They call it the "Far" Rockaways for a reason...
Today gettingshitdone and I biked to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge by way of Brooklyn College and Far Rock. We didn't get run over and/or die, and we DID get ice cream, and by my standards that's a successful ride.

Oh, and perhaps as some kind of cosmic reward for not trying to force the maybe-a-blackpoll-maybe-a-black-and-white warbler I saw on Thursday, I got good clear looks at both today. Go me.

Rock Dove Columba livia
European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
Monk Parakeet Myiopsitta monachus *LL
Common Grackle Quiscalus quiscula
Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
American Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus *LL
Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus
Herring Gull Larus argentatus
Laughing Gull Larus atricilla
Brant Branta bernicla *DL
Canada Goose Branta canadensis
Tree Swallow Tachycinta bicolor
Great Egret Egreta eulophotes
Double-crested Cormorant Phalocrocorax auritus
American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
Yellow Warbler Dendroica petechia
Blackpoll Warbler Dendroica striata *LL
Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus
Mute Swan Cygnus olor
Osprey Pandion haliaetus
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
Fish Crow Corvus ossifragus
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
Brown Thrasher Toxostoma rufum
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaciensis
Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis
Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Northern Parula Warbler Parula amaricana
Yellow-rumped Warbler Dendroica coronata
Black-and-white Warbler Mnoitilta varia
Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas
Chestnut-sided Warbler Dendroica pensylvanica *LL, although a sense of eerie familiarity pervaded my encounter with this bird
Gray Catbird Dumetella carolinensis

*DL indicates the first time I've seen this species dead in a natural setting. gettingshitdone documented the dead Brant, a victim of Robert Moses:





He also documented more cheerful things:


The oystercatcher


Tree Swallow


Baby Canada Goose