January 5, 2025: Cold weather coming - Keep your eyes open!

In late December we had a cold snap in New York. During and after it a number of uncommon (for Inwood Hill Park) waterbirds were spotted in the park. On December 23 Allen and Karina Greene found an American Coot. On December 26 I spotted three scaup from my window which Danny Karlson saw from in the park and identified as Lesser Scaup; the same day Allen and Karina photographed a female Northern Pintail. On December 31 Hilary Russ spotted a Red-throated Loon in the main channel and Danny found an American Wigeon. All these species have occurred before in Inwood, but they are all uncommon.

When I checked my records I found that the last time I saw American Wigeon, Lesser Scaup, and American Coot had all been in the winter of 2014. In fact, the winter of 2014 produced quite a variety of waterbirds in Inwood Hill Park. January 2014 saw a shift south in the Polar Vortex with record low temperatures throughout the eastern United States. New York City recorded temperatures in the low single digits in early January. The following observations are mostly from my observations in Inwood Hill Park from January to April 2014 — American Wigeon, March 10 (3 birds); Ring-necked Duck, March 13 (3); Canvasback, February 2 to March 18 (up to 13 birds); Redhead, February 23 (1 male); Greater and Lesser scaups (plus unidentified scaups), January 27 to March 18 (usually 1 to 3 birds); Common Goldeneye, mid-March, female (seen by James Knox and Nadir Souirgi); Bufflehead, March 16 to 18 (1 - 2 birds); White-winged Scoter, March 6 to April 5 (up to 5 birds); Red-breasted Merganser, February 12 to April 12 (up to 7 birds); non-waterfowl: American Coot, January 6 (1) and probably the rarest waterbird I saw in Inwood that winter a Red-necked Grebe on April 6. The grebe was part of a large influx of the species into the New York City/Long Island area that winter with one also occurring on the reservoir in Central Park. Most of these sightings are recorded in blog entries I made on this blog in that time period. Almost undoubtedly related to the weather pattern that produced this variety of birds locally was the stunning occurrence of a Willow Ptarmigan that showed up at Three Mile Bay in Jefferson County near the Canadian border in far northern New York State that I went up to see on April 27 with Doug Gochfeld and Sean Sime. The ptarmigan was eventually found dead and the specimen ended up in the American Museum of Natural History.)

It is still too early in the winter to know what sort of weather we will have this year, but we have already had one cold snap in December. Another stretch of cold weather is predicted for this coming week with several days in a row with highs for the day below freezing. This is also going to produce even colder temperatures inland and will undoubtedly freeze many interior water bodies. Therefore, this coming week and beyond should be a good time to watch in Inwood Hill Park and on the Hudson River for an influx of waterbirds forced to the coast by those freezing temperatures.

New York State 2024: Some Highlights

An early highlight of 2024 was a trip with my friend Sean Sime on February 19th to chase some rare birds. In Dutchess County we saw Golden Eagle near Dover Plains where they have tended to winter in recent years. On the way back south we went to the Shawangunk Grasslands in Ulster County to see an over wintering Loggerhead Shrike, a bird I last saw in New York in 2010.

Loggerhead Shrike - February 14, 2024.   ©️ Joseph DiCostanzo

Every year I hope to add at least one or more birds to my personal New York State bird list. Not surprisingly, every year it gets harder. This year I managed to pick up two new species, both in the first half of the year. In late April my friend Ed Eden and I did a weekend trip out Long Island to Montauk. We had originally scheduled it for the winter but had been forced to cancel because of a friend’s illness. Ann and I and our friend Georgia Rose did a trip out west to see the total solar eclipse in Texas on April 8. I picked up a few life birds on that trip. Ed and I rescheduled our Montauk trip for the weekend of April 20/21. It turned out we had great luck in our rescheduling. We started off the weekend with a Swainson’s Warbler at Brooklyn Bridge Park on the morning of April 20. It had been found there a day or two earlier. 

Swainson’s Warbler - April 20, 2024      ©️Joseph DiCostanzo

The Swainson’s was not a new bird for me in NY, but I had only seen it a couple of other times. Ed and I had a good trip out Long Island with lots of year birds. That evening I got a message that a Lazuli Bunting had been identified at a feeder in Flanders on the North Fork. This would be a New York bird for both of us, but that Saturday evening it wasn’t clear if the feeders where the bird was being seen were accessible to the public. We decided we would bird Montauk as planned the next morning and wait for any additional information. The next morning we were birding Camp Hero on the south side of Montauk Point when word came the bunting was still there and the feeders it frequented were visible from across the public street on front of the owner’s house. As we started to leave Camp Hero, Ed said: “Joe. Look out the driver’s side window.” On the ground was a an adult male Blue Grosbeak. When we got to Flanders it was easy to find the house with the feeders by the crowd of birders across the street. The bunting was sporadic in its appearance at the feeders, but finally it came in and put on a nice show. The bunting was my 444th species for my New York list.

Lazuli Bunting - April 21, 2024.   ©️Joseph DiCostanzo

Spring migration was about average, but at the end of May came the exciting news of an American Flamingo out at Georgica Pond on eastern Long Island. Ann, our friend Georgia and I went out early in the morning on June 1st. Legal parking was a problem. There was a parking area for local residents only. You could park there before 9:00 am, but after that the police ticketed nonresidents. We didn’t think we could get out to the bird and back by 9:00 so Georgia stayed with the car while Ann and I went down the beach to the pond inlet and saw the bird. Then I stayed at the inlet with my scope while Ann went back and relieved Georgia at the car and Georgia joined me at the inlet to enjoy the bird. The flamingo was not just my 445th New York State bird but was my 1458th World life bird. It was my first life bird in New York State since a Corn Crake at Cedar Beach on November 8, 2017. (Not counting the split of Scopoli’s Shearwater from Cory’s Shearwater last year.)

American Flamingo - June 1, 2024.  ©️ Joseph DiCostanzo

Later in June a Black-bellied Whistling-Duck showed up at the lake in Van Cortlandt Park and Ann and I went up to see it. It was not a new bird in New York for me, but it was only the second one I had seen in New York.

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck - June 26, 2024.  ©️ Joseph DiCostanzo

The LeConte’s Sparrow in Inwood Hill Park on October 8, was only the second time I saw that species in New York. I posted about that bird on my blog last week. My last really good bird for the year 2024 in New York was the Sage Thrasher that showed up at Robert Moses State Park on Fire Island in November. I saw the bird twice, once on November 24 with Georgia and Ann and again in December when I led a Linnaean Society trip.

Sage Thrasher - December 8, 2024.  ©️ Joseph DiCostanzo

This was also only the second time I had seen this species in New York. My only other Sage Thrasher in New York was May 18, 2019 at Jamaica Bay. There was a time this species was my most wanted North American bird because it was the most widespread species in North America that I had never seen. This bird was present for over a month. It had a growth on one foot that was evidently caused by avian pox.