May 25 - Central Park - warblers and flycatchers

Last week was officially my last AMNH Wednesday morning bird walk of the spring, but with spring migration still going on, I did an extra one this morning. My group was rewarded with lovely weather and a good late migration assemblage of birds. The walk started slow, but Dave Barrett, who joined us part of the time, let us know that according to his Twitter feed there was activity up at the Belvedere Castle. On the way there Dave heard a Blackburnian Warbler singing and the group soon spotted it over the path. It gave everyone nice views, despite staying high as Blackburnians tend to do. The real treasure trove was the Honey Locust by the steps at the Belvedere. There were probably six species of warblers feeding in this tree including Yellow, Magnolia, Black-throated Green, a female Blackburnian, and American Redstarts. But the real star here was a very cooperative male Bay-breasted Warbler, probably a first year bird, which was not shy about feeding low in the tree.

Yellow Warbler 05/25/2016 Central Park

singing Bay-breasted Warbler 05/25/2016 Central Park

A couple of times the warblers were joined by an Eastern Kingbird. We heard a number of Eastern Wood-Pewees calling and later saw one on the way out. Between the Maintenance Meadow and the Azalea Pond, we saw and heard a Least Flycatcher. We had no luck with the Olive-sided Flycatcher that a number of others saw this morning. A final treat on the way out was a brief view of a Lincoln's Sparrow along the lower stretch of the Gill. In total we had ten warblers and forty species for this final walk. Today's list is below. In the next day or two I will post a cumulative list for the spring as a separate page on this blog.

Canada Goose
Mallard
Great Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Canada Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Lincoln's Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Scarlet Tanager
Common Grackle
Baltimore Oriole
House Finch
House Sparrow