October 25/26 - Inwood Hill Park - sparrows and eagles

It was a lovely weekend with some nice birding in Inwood Hill Park. Reports on the Internet indicated a massive fallout of birds at coastal sites on Saturday, mainly sparrows. Inwood also saw  a good influx of sparrows. Saturday morning the fenced in shrubbery area at the north end of the soccer fields and the adjacent grass held a wonderful variety of sparrows. I encountered eight species here in about an hour of watching: Chipping, Field, Savannah, Song, Swamp, White-throated, White-crowned sparrows, and Dark-eyed Junco. There were probably 5 - 6 immature White-crowns. A Cooper's Hawk also put in a brief appearance overhead.

There were many fewer sparrows in the same area on Sunday morning, but on the southeastern corner of the soccer field (away from all the people) there were 50 - 60 Dark-eyed Juncos. Also on Sunday morning, Bald Eagles were migrating down the Hudson. I saw five individuals (four adults and one immature), most from the Meadow Overlook, but some from the soccer fields. Also seen from the overlook was a Common Raven going over. A Merlin and a Red-tailed Hawk (perhaps a local bird) also went by. In the woods there were lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers as well as a female Black-throated Blue Warbler, a Palm Warbler, and a Blue-headed Vireo.