April 13 - Central Park

A beautiful morning for my Thursday AMNH bird walk group, though a bit cold. Still, it was quite a contrast to last Thursday's fairly wet walk. At Hernshead, on the Lake, we were surprised to see a Double-crested Cormorant sitting up in a tree. The species does nest in trees, but you rarely see one perched in a tree in Central Park.

Double-crested Cormorant 04/13/2017

Flying over the Lake were two Rough-winged Swallows, the first we have seen this year, though the species has been seen by others in the last few days. One of the birdiest areas was the Point where we saw our first Black-and-white Warbler of the spring, along with a Palm Warbler, both kinglets and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 04/13/2017

In total we had forty species for the two hour walk.

Canada Goose
Mallard
Ruddy Duck (2 males on Lake)
Double-crested Cormorant
Black-crowned Night-Heron (1, the Point)
Red-tailed Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (2, the Lake)
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (1, the Point)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (1, the Point)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Louisiana Waterthrush (1, Upper Lobe)
Black-and-white Warbler (1, the Point)
Pine Warbler (1, Turtle Pond - seen by Stefan Passlick and some of the group)
Palm Warbler (1, the Point)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (2, the Point)
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird (1, female, the feeders)
House Finch (2, the feeders)
American Goldfinch (8, the feeders)
House Sparrow