To get our minds off some other events in the news today, Danny Karlson, Diane Schenker, and Elizabeth White-Pultz and I spent the day birding in Inwood Hill Park. It was a spectacular day for migrating hawks and vultures and a few other things. I spent nearly eight hours in the park and recorded 54 species (total list below). First, let's het the biggie out of the way. We missed, by minutes the bird of the day. As the four of us headed up the ridge to get over to the Hudson River ballfields, Hilary Russ was just coming onto the soccer fields from the east. Shortly afterward, Hilary spotted an immature Golden Eagle flying over, headed south! This is a great bird anywhere in New York State, but a particularly spectacular find for New York City. Amazingly, the bird was seen by other birders, basically down the length of Manhattan. It was reported by birders at Dyckman Street at the south end of Inwood, at West 70th Street and the Hudson River and at the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan. Hilary also spotted two Black Vultures, another uncommon (but regular migrant) over the city. Danny, Diane, Elizabeth, and I did not see either of these two special birds, but we did tally a total of nine species of hawks and dozens of Turkey Vultures, mainly from the Hudson River ball fields. The hawks we saw were: Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Merlin, and Peregrine Falcon. It is getting late for Broad-winged Hawk, though not a record date, and James Knox and I saw one during yesterday's morning flight over the soccer field. The specific numbers for all these species are in my list below. In addition to the above we counted seven Common Ravens and saw a single flock of several hundred Common Grackles go over. It is hard to come up with a number for Red-tailed Hawks since it is essentially impossible to distinguish migrant from our resident birds. This juvenile which landed in a tree above us and studied us is certainly one of local birds.
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| Red-tailed Hawk - Inwood Hill Park - November 3, 2020 |
In addition to the birds we had some interesting mushrooms on the walk. The iNaturalist app was sure about this colorful mushroom but suggested the genus Pholiota.
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| Genus Pholiota - Inwood Hill Park - November 3, 2020 |
The app was sure about this Polypore, giving it the wonderful English name of Cracked Cap Polypore. My references, however, disagree on the genus it belongs in; some say Phellinus, some say Fulviformes.
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| Cracked Cap Polypore, Fulviformes (Phellinus) robiniae - November 3, 2020 |
On the way out of the park, north of the fenced area on the soccer field we came across a Chinese Mantis on the ground. After Diane and Elizabeth moved it to some vegetation, it was ready for its close-up.
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| Chinese Mantis (Tenodera sinensis) - Inwood Hill Park - November 3, 2020 |
Brant 20
Canada Goose 25
Mallard 10
American Black Duck 3
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 5
Mourning Dove 1
Ring-billed Gull 30
Herring Gull 1
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 32
Sharp-shinned Hawk 4
Cooper's Hawk 10
Bald Eagle 14
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Broad-winged Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 8
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
American Kestrel 2
Merlin 1
Peregrine Falcon 2
Blue Jay 6
American Crow 16
Common Raven 7
Black-capped Chickadee 4
Tufted Titmouse 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 8
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| Golden-crowned Kinglet - Inwood Hill Park - November 3, 2020 |
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown Creeper 1
Winter Wren 1
Carolina Wren 1
European Starling 8
Northern Mockingbird 1
Hermit Thrush 4
American Robin 4
House Sparrow 6
House Finch 5
Purple Finch 6
Pine Siskin 30
American Goldfinch 10
Chipping Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco 1
White-throated Sparrow 4
Savannah Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 4
Swamp Sparrow 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 4
Common Grackle 200 - 400
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 1
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