Monday, June 10, 2019

June 10 - Bridled Tern comes back to Great Gull Island

For the fourth summer in a row a Bridled Tern has appeared on Great Gull Island. I first spotted it two days ago on June 8. It is frequenting the same area of the island as the last two summers. Here is a picture taken today.

Bridled Tern 06/10/2019 Great Gull Island
 The island is a closed research facility so people cannot land, but last summer a number of birders did look for and see the bird from small boats offshore. Below is a map of the island indicating in red where the bird usually hangs out. Obviously the bird has to go off to feed at time, but I do not know what its schedule for that is.

Bridled Tern frequents the area marked in red on northeast corner of Great Gull Island.

Sunday, May 5, 2019

May 4 - Inwood Hill Park - good birds in the afternoon

The morning had been so good in the park, I went back in a little before 5:00 pm to see if I could find anything else. I was glad I did since I found a number of good birds I had not seen in the morning. I picked up one additional warbler, a late Palm Warbler. Thus bringing my warbler total for the day to 17 species. With reports of other warblers seen in the park during the day, the total variety of warblers in Inwood on Saturday was certainly over 20 species. Two good birds I found at the north end of the ridge were Summer Tanager and Blue Grosbeak. The Summer Tanager was a male, but not fully red, still a little blotchy. The Blue Grosbeak was an adult male. There may have been a second individual present which I only got a glimpse of, but the second bird could have been an Indigo Bunting which was also feeding in the vicinity. In total I ended up with 68 species in the park for the day. I very good day in Inwood.

Saturday, May 4, 2019

May 4 - Inwood Hill Park

A nice, birdy morning in Inwood Hill Park. The weather, however, was not the greatest. It was slightly foggy and when I started a little before 7:30 am it started to rain lightly. The light rain continued intermittently for the first two hours of my walk. Part way through the morning I was joined by Danny Karlson up on the ridge.

My walk started off well when a Green Heron flew up into a tree right next to me on the east side of the large bay north of the soccer fields. Continuing along the water's edge I heard my first Eastern Kingbird of the year (I later saw one when I was coming out of the park). As I passed the fenced in area on the north side of the soccer field I heard a Marsh Wren sing twice from the vegetation along the waters edge west of there. The Clove had a few birds, but most of the activity was along the ridge. Whenever the sun broke thru the heavy clouds, activity would pick up. By the time I left the park to go to the Saturday Farmer's Market on Isham with Ann, I had tallied 60 species with 16 warblers. The full list is below.

Canada Goose  3
Mallard  4
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  4
Mourning Dove  2
Chimney Swift  1
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Ring-billed Gull  14
Herring Gull  1
Double-crested Cormorant  3
Great Egret  1
Green Heron  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  1
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  2
Great Crested Flycatcher  2
Eastern Kingbird  1
Yellow-throated Vireo  1   (northeast of the overlook meadow)
Blue-headed Vireo  1
Warbling Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  2
Blue Jay  3
American Crow  1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  3
Tufted Titmouse  1
Marsh Wren  1    
Carolina Wren  2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
Veery  1
Wood Thrush  3
American Robin  12
Gray Catbird  2
Northern Mockingbird  1
European Starling  4
Chipping Sparrow  5
Field Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  5
Savannah Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  3
Baltimore Oriole  2
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Ovenbird  5
Worm-eating Warbler  1
Blue-winged Warbler  1
Black-and-white Warbler  6
Nashville Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  2
Hooded Warbler  1 (male)
American Redstart  1
Northern Parula  1
Magnolia Warbler  1
Blackburnian Warbler  1 (male)
Yellow Warbler  1
Chestnut-sided Warbler  1
Black-throated Blue Warbler  3 (1 male and 2 females)
Yellow-rumped Warbler  8
Black-throated Green Warbler  2
Scarlet Tanager  3 (2 males and 1 female)
Northern Cardinal  3
House Sparrow  3

May 2 - Central Park - spring migration at last!

A belated posting on my Thursday AMNH Central Park walk due to having to go out of town immediately after the walk.

The group lucked into the best migration morning of the spring 2019 so far. We easily found over 50 species on our walk. This despite the fact that viewing conditions were often not good with the birds high in the trees and back-lit on a gray morning. Highlights included five vireos and eleven warblers.


Central Park--The Ramble, New York, New York, US
May 2, 2019 7:00 AM - 9:16 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.899 mile(s)
54 species

Canada Goose  2
Mallard  6
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  2
Mourning Dove  8
Chimney Swift  2
Herring Gull  2
Double-crested Cormorant  2
Black-crowned Night-Heron  3
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1     Male. Red crown, red throat, white vertical
stripe on folded wing.
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Downy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  1
Least Flycatcher  1
White-eyed Vireo  1     White iris, gray head, yellow spectacles, yellow flanks.
Yellow-throated Vireo  1     Calling bird. Distinctive raspy “three-eight” call.
Blue-headed Vireo  2
Warbling Vireo  2
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  10
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  3
Veery  1
Swainson's Thrush  1
Hermit Thrush  4
Wood Thrush  1
American Robin  10
Gray Catbird  1
European Starling  8
House Finch  2
Purple Finch  1
American Goldfinch  2
Chipping Sparrow  3
White-throated Sparrow  8
Swamp Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  1
Baltimore Oriole  2
Red-winged Blackbird  3
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
Common Grackle  3
Ovenbird  1
Northern Waterthrush  3
Black-and-white Warbler  6
Common Yellowthroat  2
American Redstart  1
Northern Parula  1
Blackburnian Warbler  1
Yellow Warbler  2
Black-throated Blue Warbler  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  10
Prairie Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  4
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  3
Indigo Bunting  2
House Sparrow  5

May 1 - Central Park

I am late getting this list up because of work commitments and having to go out of the city for a day and a half. Wednesday morning in Central Park for my AMNH bird walk group was yet another in a string of gray, overcast, almost foggy days this week. It made for very frustrating birding with the warblers and many other birds high in the trees and back-lit and hence very difficult to identify. Nevertheless, we found 39 species with six warblers. The full list is below.

Central Park--The Ramble, New York, New York, US
May 1, 2019 7:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.83 mile(s)
39 species

Canada Goose  2
Mallard  6
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  2
Mourning Dove  6
Herring Gull  2
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Black-crowned Night-Heron  2
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Belted Kingfisher  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Downy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  3
Least Flycatcher  1
Blue-headed Vireo  2
Warbling Vireo  1
Blue Jay  6
Red-breasted Nuthatch  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  4
Veery  1
Hermit Thrush  2
American Robin  9
Gray Catbird  1
European Starling  6
House Finch  2
Purple Finch  1
American Goldfinch  2
White-throated Sparrow  10
Baltimore Oriole  1
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Common Grackle  4
Ovenbird  1
Black-and-white Warbler  2
Northern Parula  2
Blackburnian Warbler  2
Yellow Warbler  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  6
Black-throated Green Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  4
House Sparrow  6

Sunday, April 28, 2019

April 28 - Inwood Hill Park - YCNH continues

A gray, cool day with intermittent light rain. However, the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron first found by Nathan O'Reilly last week continues around the edge of the bay north of the soccer fields. Nathan also found a Spotted Sandpiper by Muscota Marsh this morning, a first for the season. Also arriving today were Orchard Orioles and Warbling Vireos north of the soccer fields.

April 27 - Inwood Hill Park

The Yellow-crowned Night-Heron found by Nathan O'Reilly a few days ago was still present Saturday morning. I ran into a couple of birders who said they also saw the Horned Lark, but it had shifted over to the baseball fields along Seaman Avenue. Danny Karlson and I did a walk up onto the ridge and found it pretty quiet. Our list of 26 species is below.

Canada Goose  2
Mallard  4
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  2
Mourning Dove  3
Ring-billed Gull  15
Herring Gull  2
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  1
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron roosting - 04/27/2019 - Inwood Hill Park
Black Vulture  2 flying south over the soccer fields
Black Vulture (bad photo) - 04/27/2019 - Inwood Hill Park
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  2
Blue Jay  6
Tree Swallow  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
House Wren  1
Carolina Wren  2
American Robin  4
Northern Mockingbird  1
European Starling  3
American Goldfinch  2
White-throated Sparrow  4
Savannah Sparrow  1
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  4
House Sparrow  5

Friday, April 26, 2019

April 26 - Inwood Hill Park - Nathan O'Reilly hotstreak continues

Two days ago I wrote about the hotstreak Nathan O'Reilly has been on in the past week in finding good birds in Inwood Hill Park. He continued the streak this morning when he found a Horned Lark on the soccer field at the north end of the park. Nathan kindly texted me and I was able to join him and Nadir in enjoying the bird. It was a very pale individual, which I suspect means it is one of the inland or western races. I am going to do some research on subspecies to see if this can be pinned down.

April 25 - Central Park

A beautiful morning with bright blue, crystal skies for my Thursday AMNH bird walk. We found 37 species with five warblers. Though it was our best Thursday morning yet, we did have to work for the birds. Hopefully, the warbler numbers will increase sharply in the coming weeks.

Canada Goose  2
Mallard  4
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  2
Mourning Dove  7
Herring Gull  3
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  2
Blue-headed Vireo  2
Warbling Vireo  1
Blue Jay  8
Tufted Titmouse  1
Red-breasted Nuthatch  2
Brown Creeper  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  5
Hermit Thrush  2
Wood Thrush  1
American Robin  15
European Starling  12
House Finch  4
Purple Finch  1
American Goldfinch  5
Chipping Sparrow  5
Field Sparrow  2
White-throated Sparrow  12
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
Common Grackle  5
Northern Waterthrush  1
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  2
Northern Parula  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  4
Northern Cardinal  6
House Sparrow  6

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

April 19/23 - Inwood Hill Park - Nathan O'Reilly hotstreak

I have done a lot of birding in Central Park in recent weeks and less than I usually do in Inwood. However, I must mention the hot streak Nathan O'Reilly has been on a hot streak in the park over the last week. On April 19, Nathan found a Marsh Wren along the shore of the bay north of the soccer fields at the north end of the park. Marsh Wrens probably occur annually in the park but they are easy to miss and are not regularly reported. (most reports are in the fall.) I know that park regular Danny Karlson also saw the wren on the 19th. On April 22, Nathan found two Blue Grosbeaks on the soccer fields. On a day of intermittent rain, a number of other birders got to see one, or both of the grosbeaks, thanks to Nathan's report - I got to see one of them in the late afternoon after getting home from work. On the evening of April 23, Nathan found a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron roosting in a tree west of Muscota Marsh in the park. He emailed me at 6:35 pm, but I was not logged into my email at the time. Luckily I did check my email about an hour later and saw his message. With light failing under a heavy overcast, I grabbed my binoculars and ran outside where I met a birder who told me he had just seen the Yellow-crown fly from the mudflats onto the grass lawn west of Muscota Marsh. I spotted the Yellow-crown after a quick scan of the grass. This was I believe my 213th species for Inwood Hill Park. Thanks, Nathan. May your streak continue!

April 24 - Central Park

Bright blue, crystal clear skies for my Wednesday AMNH bird walk group. It was our best morning yet, though as always, you hope for more. We found 40 species including five warblers.

Canada Goose  4
Mallard  6
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  4
Mourning Dove  6
Chimney Swift  2
Herring Gull  2
Double-crested Cormorant  4
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Belted Kingfisher  1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3
Downy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  2
Blue-headed Vireo  4
Blue Jay  8
Tufted Titmouse  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  3
Hermit Thrush  1
Wood Thrush  1  (I heard one call once by the feeders)
American Robin  12
Gray Catbird  1
European Starling  6
House Finch  1
Purple Finch  1
American Goldfinch  4
Chipping Sparrow  3
Field Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  12
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
Common Grackle  3
Ovenbird  1
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Northern Parula  1
Yellow Warbler  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  4
House Sparrow  18

Saturday, April 20, 2019

April 19 - Central Park (afternoon)

At lunchtime I went back into Central Park to make another attempt to see the Yellow-throated Warbler I had chased with Paul's group in the morning. This time I was successful. A birder said she had seen the bird high in a tree a few minutes earlier, but there was no sign of it now. Over the next ten minutes or so other birders arrived also looking for the bird. Word was the warbler had also been seen south of the 86th Street transverse. We all stood around watching and talking. Suddenly, I saw a bird flying in over the transverse from the south. I raised my binoculars and watched it fly in, then yelled to everyone it was the Yellow-throated. It was a bit distant for my camera, but I did get some recognizable photos.
Yellow-throated Warbler 04/19/2019 Central Park
I headed back south through the park and took a few more bird pictures.

Northern Shoveler 04/19/2019 Central Park reservoir
Mallard 04/19/2019 Central Park Turtle Pond
Palm Warbler preening 04/19/2019 Central Park
White-throated Sparrow preening 04/19/2019 Central Park

Friday, April 19, 2019

April 19 - Central Park

This morning I led Paul Sweet's Friday morning AMNH Central Park bird walk since was unable to do it today. It was a very pleasant morning, weatherwise, but a bit disappointing for birds. We made a dash up to the bridle path south of the Reservoir to look for a Yellow-throated Warbler. Unfortunately, we did not see the bird. The time spent on that cahse is why the species list is only 27 species (see below)

Canada Goose  2
Gadwall  2
Gadwall 04/19/2019: Turtle Pond
Mallard  4
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  2
Mourning Dove  4
Herring Gull  4
Double-crested Cormorant  2
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1
Red-tailed Hawk  3
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  2
Blue Jay  10
Tufted Titmouse  2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown Creeper  2
American Robin  12
European Starling  8
White-throated Sparrow  18
Song Sparrow  2
Eastern Towhee  1
Red-winged Blackbird  1
Common Grackle  5
Louisiana Waterthrush  1
Louisiana Waterthrush 04/19/2019 Tupelo Meadow
Pine Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  5
House Sparrow  10

April 18 - Central Park

The latest in a string of cool, disappointing mornings for my Thursday AMNH bird walks in Central Park. We did find 36 species and finally got one warbler species. Our morning's tally has been creeping up each week. Maybe next week spring will finally arrive in earnest.

Canada Goose  4
Mallard  6
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  2
Mourning Dove  6
Herring Gull  1
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Great Egret  1
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  4
Northern Flicker  3
Blue Jay  10
American Crow  1
Black-capped Chickadee  2
Tufted Titmouse  4
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Brown Creeper  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  5
Hermit Thrush  2
American Robin  12
European Starling  10
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  6
Chipping Sparrow  3
Field Sparrow  2
Fox Sparrow  1
Dark-eyed Junco  1
White-throated Sparrow  40
Swamp Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  2
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Common Grackle  5
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  6
House Sparrow  30

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

April 17 - Central Park

A beautiful morning in the Ramble for the Wednesday AMNH morning walk. Finally a few warblers (3). A Cooper's Hawk north of the feeders, spotted by Evelyn, was one of the highlights of the 27 species found.

Canada Goose  2
Northern Shoveler  2
Mallard  8
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  2
Mourning Dove  5
Cooper's Hawk  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3
Downy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  2
Eastern Phoebe  1
Blue Jay  10
Black-capped Chickadee  1
Tufted Titmouse  2
White-breasted Nuthatch  2
Brown Creeper  2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  6
Hermit Thrush  3
American Robin  18
Brown Thrasher  1
European Starling  17
House Finch  2
American Goldfinch  6
Chipping Sparrow  6
Field Sparrow  2
White-throated Sparrow  25
Song Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  2
Red-winged Blackbird  1
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
Common Grackle  2
Louisiana Waterthrush  1
Black-and-white Warbler  3
Palm Warbler  3
Northern Cardinal  5
House Sparrow  30

Monday, April 15, 2019

White-winged Dove - addenda

This spring I am participating in an informal competition with a number of AMNH people for the most species of birds seen in Central Park in April and May. So far it has changed my normal spring birding routine. Among other things it meant going into Central Park on a Sunday yesterday - something I almost never do. It meant spending several minutes working to get a look at a singing Northern Mockingbird high in a tree north of the Reservoir. Heard only birds are worth half a point instead of a full point for seen birds. It meant sitting on a bench by the Evodia Field feeders in the Ramble in the afternoon waiting for a Red-breasted Nuthatch to appear. Despite the fact I had seen probably the same nuthatch there a month ago, in March. My reward for watching for the nuthatch was spotting the White-winged Dove feeding on the ground below the feeders - apparently a first record for New York County. The White-winged Dove is my 350th species for the five boroughs of NYC.

BTW, the Red-breasted Nuthatch did show up a short time later.

Sunday, April 14, 2019

April 14 - Central Park - White-winged Dove

What was a nice day in the park turned into a great day in the afternoon. I spent the morning at the North End of the park where the best bird was a male Hooded Warbler on the Great Hill. I don't know who first found it, but when I got there there were a number of birders looking for it and it only took a short wait before it appeared. After a short visit to the Museum, I decided to go back into the park and spend some time at the feeders, hoping to see the Red-breasted Nuthatch that had been eluding me there for the last two weeks. While sitting and chatting with other birders I did a casual scan of the birds on the ground below the feeders and was stunned to spot a White-winged Dove mixed in with the Mourning Doves. I instantly called the other birders attention to the bird and quickly sent out the word on a couple of the listservs. My post was immediately picked up by Dave Barrett who promptly sent out a tweet about it. (I hadn't tweeted it myself because I so rarely use Twitter, I decided it was quicker to send it out by email than trying to remember the Twitter procedures. Other birders started appearing within minutes. I want to thank Bruce Yolton for sharing the following photos of the bird and generously giving me permission to post them here.

White-winged Dove - 04/14/2019 - Central Park (photo © Bruce Yolton)
White-winged Dove - 04/14/2019 - Central Park (photo © Bruce Yolton)
Over the hour and a half I watched the bird it was often aggressive towards the slightly smaller Mourning Doves feeding around it.

April 11 - Central Park

A gray, chilly morning for my second Thursday morning AMNH of the spring. No warblers, but we still managed to find 35 species. I am sorry i did not get a chance to post this brief report  until Sunday evening. I will certainly try to be more timely next week.

Canada Goose  4
Northern Shoveler  2
Mallard  6
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  4
Mourning Dove  8
Herring Gull  1
Double-crested Cormorant  13     Flock overhead flying north
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  4
Downy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  5
Eastern Phoebe  2
Blue Jay  10
American Crow  1
Black-capped Chickadee  2
Tufted Titmouse  5
White-breasted Nuthatch  4
Golden-crowned Kinglet  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  2
Hermit Thrush  4
American Robin  16
Brown Thrasher  3
European Starling  12
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  14
Dark-eyed Junco  1
White-throated Sparrow  35
Song Sparrow  5
Swamp Sparrow  2
Eastern Towhee  2
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Common Grackle  20
Northern Cardinal  8
House Sparrow  12

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

April 10 - Central Park

A beautiful early spring morning for my Wednesday AMNH bird walk in Central Park. Blue skies, scattered fluffy clouds, but still a cool breeze from the north and temperature around 50 when we started. The bird of the morning was undoubtedly the Great Horned Owl being chased all around the Ramble by a mob of Blue Jays. In the Ramble we did not have any warblers, but a few of us did see two bright Pine Warblers on the lawn in front of the Museum after we left the park. The full list of 39 species is below.

Canada Goose  4
Northern Shoveler  4
Mallard  6
Ruddy Duck  1
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  5
Mourning Dove  8
Double-crested Cormorant  2
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Great Horned Owl  1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  2
Eastern Phoebe  1
Blue Jay  8
Black-capped Chickadee  1
Tufted Titmouse  10  
White-breasted Nuthatch  5
Brown Creeper  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1
Golden-crowned Kinglet  2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  3
Hermit Thrush  3
American Robin  18
European Starling  12
American Goldfinch  10
Chipping Sparrow  6
Field Sparrow  1
Fox Sparrow  1
Dark-eyed Junco  3
White-throated Sparrow  30
Song Sparrow  4
Swamp Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  3
Red-winged Blackbird  3
Common Grackle  14
Pine Warbler  2
Pine Warbler - 04/10/2019
Northern Cardinal  5
House Sparrow  8

Friday, April 5, 2019

April 4 - Central Park

The first Thursday morning AMNH Central Park walk had beautiful weather with crystal blue skies, though it was still a bit on the cool side. We found 31 species, but no warblers (though Pine, Palm, and Black-and-white have all been reported). For us the highlight was probably the Belted Kingfisher seen briefly on the west side of the lake north of Hernshead. A Hermit Thrush was also the first I have seen this year.

Canada Goose - 6
Northern Shoveler - 20 (the Lake and Turtle Pond)
Mallard - 8 (the Lake and Turtle Pond)
Ruddy Duck - 2 (pair on the Lake)
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) - 6
Mourning Dove - 14 (many at the feeders)
Herring Gull - 1 (flyover)
Great Egret - 1 (west side of the Lake)
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Belted Kingfisher - 1 (west side of the Lake)
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 6
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Northern Flicker - 3
Blue Jay - 10
Black-capped Chickadee - 2 (the feeders)
Tufted Titmouse - 20 (all over)
Tufted Titmouse 0 04/04/2019 - Central Park
White-breasted Nuthatch - 3
Hermit Thrush - 1 (along the lower Gill)
American Robin - 25
European Starling  -10
American Goldfinch - 8 (mainly at the feeders)
Chipping Sparrow - 1 (the feeders)
Fox Sparrow - 1 (northeast of the Upper Lobe)
Dark-eyed Junco - 6 (the feeders)
White-throated Sparrow - 40 (everywhere)
Song Sparrow - 2 (Tupelo Meadow)
Swamp Sparrow - 1 (Laupot Bridge)
Red-winged Blackbird - 2
Common Grackle - 20
Northern Cardinal - 6
House Sparrow - 10

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

April 3 - Central Park

This morning was the first of my spring AMNH bird walks in Central Park. It was a beautiful, clear morning, but a bit cool. We did not have any warblers, but we did have a nice list with a total of 34 species. The full list is below.

Canada Goose - 5 (the Lake)
Northern Shoveler - 26 (the Lake and Turtle Pond)
Mallard - 6 (the Lake and Turtle Pond)
Ruddy Duck - 2 (south end of the Lake)
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) - 3
Mourning Dove - 4
Ring-billed Gull - 2 (overhead)
Double-crested Cormorant - 1 (flyby)
Red-tailed Hawk - 1 (carrying nesting material towards the San Remo on CPW)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 5
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Northern Flicker - 3
Eastern Phoebe - 1 (south side of Turtle Pond)
Blue Jay - 14
American Crow - 1 (heard)
Black-capped Chickadee - 2 (the feeders)
Tufted Titmouse - 20 (conservative count; everywhere)
White-breasted Nuthatch - 6
White-breasted Nuthatch - 04/03/2019 - Central Park
American Robin - 30 (everywhere)
Brown Thrasher - 3 (Maintenance Meadow)
European Starling - 8
American Goldfinch - 10 (most at the feeders; scattered individuals elsewhere)
Chipping Sparrow - 2 (the feeders)
Fox Sparrow - 1 (south of Azalea Pond)
Dark-eyed Junco - 5 (feeders)
White-throated Sparrow - 40 (everywhere)
White-throated Sparrow - 04/03/2019 - Central Park
Song Sparrow - 2
Swamp Sparrow - 1 (along the Gill)
Red-winged Blackbird - 4
Brown-headed Cowbird - 1 (the feeders)
Common Grackle - 16
Northern Cardinal - 10
House Sparrow - 15

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

March 12 - Central Park

This was my first trip into Central Park since early January. I was in for two hours at noon doing leading Paul Sweet's AMNH lunchtime bird walk for him while he was out of town. We had beautiful weather, sunny and early springlike, though with a bit of a cool breeze. We had a good list of 26 species including a nice variety of waterfowl on the Lake. The total list is below.

Canada Goose - the Lake and Turtle Pond
Wood Duck - male on the Lake
Mallard - the Lake and Turtle Pond
Northern Shoveler - total of 30-40 birds on the Lake and Turtle Pond
Hooded Merganser - male on the Lake
Ruddy Duck - twoon the Lake
Great Blue Heron - 1 on the Lake shore north of Hernshead
Red-tailed Hawk - at least two circling overhead
Herring Gull - one flyover
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker -several
Downy Woodpecker - several at feeders
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse - a lot of them around this winter; conservatively estimate at least 25 seen
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2 at the feeders
White-breasted Nuthatch - at least 4
Chipping Sparrow - 1 coming into spring plumage, east side of Evodia Field
Fox Sparrow - 1 north of Hernshead
White-throated Sparrow - all over
Dark-eyed Junco - 2 near feeders
Northern Cardinal - males and females all around the Ramble
Red-winged Blackbird - male by the feeders
Common Grackle - 60, swampy Pin Oak vicinity
American Goldfinch - 12, mainly at feeders
House Sparrow