May 5 - Inwood Hill Park - New migrants

It has been interesting how each morning has brought a noticeably different assemblage of migrants. Just after starting out this morning I picked up a first of the year migrant - four Solitary Sandpipers feeding on the incoming tide on the mudflats north of the soccer field.

slightly blurry, distant photo of Solitary Sandpiper 05/05/2015 Inwood Hill Park

As I went up the Clove and along the ridge I noticed differences from yesterday. Overall numbers of birds seemed down, though in the end total variety was similar to yesterday with 54 species today compared to 55 yesterday. The White-throated Sparrows were gone (again), but flycatchers are now coming in with calling Great Crested and Least flycatchers on the ridge. I did not encounter "Norma" the Wild Turkey today. Easily the best bird of the morning perched up briefly on the path leading out to the wall over the Indian Caves where the eagle hacking station had been a few years ago - a Yellow-breasted Chat! Unfortunately, it quickly disappeared into the tangle when a jogger came by and i had no chance to try for a picture. I immediately got the word out by text message. James Knox joined me within a few minutes to look for the bird, and a couple of other birders who had seen the alert also showed up, but at least while I was still there, we did not refind the chat. The chat was my second new bird species for my Inwood list in three days (after the Summer Tanager on Sunday); it was number 209!

James and I did have some other nice warblers: a Worm-eating Warbler was feeding in the oak catkins at the path intersection north of the pines on the ridge and there was a lovely male Canada Warbler in the pines north of the Hudson River overlook.

I had to leave to get down to the office, but I did have two more nice finds on the way out. By the wall over the Indian Caves an Eastern Tailed Blue landed in the leaf litter in front of me. A last new bird was a singing Chestnut-sided Warbler halfway down the switchback trail from that overlook.

Eastern Tailed Blue 05/05/2015 Inwood Hill Park (note the orange spot on the hindwing)

The complete bird list for the morning is below.

Canada Goose
Mallard
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Solitary Sandpiper (4, on mudflats north of soccer fields on the incoming tide in the morning)
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Least Flycatcher (1-2; calling on the ridge)
Great Crested Flycatcher (2; calling on the ridge)
Eastern Kingbird (2-3; soccer field and ridge)
Warbling Vireo (around the soccer field)
Red-eyed Vireo (1. the ridge)
Blue Jay
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (soccer field)
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren (2-3; the Clove and the ridge)
Veery (1, ridge)
Wood Thrush (singing in the Clove and on the ridge)
American Robin
Gray Catbird (all over)
Northern Mockingbird (Muscota)
European Starling
Ovenbird (the Clove and the ridge)
Worm-eating Warbler (1; feeding in oak catkins, path intersection north of pine groves, the ridge)
Black-and-white Warbler (scattered individuals)

male (note the sharply defined streaking)  Black-and-white Warbler 05/05/2015 Inwood Hill Park

Northern Parula (singing birds on the ridge)
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler (1; singing male on the switchback path coming down from the ridge)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (males all over)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler (fewer than yesterday)
Canada Warbler (1; male in the pines north of the Hudson River overlook)
Yellow-breasted Chat (1; by the old eagle hacking site)
Eastern Towhee (calling birds all over)
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (2-3; males and a female)
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole (around the soccer field and on the ridge)
Baltimore Oriole (all over)
House Sparrow