April 19 - Central Park

Another gray, cool, damp morning. Back in the mid-1960's (I know I am showing my age) there was a classic movie about surfing called Endless Summer. This spring might best be named Endless Winter. Again this morning it felt more like February or early-March than the latter half of April. It was spitting rain when my Thursday morning AMNH bird walk started. About ten hardy souls joined me. It was soon clear that despite the weather there were more birds around then yesterday morning. What was also clear was that many of them were Hermit Thrushes; they seemed to be everywhere. We also encountered a number of Ruby-crowned Kinglets. Last Thursday, we didn't receive word about the Barn Owl until fifteen minutes before the walk ended so we did not have time to look for it. This week we decided to try for the owl without hearing whether it had been seen today. I knew it had been seen yesterday. Our hunt was successful and we found the owl in the same place it has been for over a week now, It was, however, facing the opposite direction than other times I have seen it. The views were not great, but everyone in my group saw it. It was a life bird for several. By the time we headed out of the park at 9:00 am we had totaled 36 species.

Canada Goose
Mallard
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron (1, flyover)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (1, the Lake)
Red-tailed Hawk (1, frequenting its nest on the San Remo building)
Ring-billed Gull (1, flyover)
Herring Gull (5, flying over as we left the park)
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Barn Owl (1)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1)
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
Tufted Titmouse (1, calling persistently near the Azalea Pond)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (2)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (15, scattered throughout Ramble; at least one singing)
Hermit Thrush (45, they were eerywhere)
American Robin
European Starling
Palm Warbler (2, Upper Lobe)
Pine Warbler (1, near the Barn Owl)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (8)
Eastern Towhee (1, first female I ave see this spring)
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird (1, feeders)
House Finch
American Goldfinch (8)
House Sparrow