October 19 - Central Park

Summer seems to have returned, or at least summer temperatures, for my Wednesday morning AMNH bird walk. However, one way we knew it was not summer was the fact that the sun does not rise until about fifteen minutes after our 7 AM start time, so it was still dim when we started and when we could find a bird it was hard to get a good look at it. Nevertheless, we managed to find 32 species, including four warblers.

Canada Goose (10, the Lake)
Wood Duck (4, Turtle Pond)
Mallard
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift (20)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Black-throated Blue Warbler (1, male)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ovenbird (2)
Common Yellowthroat (1, male, Maintenance Meadow)
Eastern Towhee
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

October 13 - Central Park

A very pretty morning in the Ramble for my Thursday morning AMNH bird walk group. It would have been an even prettier morning if there had been more birds around! It was the first morning this fall without a single warbler species seen or heard. Perhaps the highlight was a Gray Squirrel in an unusual resting posture.

Gray Squirrel - 10/132016 - Central Park

Canada Goose (7, the Lake)
Mallard
Double-crested Cormorant (1, Turtle Pond)
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

October 12 - Central Park

A lovely, cool morning in Central Park for my Wednesday morning AMNH birdwalk group. However, it was a times frustrating because we could see birds high up in the tree tops, but they often stayed out of sight behind the dense clumps of leaves or were mere silhouettes against the sky. Nevertheless, we had a nice couple of hours with a decent variety of species. One favorable development was that most of the Ramble is finally open again now that he Conservancy has finished the latest repaving project and taken down the fencing that has blocked off large sections this fall. My group had been looking forward to this so that we could check the large patch of Jewelweed that was behind the benches at the main path intersection somewhat north of the lower Gill. We were stunned to discover the Jewelweed had all been removed by the Conservancy. I have no idea why.

Northern Flicker - 10/12/2016 - feeding on ground near Maintenance Meadow

Today's list is below (35 species):

Canada Goose (7, the Lake)
Mallard
Double-crested Cormorant (1, Turtle Pond)
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift (5)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue-headed Vireo (2)
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee (6)
Tufted Titmouse (5)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (2, Blevedere)
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper (1)
Carolina Wren (1)
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Brown Thrasher (1, Maintenace Meadow)
European Starling
Northern Parula (2)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow (1, near Maintenance Meadow)
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird (5, flyover flock, Maintenance Meadow)
Common Grackle
House Finch
House Sparrow

Thursday morning Central Park walks - Sept 15, 22, and 29 and Oct 6

I haven't had a chance to post my Thursday morning AMNH Central Park bird walk lists this fall. I hope I will be able to keep up with them for the rest of the month, but in the meantime I will post here the bird lists for the walks I have done. For the most part, it has been a surprisingly quiet fall, with the Thursday walks being often quieter than my Wednesday morning ones. Before giving the lists, I want to share two photos from last week's Thursday walk. The first is a picture of the ground fog on the Great Lawn as seen from the Belvedere Castle.

Great Lawn - October 6, 2016

The second photo is of a cooperative Red-tailed Hawk that sat in a tree at the north end of the Maintenance Meadow for a time, while other birds such as a Blue Jay and a Downy Woodpecker came in a scolded at it.

Red-tailed Hawk and Downy Woodpecker - October 6, 2016

September 15 (26 species)
Canada Goose (The Lake)
Mallard
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Northern Flicker
Philadelphia Vireo (2, Maintenance Meadow; easily our best bird of the fall so far)
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Swainson’s Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Magnolia Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager (3)
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

September 22 (25 species)
Canada Goose
Mallard
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
White-breasted Nuthatch
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Swainson’s Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Northern Parula (3)
Pine Warbler (2)
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Scarlet Tanager (2)
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

September 29 (28 species)
Canada Goose
Mallard
Red-tailed Hawk (3)
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
White-breasted Nuthatch
Swainson’s Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Northern Parula (2)
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Eastern Towhee
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

October 6 (28 species)
Canada Goose
Mallard
Red-tailed Hawk
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Red-breqasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Magnolia Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Finch
House Sparrow

Wednesday morning Central Park bird walks - Sept 28 and Oct 5

Unfortunately, I have fallen behind in posting my reports of my AMNH Central Park bird walks. In order to catch up I will post the bird lists for the last two weeks with only very brief comments.

September 28 - (37 species)
Canada Goose (8, the Lake)
Mallard
Double-crested Cormorant
Red-tailed Hawk (1)
American Kestrel (1, flyover)
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (1, uncooperative bird in Maintenance Meadow and vicinity)
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (2, Willow Rock)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler (2)
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Common Yellowthroat
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-brasted Grosbeak (2, Willow Rock)
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

October 5 - (44 species; our best morning of the fall so far)
Wood Duck (female, the Lake)
Mallard
Cooper's Hawk (1, flyover)
Red-shouldered Hawk (1, flyover - Upper Lobe)
Red-tailed Hawk (1)
American Kestrel (1, flyover)
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (1, Willow Rock)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe (lots; especially at Turtle Pond)
Blue-headed Vireo (1, Belvedere)
Blue Jay
Winter Wren (1)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Black-throated Blue Warbler (1)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
PineWarbler (1, Hernshead)
Palm Warbler (2, Maintenance Meadow)
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird (1, Azalea Pond)
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow (1, Hernshead)
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow (1, Maintenance Meadow)
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed junco
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Finch
House Sparrow