Jones Beach Coast Guard Station

 I found a Lincoln's Sparrow near the hedgerow  - was calling too.

Massapequa Preserve

 I have been going to the preserve recently when possible.  On Sept 16th, I found a Lincoln's Sparrow and Philadelphia Vireo, 2 Cape May Warblers.  Last weekend there were a lot of warblers there including Parulas, Magnolias and a Northern Waterthrush.  The biggest miss I had were 2 Connecticut Warblers last Wednesday.  I working in the city so I didn't have any chance of seeing them.  My new nemesis bird.

Over the weekend I saw a Northern Waterthrush and continuing Common Yellowthroat by my house.

Massapequa Preserve

 I went to the south side of Massapequa Preserve to try to locate a hidden pond for the naive reason of trying to find a Limpkin or something else exciting and unexpected.  I found the hidden pond but couldn't get a good view into it because of lots of vegetation blocking my view.  I did find a particular spot on the "green tail" that had several Redstarts, Chestnut Sided Warblers, Black and White Warblers and an unexpected Blue Winged Warbler.

I quickly stopped by the west side by New Hampshire Avenue and found an immature Canada Warbler.

Rockland County: Anhingha + Great White Heron

 I had the opportunity to go birding before work so I went to try to find the continuing Anhinga and Great White Heron "upstate".  After a little while I found the Great White Heron and was sure it was the target bird because it had a patch of oil or something on it's back.  I went birding by the Piermont? Pier nearby on the Hudson and was surprised to find some sandpipers such as Semi-Palmated and Sem--Palmated Plovers.  I had some extra time before getting to the office and decided to also try for a continuing Anhinga at Old Tappan.  It took me a while and I had to use the scope that luckily was in the car, but I did get to see it.  While not a lifer, I only saw an Anhinga once before years ago in Florida and it was flying high above for about a minute.

Florida Keys: White-Winged Dove, White Crowned Pigeon, Scissortailed Kites

 I went on a family vacation to Key West and was excited to re-confirm some lifers that I thought I saw before I was into birding but not 100% sure.  The main example was a White Crowned Pigeon that I thought I saw years ago in Key West but that was before I was a "good birder".  After driving through the Keys and possibly sighting some lifer White Winged Dove, we arrived at our hotel on the north side of Key West.  Within a minute I saw a White Crowned Pigeon, not predicting that I would see them during most of my visit.  I also saw great views of Frigatebirds within my first day.

One of my other target birds was White Winged Dove that I had unsuccesfully chase sightings up in New York and once in Boston, MA some yeats ago. (long story after Boston)  On a whim, I walked to a nearby housing development near our hotel and counted 9 WW Doves all in one tree.  It seemed anti-climatic to find a life bird so easily that I chased for so long before.  I saw several other the rest of the trip.  

We went on a boat trip with other people to look at dolphins and go snorkeling and I saw 3? terns that I was hoping were lifer Bridled Terns.  I did not get good photos but looking at ebird, seems more likely there were Bridled Terns than Sooty Terns.

My family did a swim with the dolphin visit, and while we were there I was happy to see about 9 Swallowtailed Kites flying overhead.  Little did I know, that they could be seen in the hundreds during this time since it's their migration.

On another boating excursion, we rented a private boat to take us around snorkeling etc.  On the way out, we saw lots of Frigatebirds and a Great White Heron.  The captain had an opinion that I disagreed with saying all Great Blue Herons go through a white morph phase.  On the way back, we looked for a continuing Wurdermaan's Heron that the captain told me about but instead we found an Anhinga.

Cupsogue: Bar Tailed Godwit

 Initially ID'd as a Marbled Godwit, a nice rare Bar Tailed Godwit was reported a day or 2 earlier on the Cupsogue mud-flats.   I went early in the morning and just as I gave up hope, I got to see it for a few minutes before it disappeared.  I lost it when I was reporting it to other birders. Not the best view since it was distant but a lifer is a lifer.  I was also treated to see lots of other "common" shorebirds. Lots of Hsort Billed Dowitchers.

Aruba: Tropical Birding

 My family and I went to Aruba for about a week on vacation.  Our hotel was right by the Bubali Bird Sanctuary so I had plans to visit there when possible.  I had high hopes of getting some life birds but didn't set my expectations too high so I wouldn't be disappointed if it didn't work out as planned.  Aruba did not disappoint.  It was a weird island with desolate fields/ properties surrounded by a beautiful coastline.  The good thing about the "desolate" areas is that provided more diverse habitat to find more birds.  My "wish list" for the trip was Neotropic Comorant, White Cheeked Pintail, Venezuelan Troupial, Bare Eyed Pigeon, Eared Dove, Carib Grackle, Crested Caracara and Burrowing Owl.  I was able to find everything except Burrowing Owls even though I was in the "right location".  The very friendly locals explained that introduced pythons have decimated their numbers.  The Crested Caracara was an especially nice find since I decided to not bird Bubali so much and turned my attention to one of those "desolate" fields where I found a pair on the last morning of my trip.

Other life birds included: Southern Lapwing (found incidentally in a ditch on the side of a road), Northern Scrub Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Shiny Cowbird, Black Faced Crassquit, Sooty Tern, Brown Throated Parakeet, Blue Tailed Emerald Hummingbird, Cabot and and Cayenne Sandwich Terns.

I saw the Sooty Tern and Sandwich Terns on the ocean side of Baby Beach, which is a beautiful lagoon.  There were other terns there that I believe to be Brown Noddys but I could not confirm 100% since they were at a distance.  From what I could tell, they were darker than the other birds, but had a lighter cap on their heads.

When I was driving around, I saw a "crane-like" bird that could have been a flamingo - it had an outstetched neck which rules out herons.  At Bubali, I saw a long tailed bird which might have been a Fork Tailed Flycatcher but was at a long distance so could not positively 100% ID.