American avocets (Recurvirostra americana) are rare visitors to New York City, and I have been trying to photograph and film them since summer 2018 when one was visiting Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, but usually spent the day in an area far from my camera’s range. So when these shorebirds showed up again in 2019, I once again tried to photograph them. My first two trips to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge after they were reported there were not successful, but on a visit on October 26, I was able to see two avocets across from the bench on the East Pond near the Raunt, hanging out with snow and Canada geese, wigeons, swans, and other ducks.
Two avocets among the geese and swans, East Pond, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, October 26, 2019
Three avocets were reported that same week at Miller Field on Staten Island. When I visited on October 28, the trio were dipping and dancing for their aquatic invertebrates in the “lake” that has taken over part of the tarmac outside the hangar.
One of three American avocets at Miller Field, Staten Island, October 28, 2019
The video, which has the five avocets from those two days, is set to Georges Bizet’s Carmen Suite No. 2, arranged for recorders and performed by Papalin.
