The birding was tough at LaGuardia. Our flight came in over Long Island sound and the Throgs Neck bridge�an area that hosts (or at least used to host) a significant wintering population of Greater Scaup (55% breed in Boreal). As the plane descended lower I scanned the water intently hoping that I might be able to identify a speckling of grayish-backed birds on the water. Or maybe some Bufflehead or Common Goldeneye or scoters or�something. I knew there were lots of Boreal birds around. The New York City area is the winter home to lots of Boreal migrants.
All I could find were gulls.
Luckily I�m a gull aficionado. There were lots of Ring-billed Gulls (20% in Boreal), a few Herring Gulls (80% in Boreal), and I saw one Great Black-backed Gull--said to be the largest gull in the world--and a species that I hadn�t seen as we drove through Portland this morning. And the Boreal is the breeding grounds for lots of gulls. When I was in Deline there were several pairs of Herring Gulls that were still fiercely defending their newly fledged young that must have hatched nearby. The adults swooped down within inches of my head making me duck more than once as I tried to get away. I did see the famous Trump 747 looking shiny and ostentatious on the LaGuardia airport grounds. But that doesn't count.
My budget-conscious Orbitz ticket necessitated a change from USAIR to Delta here at LaGuardia. Such switches in air carrier are usually bad news and, indeed, I had no idea how to find the Delta terminal at first. The good news was that I had a couple of hours to find it and by being outdoors I had a chance of seeing some more Boreal birds.
It was a beautiful day in New York with temps in the upper 40's and it felt balmy as I walked the sidewalk in the direction of what the signs said was the Main Terminal. After about 10 minutes I came across a map at the shuttlebus stop and discovered that the Delta terminal was in the opposite direction. Oh well, more time for birds.
My 15 minute stroll back to the Delta terminal, past what had to be hundreds of yellow taxis, a man praying on a piece of cardboard, and tractor trailers unloading Big Macs, yielded a decidedly urban bird list. Flocks of Rock Pigeons, European Starlings singing from the signposts, and scrappy House Sparrows fighting over crumbs on the sidewalk.
I scanned the skies from inside the airport. I searched the edges of the runways for Snow Buntings and Horned Larks while we taxied for takeoff. I hoped for a glimpse of a duck or a loon as we took off over the water for Cincinnati.
It was the best I could do.
My list stood at 4 Boreal birds.
Would there be enough daylight left when we landed in Cincinnati to add to the list?
