayed at the inlet with my scope while Ann went back and relieved Georgia at the car and Georgia joined me at the inlet to enjoy the bird. The flamingo was not just my 445th New York State bird but was my 1458th World life bird. It was my first life bird in New York State since a Corn Crake at Cedar Beach on November 8, 2017. (Not counting the split of Scopoli’s Shearwater from Cory’s Shearwater last year.)

American Flamingo - June 1, 2024.  ©️ Joseph DiCostanzo

Later in June a Black-bellied Whistling-Duck showed up at the lake in Van Cortlandt Park and Ann and I went up to see it. It was not a new bird in New York for me, but it was only the second one I had seen in New York.

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck - June 26, 2024.  ©️ Joseph DiCostanzo

The LeConte’s Sparrow in Inwood Hill Park on October 8, was only the second time I saw that species in New York. I posted about that bird on my blog last week. My last really good bird for the year 2024 in New York was the Sage Thrasher that showed up at Robert Moses State Park on Fire Island in November. I saw the bird twice, once on November 24 with Georgia and Ann and again in December when I led a Linnaean Society trip.

Sage Thrasher - December 8, 2024.  ©️ Joseph DiCostanzo

This was also only the second time I had seen this species in New York. My only other Sage Thrasher in New York was May 18, 2019 at Jamaica Bay. There was a time this species was my most wanted North American bird because it was the most widespread species in North America that I had never seen. This bird was present for over a month. It had a growth on one foot that was evidently caused by avian pox.