May 27 - Inwood Hill Park

Another foggy start to the day. As with yesterday the fog and lower cloud cover eventually burned off and it became a lovely day. Up on the ridge I met up with Danny Karlson and Hilary Russ. My total list for the day was a bit lower than yesterday, but it included some nice birds, including one new species for the April/May total. Among the "goodies" was a male Blackburnian Warbler the three of us saw up on the ridge. After Hilary left us I spotted a fly-by Yellow-billed Cuckoo as Danny and I crossed the soccer fields after we came back from the ridge. Unfortunately, Danny was some way ahead of me on the field and did not see the cuckoo. However, Danny did spot a group of seven sandpipers on the mudflats across the bay from the soccer fields. As we headed around the fields to get out on the peninsula t get a closer view of the sandpipers so we could identify them, we encountered a Killdeer on the mud near the south shore of the bay. It flew off before I could get a picture, but it was a first for my Inwood list since April 1. (In the late afternoon, the Killdeer was on the mudflats by Muscota Marsh and I was able to add it to my window list for the spring.) Once we got around to the peninsula, Danny and I were able to get a closer look at the sandpipers and determine they were Semipalmated Sandpipers, not the more expected Least Sandpipers.

Earlier, as we were leaving the ridge Danny spotted a patch of False Solomon's Seal in bloom. The first I have seen this spring in the park.

The total bird list for the day was 47 species (full list below). The Killdeer was my 120th species for Inwood since April 1st and the 52nd for the window list for the same time period.

Canada Goose 9
Mallard 6
Rock Pigeon 10
Mourning Dove 2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Chimney Swift 6
Killdeer 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper 7

Spotted Sandpiper 1
Ring-billed Gull 3
Herring Gull 1
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Double-crested Cormorant 2
Great Egret 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Warbling Vireo 6
Red-eyed Vireo 3
Blue Jay 6
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Tree Swallow 3
Barn Swallow 8

White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 3

European Starling 12
Gray Catbird 4
Northern Mockingbird 1
Wood Thrush 3
American Robin 5
Cedar Waxwing 10+ (have been common recent days; two were in a bush in Muscota this afternoon)
House Sparrow 8
Song Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 1 (One has been hanging out in Muscota Marsh. This morning it sang once.)
Orchard Oriole 1
Baltimore Oriole 5
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Common Grackle 6
Ovenbird 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 3