October 30 - Central Park - Red-headed Woodpecker

After the rainy weather and then clearing skies of the last two days, it was a stunning fall day for the Friday AMNH bird walk in Central Park. The highlights of the walk were the fall foliage and an immature Red-headed Woodpecker just north of the Oven in the Ramble. Perhaps the most spectacular tree was the Tupelo in the Tupelo Meadow.

Tupelo - Central Park (cell phone picture) 

 There were lots of Hermit Thrushes around, but only one Ruby-crowned Kinglet. The full bird list follows.

Canada Goose
Mallard
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-headed Woodpecker (1, immature, north of Oven)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue-headed Vireo (1, south side Turtle Pond)
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1)
Hermit Thrush (many)
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Towhee (1)
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

October 29 - Central Park - clearing skies

Yesterday morning my AMNH bird walk group got out of Central Park just before the rains started. Today we did the walk under clearing skies. I think the threat of rain did deter a number of participants so I only had one person for the last Thursday morning walk of the season. As on yesterday's walk, we headed up to the reservoir since it was still dark in the Ramble even though the skies were starting to clear. We had pretty much the same waterfowl as yesterday. Overall our list was smaller than yesterday since we never did make it down into the Ramble. Instead we went out of the park via Tanner's Spring, but landbirds were relatively scarce. The morning's list follows.

Canada Goose
Wood Duck (1, male, Turtle Pond)
Gadwall (Reservoir)
Mallard
Northern Shoveler (Reservoir)
Bufflehead (1, male, Reservoir)
Ruddy Duck (Reservoir)
Double-crested Cormorant (Reservoir)
Red-tailed Hawk (1)
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
House Sparrow

October 28 - Central Park - overcast and threatening

An overcast and threatening morning for the last Central Park Wednesday morning AMNH bird walk of the fall season. Since we are still on Daylight Savings Time and sunrise wasn't until well after our normal starting time of 7:00 am, I had arranged with the group to start at 7:15. With the morning's heavy overcast, even at 7:15 it was still quite dim. Rather than try to bird by streetlight in the Ramble we headed up to the reservoir to look for ducks first before going back to the Ramble. We picked up a few species of ducks on the reservoir and added two pair of Wood Duck and two Black Ducks on Turtle Pond on the way back. The Ramble itself was fairly quiet with fewer landbirds than in recent weeks. We were lucky with the weather and the rains held off until after the walk ended. The full list is below.

Canada Goose
Wood Duck (4, Turtle Pond)
Gadwall (Reservoir)
American Black Duck (2, Turtle Pond)
Mallard
Northern Shoveler (Reservoir)
Bufflehead (1 male, Reservoir)
Ruddy Duck (Reservoir)
Double-crested Cormorant (Reservoir)
Ring-billed Gull (Reservoir)
Herring Gull (Reservoir)
Great Black-backed Gull (Reservoir)
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Blackpoll Warbler (1)
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
House Sparrow

October 27 - Central Park - final Tuesday walks of the fall

Today was the final Tuesday AMNH Central Park bird walks for the fall. We had nice weather, but the bird numbers and variety were noticeably down from last week. We could not even find a kinglet or warbler on the morning walk and only had one of each at lunchtime.

Morning walk (7:15 - 9:15 am)
Canada Goose
Mallard
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

Lunchtime walk (12:00 - 1:45 pm)
Canada Goose
Mallard
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Blackpoll Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

October 23 - Central Park - lots of Chipping Sparrows

For the Friday morning AMNH bird walk we varied our normal route this week. We headed north from the Ramble through the Locust Grove to the Pinetum. We found Palm and Yellow-rumped warblers as we went through the Locust Grove. Most notable were the numbers of Chipping Sparrows on the ground in the Pinetum.

Canada Goose
American Black Duck
Mallard
Red-tailed Hawk (1, by Sparrow Rock)
American Kestrel
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Winter Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Palm Warbler (Locust Grove)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Chipping Sparrow (flocks on the ground at the Pinetum)
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco (Sparrow Rock)
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

October 22 - Central Park - a raptor morning

Another in a string of lovely mornings for my today's AMNH bird walk. There were lots of White-throated and Song sparrows, Hermit Thrushes and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. The stars of the morning, however, were raptors. We had a Red-tailed Hawk, a flyover Peregrine Falcon and as we were headed out an adult Cooper's Hawk south of Azalea Pond with a just caught flicker. The full list is below.

Canada Goose
Mallard
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

October 21 - Central Park - kinglets and a handful of warblers

Venus was still shining brightly in the sky when my Wednesday AMNH bird walk group headed into the park at 7 am; since we are still on Daylight Savings Time, the sun does not come up until nearly 7:15. We had lots of Ruby-crowned Kinglets and one Golden-crowned. The full list of 36 species is below.

Canada Goose
Mallard
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Winter Wren (1, path going south from the Maintenance Meadow)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (1, same spot as the wren above)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Brown Creeper (Thank you to Lenore for pointing out I missed putting this one on the list)
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher (2)
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing (south side of Turtle Pond)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (1, male by Azalea Pond)
Pine Warbler (2, south side of Turtle Pond)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco (2, south end of Maintenance Meadow)
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Finch (2, males by Blevedere)
House Sparrow

October 20 - Central Park - morning and mid-day walks

I led two bird walks in the Rambler in Central park for AMNH groups on Tuesday. The morning was cool and sunny. Among the highlights was a male Green-winged Teal on the Lake and a female Wood Duck on Turtle Pond. By lunchtime, the Lake was almost cleared of waterfowl by boaters, but I added another duck to the day's list with an American Black Duck on Turtle Pond. On both walks there were lots of Ruby-crowned Kinglets and White-throated Sparrows.

Morning walk (7 - 9 am)
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

Lunchtime walk (12- 2 pm)
Canada Goose
American Black Duck
Mallard
Cooper's Hawk
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Northern Parula
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

October 16 - Central Park - the usual suspects

A pleasant morning for the Friday morning AMNH bird walk group in the Ramble. We found many of the expected species for this time in the fall migration, including both kinglets and lots of White-throated Sparrows. The full list of 31 species is below.

Canada Goose
Mallard
Red-tailed Hawk
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Magnolia Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

October 15 - Central Park - White-throated Sparrow time

A cool, crisp fall morning for my Thursday AMNH bird walk. One of the highlights of the morning was at the start when we were at Hernshead on the west side of the Lake. A Peregrine Falcon was spotted flying over the trees to the east carrying a kill (it looked like a robin). Northern Flickers and Yellow-rumped Warblers seemed to be moving overhead, but the species in big numbers was the White-throated Sparrow - they were everywhere.

Canada Goose (21, the Lake)
Wood Duck (2, males on Turtle Pond)
Mallard
Peregrine Falcon (1)
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1, Maintenance Meadow)
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee (1, Maintenance Meadow)
Eastern Phoebe (2)
Blue-headed Vireo (2)
Blue Jay
American Crow (10-15, overhead)
White-breasted Nuthatch (1)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (several)
Hermit Thrush (4)
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing (one small flock)
Palm Warbler (5, Belvedere and Maintenance Meadow)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow (not as many as White-throats, but a lot)
White-throated Sparrow (everywhere)
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
American Goldfinch (1, heard flying over Maintenance Meadow)
House Sparrow

October 14 - Central Park - thrushes and warblers

A very pleasant morning for my Wednesday AMNH bird walk group. It started out slow, but then picked up towards the end. There was some activity in the Maintenance Meadow, particularly Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers and a Magnolia Warbler. From there we went over to the Tupelo Meadow to look for sparrows. There were White-throats, Songs and three Chipping Sparrows, but the real surprise was a dull Pine Warbler feeding in the grass like a sparrow. From there we went down to the Azalea Pond where we had another burst of activity to end the walk. Total list was 37 species.

Canada Goose (7. the Lake)
Mallard (the Lake and Turtle Pond)
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (2, a member of the group saw one and I heard one)
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe (1)
Blue-headed Vireo (1, near Azalea Pond)
Blue Jay
American Crow (4, flying overhead calling)
Black-capped Chickadee (heard near Belvedere)
White-breasted Nuthatch (1, near Azalea Pond)
Brown Creeper (1, near Azalea Pond)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (several in the Maintenance Meadow)
Gray-cheeked Thrush (1, west of Azalea Pond)
Swainson's Thrush (1, near Azalea Pond)
Hermit Thrush (several)
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher (2, on the ground in the Maintenance Meadow)
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing (small flock in a Gingko northeast of Maintenance Meadow)
Black-and-white Warbler (2, near Azalea Pond)
Northern Parula (1, near Azalea Pond)
Magnolia Warbler (1, Maintenance Meadow)
Blackpoll Warbler (1, s. side Turtle Pond)
Pine Warbler (1, Tupelo Meadow)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (3, Maintenance Meadow)
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow (3, Tupelo Meadow)
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

October 10 & 11 - Inwood Hill Park - migrating Brant and Blue Jays

I went birding in Inwood Hill Park on Saturday and Sunday mornings. On Saturday with Kathryn Long and Sunday with Ed Eden. On Saturday we also spent some time birding with Nadir Sourigi. Both mornings were beautiful with clear, blue skies. However, the winds were very different on the two mornings and that made for somewhat different birding. On Saturday the winds were from the northwest while on Sunday morning they were lighter and from the southwest. On both days the temperatures started out in the low 50s. Both days there were flocks of Blue Jays migrating south, especially over the Hudson. On Saturday there were also many flocks of Brant flying over and down the Hudson ranging in size from about half a dozen to 50 or 60 at a time. On Saturday there were groups of vultures over the Palisades across the Hudson, a lone Bald Eagle and small numbers of Osprey. On Sunday there were just a couple of Osprey. Now that we are well into October the numbers and variety of sparrows are building up. Over the two mornings I recorded 49 species.

Brant (Oct 10 only; see above)
Canada Goose (both days)
Mallard (both days)
Double-crested Cormorant (Oct 10)
Great Blue Heron (1, both days)
Great Egret (1, both days)
Black Vulture (Oct 10 only; see above)
Turkey Vulture (Oct 10 only; see above)
Osprey (both days)
Bald Eagle (Oct 10 only; see above)
Ring-billed Gull (both days)
Herring Gull (both days)
Great Black-backed Gull (both days)
Rock Pigeon (both days)
Mourning Dove (both days)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (both days)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1, Oct 11)
Downy Woodpecker (both days)
Northern Flicker (Oct 10)
Eastern Phoebe (both days)
Blue-headed Vireo (1, Oct 11)
Blue Jay (both days)
White-breasted Nuthatch (both days)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (1, Oct 11)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1, Oct 11)
American Robin (both days)
Gray Catbird (both days)
Northern Mockingbird (both days)
European Starling (both days)
Nashville Warbler (1, Oct 11)
Common Yellowthroat (1, Oct 10)
Northern Parula (1, Oct 10)
Magnolia Warbler (1, Oct 10)
Blackpoll Warbler (1, Oct 11)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (both days)
Black-throated Green Warbler (1, Oct 10)
Eastern Towhee (both days)
Chipping Sparrow (both days)
Field Sparrow (1, Oct 11)
Savannah Sparrow (1, Oct 10)
Song Sparrow (both days)
Swamp Sparrow (1, both days)
White-throated Sparrow (both days)
White-crowned Sparrow (2, Oct 10)
Northern Cardinal (both days)
Common Grackle (1, Oct 11)
House Finch (3, Oct 11)
American Goldfinch (1, Oct 10)
House Sparrow (both days)

October 8 - Central Park - Gray-cheeked Thrush, White-crowned Sparrow

A beautiful fall morning for my Thursday AMNH bird walk group. There seemed to be more birds around then yesterday morning. Ruby-crowned Kinglet numbers in particular seemed to be up. We had several good birds: a flyover snipe when we were on the Oak Bridge crossing the Upper Lobe; an immature White-crowned Sparrow in the Tupelo Meadow and two Gray-cheeked Thrushes. Full list below.

Canada Goose
Wood Duck (1, male flyover the Maintenance Meadow)
Mallard
Red-tailed Hawk (1, flushed by mobbing Blue Jays)
Wilson's Snipe (1, flyover)
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (several)
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe (several)
Blue-headed Vireo (2)
Blue Jay
White-breasted Nuthatch (1)
House Wren (1)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (all over)
Gray-cheeked Thrush (2, stream leading into Azalea Pond and east of Upper Lobe)
Swainson's Thrush (several)
Hermit Thrush (several)
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing (two small flocks)
Northern Waterthrush (1, Upper Lobe)
Northern Parula (1)
Magnolia Warbler (1, Maintenace Meadow)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (1, female)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (several)
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow (1, along the Gill)
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow (1, immature, Tupelo Meadow)
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

October 7 - Central Park - cooler temperatures; more fall arrivals

It was a pleasant, though cool morning for my Wednesday AMNH bird walk group. Unfortunately, we are now late enough into the fall that sun-up is at about the time of our 7:00 am start time. So when we have some clouds, as we did this morning, it is still relatively dim when we start. This is going to be more and more of a problem as the walks continue through the end of the month. Despite that we started off nicely with two male Wood Ducks on the far side of the Lake as seen from Hernshead. Lenore Swenson first spotted one bird which quickly swam under some low bushes along the shore. We kept watching for it to come back out when suddenly two birds took off and flew away. The dim light and the still thick leaf cover made for some frustrating birding, but in the end we saw 36 species over the two hours of the walk.

Canada Goose (2, the Lake)
Wood Duck (2 males, the Lake)
Mallard
Red-tailed Hawk (1)
American Kestrel (1)
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (1, Maintenance Meadow)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (several)
Downy Woodpecker (1, heard)
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee (1, near Upper Lobe)
Eastern Phoebe (several)
Blue Jay
White-breasted Nuthatch
Winter Wren (1, by Upper Lobe; first this fall)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (several)
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush (several; first this fall)
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher (1)
European Starling
Northern Parula (1)
Magnolia Warbler (1)
Blackpoll Warbler (2)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (2)
Eastern Towhee (1, male)
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Scarlet Tanager (1)
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

October 2 - Central Park - a bit damp, but a surprising number of birds

Two brave birders from Paul Sweet's Friday morning AMNH bird walk braved the weather to join me as I filled in for Paul. Despite the light rain we ran up a bigger list than my Wednesday and Thursday walks did in the slightly drier weather. There was nothing rare, but there were some firsts of the season for us.

Canada Goose (4, the Lake)
American Black Duck (1, the Lake; first we have seen this fall)
Mallard
Great Egret (1, flying over Turtle Pond)
Cooper's Hawk (1, Upper Lobe)
Great Black-backed Gull (usually seen on the Reservoir or flying overhead, but one was on the Lake)
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift (4, over Maintenance Meadow)
Belted Kingfisher (1 or 2, the Lake and Turtle Pond)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1, heard in Maintenance Meadow)
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe (1)
Blue-headed Vireo (1, briefly in Maintenance Meadow)
Red-eyed Vireo (1, Maintenance Meadow)
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse (2)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (2)
Swainson's Thrush (several)
Wood Thrush (1)
American Robin
Gray Catbird (many)
Brown Thrasher (4-6)
European Starling
Ovenbird (2)
Black-and-white Warbler (1)
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart (1)
Magnolia Warbler (1)
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco (4, first I have seen this fall)
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (1, Maintenance Meadow)
House Sparrow

October 1 - Muscota Marsh, Inwood Hill Park - Red Phalarope

I normally only put my own sightings on my blog, but this is such a rarity I wanted to post it here. Sometime around 9:00 am Andrew Farnsworth found and photographed a Red Phalarope at Muscota Marsh. The bird flew off soon after. Amazingly, this is a second record for the species at this location. I saw one from my apartment window in the ship channel off Muscota Marsh the morning after superstorm Sandy came through on October 30, 2012.

I was leading my Central Park bird walk group this morning or this bird could have been an incredible second record for my apartment list. I always thought of the post-Sandy bird as a never to be repeated event!

October 1 - Central Park - overcast and cool

An overcast and cool morning for my Thursday morning AMNH bird walk group. There was a brisk, cool northerly breeze. It was relatively quiet with no sign of yesterday's Dickcissel. We did manage to find 28 species by the end of the two hour walk.

Canada Goose (the Lake)
Mallard (the Lake and Turtle Pond)
Red-tailed Hawk (1, soaring over the south end of the park)
American Coot (1, Turtle Pond again)
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (1, still coming in to the Jewelweed at the Oven)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1 - 2)
Northern Flicker (a number flying over)
Eastern Phoebe (2)
Blue Jay
White-breasted Nuthatch (1)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1, along the Gill)
Swainson's Thrush (several)
American Robin
Gray Catbird (everywhere)
Brown Thrasher (2-3)
European Starling
Ovenbird (1)
Common Yellowthroat (Oak Bridge)
Eastern Towhee (1, south side Turtle Pond)
White-throated Sparrow (numbers starting to build)
Scarlet Tanager (2 - 3)
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle (starting to form flocks)
House Sparrow