Thursday, May 28, 2020

May 28 - Inwood Hill Park

A gray day in the park. Recent mornings have also started off gray and foggy nut eventually the sun burned off the fog and clouds - not today. It was also a fairly quiet day for birds - both in the sense of not a lot of species and not a lot of song. The bird highlight was probably the Killdeer on the mudflats north of the soccer fields. Danny Karlson and I saw it yesterday and it was back again today. Also as with yesterday, the Killdeer later moved over to the mudflats by Muscota Marsh for a short time in the afternoon.

Since the birding was quiet I spent more time looking at and photographing flowers. Below are a selection of them from today. The Garlic Mustard is an invasive pest that is all over the park. It has actually been in bloom for probably six weeks or more.
Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
Other plants noted today:
Common Dewberry (Rubus flagellaris)
False Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum racemosum)
Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora)
Common Star-of-Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbelatum)
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)
Mapleleaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium)
Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)

Returning to the birds, I recorded 40 species today. None were new to my April/May list.

Canada Goose 54  - Most of these were in a single migrating flock of fifty birds over the Hudson.
Mallard 6
Rock Pigeon 6
Mourning Dove 1
Chimney Swift 8
Killdeer 1
Ring-billed Gull 4
Herring Gull 1
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Double-crested Cormorant 5
Great Egret 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Warbling Vireo 5
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 3
Tree Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 6
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 3
European Starling 12
Gray Catbird 6
Northern Mockingbird 2
Wood Thrush 4
American Robin 10
Cedar Waxwing 4
House Sparrow 10
Song Sparrow 2
Orchard Oriole 1
Baltimore Oriole 6
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Common Grackle 5
Northern Waterthrush 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 4

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

May 27 - Inwood Hill Park

Another foggy start to the day. As with yesterday the fog and lower cloud cover eventually burned off and it became a lovely day. Up on the ridge I met up with Danny Karlson and Hilary Russ. My total list for the day was a bit lower than yesterday, but it included some nice birds, including one new species for the April/May total. Among the "goodies" was a male Blackburnian Warbler the three of us saw up on the ridge. After Hilary left us I spotted a fly-by Yellow-billed Cuckoo as Danny and I crossed the soccer fields after we came back from the ridge. Unfortunately, Danny was some way ahead of me on the field and did not see the cuckoo. However, Danny did spot a group of seven sandpipers on the mudflats across the bay from the soccer fields. As we headed around the fields to get out on the peninsula t get a closer view of the sandpipers so we could identify them, we encountered a Killdeer on the mud near the south shore of the bay. It flew off before I could get a picture, but it was a first for my Inwood list since April 1. (In the late afternoon, the Killdeer was on the mudflats by Muscota Marsh and I was able to add it to my window list for the spring.) Once we got around to the peninsula, Danny and I were able to get a closer look at the sandpipers and determine they were Semipalmated Sandpipers, not the more expected Least Sandpipers.

Earlier, as we were leaving the ridge Danny spotted a patch of False Solomon's Seal in bloom. The first I have seen this spring in the park.

The total bird list for the day was 47 species (full list below). The Killdeer was my 120th species for Inwood since April 1st and the 52nd for the window list for the same time period.

Canada Goose 9
Mallard 6
Rock Pigeon 10
Mourning Dove 2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Chimney Swift 6
Killdeer 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper 7
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Ring-billed Gull 3
Herring Gull 1
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Double-crested Cormorant 2
Great Egret 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Warbling Vireo 6
Red-eyed Vireo 3
Blue Jay 6
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Tree Swallow 3
Barn Swallow 8
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 3
European Starling 12
Gray Catbird 4
Northern Mockingbird 1
Wood Thrush 3
American Robin 5
Cedar Waxwing 10+ (have been common recent days; two were in a bush in Muscota this afternoon)
House Sparrow 8
Song Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 1 (One has been hanging out in Muscota Marsh. This morning it sang once.)
Orchard Oriole 1
Baltimore Oriole 5
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Common Grackle 6
Ovenbird 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 3

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

May 26 - Inwood Hill Park

It was foggy when I went in to the park at about 6:30 am this morning. However, as the morning wore on the fog burned off and it proved to be the most active day of the last several. There was nothing unusual, but I did manage to find 50 species by the time I went home in mid-morning. I then added a 51st with Great Egret from my apartment window a short time later.

Below is this mornings list.

Canada Goose 4
Mallard 6
Rock Pigeon 8
Mourning Dove 2
Chimney Swift 8
Ring-billed Gull 2
Herring Gull 1
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Great Egret 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1 (mine was on the ridge, but Hilary Russ heard one at Muscota when she arrived)
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Warbling Vireo 4
Red-eyed Vireo 3
Blue Jay 4
American Crow 2
Common Raven 1
Tree Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 5
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
House Wren 1
Carolina Wren 3
European Starling 10
Gray Catbird 5
Northern Mockingbird 1
Swainson's Thrush 2
Wood Thrush 6
American Robin 12
Cedar Waxwing 20 (This is certainly an undercount. There were a number around.)
House Sparrow 8
American Goldfinch 2
Song Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 1
Orchard Oriole 1
Baltimore Oriole 3
Red-winged Blackbird 3
Common Grackle 1
Ovenbird 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
American Redstart 2
Magnolia Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 3
Black-throated Blue Warbler 1
Scarlet Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 3
Indigo Bunting 1

May 25 - Window birding only

I only birded from the apartment window on Memorial Day. It was a very gray morning though it got sunny in the afternoon. Here is the list.

Canada Goose 8
Mallard 2
Rock Pigeon  2
Chimney Swift 3
Ring-billed Gull 6
Herring Gull 1
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Egret 2
Blue Jay 1
Barn Swallow 2
European Starling 8
American Robin 6
House Sparrow 8
House Finch 1
Song Sparrow 1
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Common Grackle 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Northern Cardinal 1

Sunday, May 24, 2020

May 24 - Inwood Hill Park

Went into Inwood Hill Park again this morning. Again the male Common Yellowthroat was singing loudly at Muscota Marsh. Shortly after starting out Hilary Russ arrived at Muscota Marsh and we headed across the soccer fields and up on to the ridge. As with the last few days, the night before had had unfavorable winds for migration and the birding was fairly quiet. i only recorded 43 species in the park today with nothing new for the season. Up on the ridge we did come across a nice patch of Turkey-tail mushrooms growing on a fallen log.

The full bird list is below.

Canada Goose 8
Mallard 5
Rock Pigeon 5
Mourning Dove 1
Chimney Swift 2
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Ring-billed Gull 2
Herring Gull 1
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Egret 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 1
Warbling Vireo 5
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 3
Tree Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 4
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 2
European Starling 10
Gray Catbird 6
Northern Mockingbird 1
Wood Thrush 6
American Robin 14
Cedar Waxwing 4
House Sparrow 10
House Finch 1
Song Sparrow 3
Eastern Towhee 1
Baltimore Oriole 4
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Common Grackle 2
Common Yellowthroat 1
Northern Parula 1
Yellow Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 1
Scarlet Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 4

Saturday, May 23, 2020

May 23 - Inwood Hill Park - foggy morning

I went into Inwood Hill Park for a few hours on a very foggy morning. I cut my walk short because there were very few birds around and I wanted to get back and go to the farmer's market before the rains started. Yesterday morning there was a Northern Waterthrush on the mud at the edge of the grass at Muscota Marsh. In the afternoon I was lucky enough to spot the waterthrush from my window. Interestingly, this morning when I was walking around the Muscota Marsh area, what was presumably the same bird was in the trees below the 218th Street wall.

During a lull in the rains, in the afternoon, I heard a singing Warbling Vireo from my window for species number 51 from the apartment since April 1st. My total for the park today was 39 species with no new species for the spring. The list is below.

Canada Goose 5
Mallard 4
Rock Pigeon 6
Mourning Dove 1
Ring-billed Gull 1
Herring Gull 1
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Great Egret 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 1
Warbling Vireo 5
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 6
American Crow 1
Fish Crow 1
Barn Swallow 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 1
European Starling 12
Gray Catbird 6
Northern Mockingbird 1
Wood Thrush 5
American Robin 14
House Sparrow 16
American Goldfinch 1
Song Sparrow 4
Orchard Oriole 1
Baltimore Oriole 8
Red-winged Blackbird 3
Common Grackle 3
Northern Waterthrush 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Scarlet Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 5

Friday, May 22, 2020

May 22 - Inwood Hill Park

A beautiful, blue sky morning in Inwood Hill Park. It was a bit birdier than yesterday morning, but not a really great day. On entering the park at 218th Street and Indian Road there was a surprising sight: a Red-bellied Woodpecker contending with some House Sparrows and American Robins for a piece of food litter on the ground.

Continuing into the park I received a text message from Nathan O'Reilly that he had a sandpiper on the mudflats in front of the Nature Center. The bird was still there when I got there. Instead of the expected Least Sandpiper, it was a Semipalmated Sandpiper, a relatively uncommon shorebird in Inwood. This was 119th bird in Inwood Hill Park since April 1st. The main part of the park including the ridge and the Clove was fairly quiet. However, my total for the day of 47 species was better than yesterday.

In the afternoon I did do well from my apartment window, adding three species to the apartment list since April 1st: a Northern Waterthrush at Muscota Marsh (Nathan and I had seen one there in the morning), a small group of Cedar Waxwings flying by, and a singing Orchard Oriole. This brings my window list since April 1st to 50 species.

Canada Goose 3
Mallard 7
Rock Pigeon  5
Mourning Dove 1
Chimney Swift 5
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1
Spotted Sandpiper 5
Ring-billed Gull 2
Herring Gull 3
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Double-crested Cormorant 5
Great Blue Heron 1
Find the Great Blue.
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 1
Warbling Vireo 5
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 7
American Crow 1
Tree Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Carolina Wren 2
European Starling 7
Gray Catbird 6
Northern Mockingbird 1
Wood Thrush 4
American Robin 8
Cedar Waxwing 3
House Sparrow 10
Song Sparrow 4
Orchard Oriole 1
Baltimore Oriole 5
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Common Grackle 1
Northern Waterthrush 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Northern Parula 1
Yellow Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Scarlet Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 4


Thursday, May 21, 2020

May 21 - Inwood Hill Park - Planets and Black-crowned Night-Heron

It was a beautiful day with bright blue skies all day. But the winds were mostly from the north last night and well into the day and there were very few birds in the park. I was was back in my apartment from my morning walk by 9:45 am and my day list total of 40 species was the lowest in maybe two weeks or more. However, in the evening Ann and I went down to the benches in Muscota Marsh to watch the sunset (though the sun actually disappears behind the ridge long before sunset) and to watch for migrating flocks of Brant. We were joined there by Hilary Russ and we all watched from separate benches.

If you blowup the above picture you may be able to spot Venus above the ridge right of center. When it got dark enough we were also able to see Mercury through binoculars a little below Venus. While looking at Venus through her binoculars, Hilary spotted a distant flock of Brant flying north.A few minutes after 9:00 pm a Black-crowned Night-Heron flew by. This was my first one of the season and my 118th species in Inwood since April 1st.

The full bird list for today is below.

Brant 45
Canada Goose 4
Mallard 15
Rock Pigeon 12
Mourning Dove 3
Chimney Swift 4
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Ring-billed Gull 6
Herring Gull 3
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Great Egret 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 3
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 2
Warbling Vireo 4
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 4
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2
Tree Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 6
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 2
European Starling 13
Gray Catbird 5
Northern Mockingbird 1
Wood Thrush 2
American Robin 12
House Sparrow 10
Song Sparrow 3
Baltimore Oriole 3
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Common Grackle 2
Common Yellowthroat 1
Scarlet Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 3

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

May 20 - Inwood Hill Park

A beautiful day, though slightly cool. The birding was also a bit cool; not a lot of birds around. Looking ahead, it looks like the next decent prospect, based on weather forecasts, for a decent flight of migrants locally, might be Friday morning. This morning I headed out around 6:45 am. I ran into Hilary Russ at Muscota Marsh where we were surprised and pleased to hear a Marsh Wren singing. A Swamp Sparrow was also in this tiny patch of marsh. A Spotted Sandpiper was on the rocks on the water's edge. We then headed over to the soccer fields where we met Danny Karlson before heading into the woods. As we headed up the road towards the Henry Hudson Bridge a Northern Waterthrush was singing below us. The woods on the ridge were fairly quiet. We only found about half a dozen warblers.

I didn't add any species to my April/May bird list in the morning. However, in the evening Nadir Souirgi sent out a message that he was seeing migrating geese form his rooftop. Nadir lives a few blocks east of me so I immediately headed for the window. It wasn't long before I spotted a flock of Brant high in the air headed north up the Hudson River. Over the next half hour or so I saw two more flocks of Brant. This was my 46th species from my apartment window since April 1st and the 117th for Inwood Hill Park for the same period.

The total list for today was 46 species. Before I get to that list I have a couple of plant pictures from today. Hilary spotted some deep purple iris in Muscota Marsh.

Up on the ridge Lily-of-the-Valley was in bloom.


Brant 130 - seen from apartment window around sunset (3 flocks)
Canada Goose 6
Mallard 8
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 8
Mourning Dove 3
Chimney Swift 3
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Ring-billed Gull 6
Herring Gull 2
Great Black-backed Gull 3
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Warbling Vireo 6
Blue Jay 5
American Crow 1
Tree Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 1
Marsh Wren 1
Carolina Wren 2
European Starling 12
Gray Catbird 6
Northern Mockingbird 1
Wood Thrush 4
American Robin 6
Cedar Waxwing 8
House Sparrow 10
American Goldfinch 2
Song Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 1
Baltimore Oriole 6
Red-winged Blackbird 4
Common Grackle 2
Ovenbird 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Yellow Warbler 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 1
Wilson's Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 3

May 19 - Second hand reports

It was a pretty morning, but I wasn’t able to get out. I did hear from Danny Karlson and Hilary Russ that it was relatively quiet in Inwood Hill Park. They did have a couple of nice birds though: Black-billed Cuckoo and Gray-cheeked Thrush. I hope to make it into the park Wednesday morning.

Monday, May 18, 2020

May 18 - Inwood Hill Park - Things slow down

The birding slowed way down this morning from recent days. I only found 46 species this morning compared to the 60-70 this last few mornings. I only found three warblers. The birding was so quiet I spent more time taking pictures of plants than I usually do. Below are some of the plants currently in bloom. Most of these have been in bloom for some days or even weeks.
Ivy-leaved Toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis)
Greater Celandine (Chelidonium majus)
Honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.)
Princess Tree (Paulownia tomentosa)
Below is my bird list from this morning. I did not get anything new for the season.

Canada Goose 8
Mallard 10
Rock Pigeon 8
Mourning Dove 2
Chimney Swift 6
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Ring-billed Gull 8
Herring Gull 2
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Double-crested Cormorant 6
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1
Turkey Vulture 3
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Peregrine Falcon 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Warbling Vireo 6
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 1
Common Raven 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2
Tree Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
House Wren 1
Carolina Wren 3
European Starling 10
Gray Catbird 5
Northern Mockingbird 1
Veery 1
Wood Thrush 4
American Robin 20
House Sparrow 15
American Goldfinch 1
Song Sparrow 3
Orchard Oriole 1
Baltimore Oriole 6
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Ovenbird 3
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Northern Cardinal 4

Sunday, May 17, 2020

May 17 - Inwood Hill Park - cooler and slower

Started a little later this morning at around 6:45 am. Barn Swallows were flying out from under the Columbia dock by their boathouse. I received a text from Danny Karlson that he had had a flock of Brant flying over a few minutes earlier. That would have been a new spring bird for me. Perhaps another day. I heard from Sean Sime that there were still thousands of Brant at Jamaica Bay. I hope more will fly north of Inwood and that I get to add them to my list. On my way over to meet Danny, Hilary Russ, and Diane Schenker at the nw corner of the soccer fields a Chipping Sparrow flew up from the ground and landed in a tree. A few weeks ago there were always Chipping Sparrows on the soccer field. Now it is a week or so since I had seen even one.

The four of us headed up onto the ridge. It was immediately obvious there were fewer birds than the last couple of days. Danny did spot a Peregrine falcon sitting on the top of the north tower of the Broadway bridge. He said he regularly sees them on his walk down from the Bronx. Since it was Sunday, no work was being done on the Henry Hudson bridge, so the noise level was much less than on recent days. Under the bridge, we found House Finch and a female Brown-headed Cowbird.
The ridge itself was much quieter than it has been. The one fairly birdy spot we found was the main path north of the Meadow Overlook above the Henry Hudson Parkway. It took us about 45 minutes to go over that short stretch since there were lots of birds, mainly a variety of warblers, but also Red-eyed Vireos and Scarlet Tanagers. Great Crested Flycatchers were active and vocal throughout this area. After leaving here it got quiet again.

Before getting to the morning's bird list, here are some photos of other natural history subjects seen today. First a fungus, a False Puffball (Reticularia lycoperdon).

At the end of the walk, on the mud along the edge of the soccer fields  was a large Red-eared Slider sunning itself.

On the walk, I recorded 61 species of birds. The full list is below. I did not add anything to my spring list.

Canada Goose 4
Mallard 8
Rock Pigeon 8
Mourning Dove 4
Chimney Swift 2
Ring-billed Gull 12
Herring Gull 1
Double-crested Cormorant 5
Great Egret 2
Turkey Vulture 1
Bald Eagle 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Peregrine Falcon 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 6
Eastern Kingbird 2
Warbling Vireo 6
Red-eyed Vireo 4
Blue Jay 8
American Crow 1
Common Raven 1
Tree Swallow 2
male
female
Barn Swallow 4
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
House Wren 2
Carolina Wren 2
European Starling 16
Gray Catbird 8
Northern Mockingbird 1
Veery 1
Swainson's Thrush 2
Wood Thrush 5
American Robin 18
Cedar Waxwing 5
House Sparrow 26
House Finch 2
Chipping Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 4
Eastern Towhee 1
Orchard Oriole 1
Baltimore Oriole 8
Red-winged Blackbird 4
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Common Grackle 4
Ovenbird 2
Black-and-white Warbler 2
Nashville Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 2
American Redstart 4
Northern Parula 3
Bay-breasted Warbler 2
Yellow Warbler 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 3
Blackpoll Warbler 2
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Scarlet Tanager 5
Northern Cardinal 1

Saturday, May 16, 2020

May 16 - Inwood Hill Park - Another great day

Another great birding day in Inwood. Once again I started before 6:30 am. Also, once again I met up with Danny Karlson, Hilary Russ, and Diane Schenker soon after entering the park and the four of us social distance birding all morning, sometime joined by other birders.

Things started off well with a singing Marsh Wren in a small patch of reeds north of the soccer fields. It was reported a short time earlier by Nathan O'Reilly. This was the second Marsh Wren in the park in the last week. I tallied 70 species again today, the same as yesterday. I actually left the park with 69 species on my list, but in the afternoon, I heard a House Finch from my apartment window. I picked up two new species for my spring bird list: Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher bringing my April/May total for the park to 116 species. Today, flycatchers were in in numbers and Swainson's Thrushes seemed to be everywhere.

Though this is probably the peak of spring migration many birds have already settled down and started nesting.In the last week I have seen Canada Geese, Mallards, American Robins, and Starlings with young.Barn Swallows are apparently nesting under the Columbia University dock in the Muscota Marsh area. I have seen both Orchard and Baltimore oriole engages in nest building. Diane tells me the Red-tailed Hawks have young in their nest, but she has been unable to see how many. Today Tree Swallows were mating on a tree snag in the northwest corner of the soccer fields.

The full list is below.

Canada Goose 2
Mallard 6
Rock Pigeon 10
Mourning Dove 4
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Chimney Swift 4
Least Sandpiper 2
Ring-billed Gull 2
Herring Gull 2
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Egret 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Least Flycatcher 2 - also at least four unidentified "empids" 
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Eastern Kingbird 2
Yellow-throated Vireo 1 
Warbling Vireo 6
Red-eyed Vireo 3
Blue Jay 10
Fish Crow 1
Tree Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
House Wren 3
Marsh Wren 1 
Carolina Wren 4
European Starling 10
Gray Catbird 10
Northern Mockingbird 1
Veery 2
Swainson's Thrush 20
Wood Thrush 4
American Robin 24
House Sparrow 12
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 2
Song Sparrow 4
Eastern Towhee 3
Orchard Oriole 2
Baltimore Oriole 11
Red-winged Blackbird 4
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Common Grackle 4
Ovenbird 3
Northern Waterthrush 1
Black-and-white Warbler 8
Common Yellowthroat 2
American Redstart 6
Northern Parula 6
Magnolia Warbler 1
Bay-breasted Warbler 5
Blackburnian Warbler 3
Yellow Warbler 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler 5
Blackpoll Warbler 5
Black-throated Blue Warbler 4
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Canada Warbler 1
Wilson's Warbler 1
Scarlet Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 4
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1

Friday, May 15, 2020

May 15 - Inwood Hill Park - The day we have been waiting for.

There was a light rain at dawn, but this was the day birders had been waiting for. The sunup rains quickly cleared out and there were partly cloudy skies and rising temperatures the rest of the day, getting into the mid-80's in the afternoon. More importantly, in the morning there were lots of birds with good variety.Most of the day was spent birding with Danny Karlson, Hilary Russ, and Diane Schenker. Rachael Joakim was with us fr part of the morning.

I knew it was going to be a good day when I heard and saw a singing Common Yellowthroat as soon as I stepped on to 218th Street. It was in a small shrub by the platform overlooking Muscota Marsh. In the afternoon I had the bird again, but this time from my apartment window, bringing my April/May window list to 45 species. On the rocks at the shoreline of Muscota Hilary spotted a Least Sandpiper. She also suspects Barn Swallows are nesting under the Columbia University dock.

The walk up the road to the north end of the ridge that passes in front of the Henry Hudson Bridge toll plaza was very good. My species list got to 50 species before getting to the plaza. This included four new year birds: Swainson's Thrush, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, and Canada warblers. Later in the morning Cedar Waxwing was also new for the year bringing my April/May Inwood list to 114 species. My final tally was 70 species; perhaps my best ever single day Inwood list.

Before I get to the full bird list there were some flowers in bloom that I hadn't gotten pictures of before. On the way up to the bridge there was some wisteria in bloom.
Near the old hacking station some pretty Common Cinquefoil were along the edge of the path.
In the Clove the Mayapple was finally in bloom.

This last photo is not botanical. At sunset Ann and I sat on a bench in the lower portion of the Muscota Marsh area. I hoped for a sight of migrating Common Nighthawks, but none appeared. Instead we were treated to a bright Venus in the west.

Below is the day's bird list

Canada Goose 7
Mallard 6
Rock Pigeon 4
Mourning Dove 2
Chimney Swift 6
Least Sandpiper 2
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Greater Yellowlegs 1 - My 70th bird of the walk. On the mudflats north of the soccer fields.
Ring-billed Gull 12
Herring Gull 2
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Egret 1
Turkey Vulture 4
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 2
Least Flycatcher 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 1
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Warbling Vireo 5
Red-eyed Vireo 5
Blue Jay 9
Common Raven 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Tree Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
House Wren 2
Carolina Wren 4
European Starling 12
Gray Catbird 10
Northern Mockingbird 1
Veery 2
Swainson's Thrush 4
Hermit Thrush 1
Wood Thrush 5
American Robin 20
Cedar Waxwing 12
House Sparrow 15
American Goldfinch 1
Song Sparrow 4
Eastern Towhee 2
Orchard Oriole 1
Baltimore Oriole 10
Red-winged Blackbird 6
Common Grackle 5
Ovenbird 4
Northern Waterthrush 2
Black-and-white Warbler 10
Nashville Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 4
American Redstart 8
Northern Parula 10
Magnolia Warbler 2
Bay-breasted Warbler 5
Blackburnian Warbler 2
Yellow Warbler 3
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Blackpoll Warbler 5
Black-throated Blue Warbler 6
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 3
Canada Warbler 1
Wilson's Warbler 2
Scarlet Tanager 6
Northern Cardinal 6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1

Thursday, May 14, 2020

May 14 - Inwood Hill Park

Another beautiful day. Bright blue skies in the morning, but once again a bit cool. I was in the park for much of the morning. There seemed to be fewer birds around than the last two days, though I did end the day with a total of 57 species, only one less than yesterday. Just had to work harder for them today. In the park itself I totaled 55 species, but I then picked up an additional two species from my apartment window during the afternoon (additional species noted in the list below). My total for the park since April 1 remains at 109 (no new species today), but my apartment list for the same period rose to 44 with three new species: Least Sandpiper, House Finch, and Swamp Sparrow. After the high tide in the afternoon there were 12 Least Sandpipers on the mudflats by Muscota Marsh. I had seen what was presumably the same flock on the mudflats by the soccer fields earlier in the day. The House Finch was interesting. So far this spring the local House Finches were to be found up 218th Street by the road into the Columbia University sports complex. Today as I came out of the park a male was perched up singing across the street from my building. In the afternoon two of them actually landed on one of the window ledges of my apartment. The Swamp Sparrow popped up briefly from the grasses down in Muscota Marsh.

The full day list is below.

Canada Goose 4
Mallard 7
Rock Pigeon 5
Mourning Dove 2
Chimney Swift 1
Least Sandpiper 12
.Ring-billed Gull 5
Herring Gull 1
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Egret 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 3
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 1
Warbling Vireo 4
Red-eyed Vireo 4
Blue Jay 8
Fish Crow 2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1 (from apartment window)
Tree Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 4
House Wren 2
Carolina Wren 4
European Starling 18
Gray Catbird 8
Northern Mockingbird 1
Veery 1
Wood Thrush 3
American Robin 16
House Sparrow 20
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 1
Song Sparrow 1
Swamp Sparrow 1 (from apartment window)
Eastern Towhee 1
Baltimore Oriole 3
Red-winged Blackbird 3
Common Grackle 5
Ovenbird 1
Black-and-white Warbler 3
Nashville Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 4
American Redstart 2
Cape May Warbler 1
Northern Parula 10
Magnolia Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Prairie Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 5
Scarlet Tanager 5 - fewer than the last couple of days, but still around
Northern Cardinal 8