May 3 - Inwood Hill Park - T & T

The T's stand for turkey and tanager - read on.

A fun morning in Inwood Hill Park. I went in at 7 am and Ed Eden joined me at 7:45 and we birded the park until about noon. Between us we amassed a bird list of 52 species - I saw a flyover Great Blue Heron before Ed arrived and he saw a Hermit Thrush while I was looking elsewhere, so our persoanl lists were each 51. Before Ed arrived I watched the Muskrat swimming around the middle pool in Muscota Marsh and watched some Northern Rough-winged Swallows apparently gathering nesting material there. Ther were defintely more birds around this morning than yesterday with more new arrivals among the summer breeders. As yesterday one or more male Orchard Orioles were singing along the north edge of the soccer fields at the north end of the park. In the same area today there were singing Warbling Vireos, which I did not see or hear yesterday - they also nest here. As Ed and I headed up the Clove we first heard and then saw an Ovenbird - my first of the year. Wood Thrush was again singing in the Clove. When we got to the upper end of the Clove we heard a Black-throated Green Warbler singing. I had heard from others that this species was in recently, but this was the first time I finally caught up with it. Later on the ridge we saw at least six individuals on the west side of the ridge well north of the overlook.

male Black-throated Green Warbler singing 05/03/2015 Inwood Hill Park

When we were up on the ridge I told Ed about hearing the Wild Turkey yesterday morning. A few minutes later I caught some movement to my right out of the corner of my eye. There was the Wild Turkey walking through the underbrush. As Ed and I watched the bird mostly ignored us and walked away, finally crossing the main trail. Based on the red wattle under the throat I think it may be a young male.

Wild Turkey 05/03/2015 Inwood Hill Park

 While we tried to spot a Yellow Warbler singing on the ridge, Ed spotted a male Summer Tanager high in an oak between the two small pine groves on the center path of the ridge. Earlier we had encountered James Knox, so I called him on his cell to let him know about the tanager. He quickly got there with Danny Karlson and they and several other birders got to enjoy the bird. Unfortunately, the tanager was too far away for me to get a picture with the short lens on my camera. Summer tanager was new for me in Inwood Hill Park. It is species number 208 for me in the park.

Later, in the Overlook Meadow, Ed and I saw my first Black Swallowtail butterfly of the year, a female with the bkue markings on the upper surface of the hindwings, though that is not visibile in the photo below.

female Black Swallowtail 05/03/2015 Inwood Hill Park

On our way out, at the bottom of the Clove we encountered James Knox again. He told us he had seen Blue-winged, Nashville and Magnolia warblers up the switchback trail that comes down from the old eagle hacking spot. We tried for them, but had no luck. Our full list of birds is below.

Canada Goose
Mallard
Wild Turkey (see photo above)
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron (1)
Great Egret (1)
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift (4-5, over the ridge)
Belted Kingfisher (1, bay by the soccer fields in the morning)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Kingbird (1, the ridge)
Blue-headed Vireo (1, the ridge)
Warbling Vireo (see above)
Blue Jay
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (4-5)
Tree Swallow (2-3)
Barn Swallow (1)
Black-capped Chickadee (2)
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1)
Wood Thrush (several singing in the Clove)
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Ovenbird (2-3)
Black-and-white Warbler (4-5)
Northern Parula (several on the ridge)

Northern Parula 05/03/2015 Inwood Hill Park

Yellow Warbler (1)
Palm Warbler (3-4)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (all over)
Black-throated Green Warbler (at least 8)
Eastern Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Summer Tanager (1, male)
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (1, male)
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole (at least 2)
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch (1, heard flying over)
House Sparrow