tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18216273946996619342024-03-04T22:45:53.784-08:00Inwood BirderBirding and natural history in the New York City region - primarily.Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.comBlogger463125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-41067207674422075382022-08-11T06:02:00.001-07:002022-08-11T06:02:45.812-07:00The Kings County line at the West Pond of Jamaica Bay.<p>Periodically there is discussion about the county lines at the West Pond of the Jamaica Bay wildlife refuge. The corner of the pond is in Brooklyn (Kings County). Below is the relevant portion of the refuge map published many years ago by the refuge when it was still under the auspices of the New York City Parks Department. If anyone is wondering about the accuracy of the map I will point out it was drawn by Richard Edes Harrison, one of the foremost cartographers of the 20th Century and a renowned NYC birder.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9vLpYCwuFTsWBCCPR8K5_tq8utElZh9fdx4v9nLcoNfvUbSr9sxWet90_0xdb8WfwsUwrIwIRvO1K9qvQgWHD4pvFCB5NV3AT-ykr5RSE5oSKkNV4Lpzdte0MQ_TlvYxotOrprC4bSFEyA-em5-sXHg6im5MzRHeBuk0WbXOQkrrIMQXaxcd0JS4v/s2016/IMG_3937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9vLpYCwuFTsWBCCPR8K5_tq8utElZh9fdx4v9nLcoNfvUbSr9sxWet90_0xdb8WfwsUwrIwIRvO1K9qvQgWHD4pvFCB5NV3AT-ykr5RSE5oSKkNV4Lpzdte0MQ_TlvYxotOrprC4bSFEyA-em5-sXHg6im5MzRHeBuk0WbXOQkrrIMQXaxcd0JS4v/s320/IMG_3937.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-18333720861220657892021-02-16T13:03:00.005-08:002021-02-16T17:07:45.311-08:00late-December 2020 to mid-February 2021 - Catching Up<p>I haven't posted in a while for a number of reasons. The biggest was that Ann and I caught COVID-19 in early-January. I was lucky and only had relatively mild symptoms which I got over in about a week. Ann, however, had more severe symptoms leading up to being hospitalized and on oxygen for nine days. She is now home and feeling fine.</p><p>Since my last post back on December 17, before COVID, and since my recovery I have had some good birding, both in Inwood and elsewhere which I will put together in this post. Back in December we did have a Barred Owl in Inwood Hill Park (originally found by Danny Karlson). Danny found it before the local Christmas bird count, but I agree with the policy of not publicizing owls on-line so I did not report it at the time. We were lucky enough to have it on the bird count.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgUtfUs41QkF2U5JTVyrLIW8SQlOd6I4s-R050LQNdDRHKAnCkFBswbXu1uhElhjD-eklMbRLw2H4cN9siPH_1ujimQnSfd0E8ekq9fAGlAmA6O6bvpV6NIasoXPTBaEmYLGNlluYaWFg/s2707/IMG_3020.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2201" data-original-width="2707" height="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgUtfUs41QkF2U5JTVyrLIW8SQlOd6I4s-R050LQNdDRHKAnCkFBswbXu1uhElhjD-eklMbRLw2H4cN9siPH_1ujimQnSfd0E8ekq9fAGlAmA6O6bvpV6NIasoXPTBaEmYLGNlluYaWFg/w640-h520/IMG_3020.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barred Owl - 12/13/2020</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Another great, in fact incredible, bird for the park was a Brown Pelican on the Hudson by Spuyten Duyvil on January 16, 2021 seen by Dmitriy Aronov and Nathan O'Reilly (and photographed by Nathan). It had been reported up river in Westchester earlier in the day and Dmitriy and Nathan watched for it when it headed downriver. Unfortunately, I was in COVID quarantine at the time and could not go out and watch for it myself. Congratulations to both of them on a great addition to the Inwood list.<div><br /></div><div>Dmitriy Aronov is also to be congratulated on another great find and addition to the Inwood list: a Common Redpoll he found on the ballfields by Dyckman Street at the south end of the park on January 30, 2021. By then I was out of quarantine and was able to get down there to see the bird.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_OvahodKRMXRlsYuFrhWRK5DDuqeeEAc0QttcSPcKXBGqBajwzd8Ms8-oc_M3vZVWgBTUMAhhuUywCOM0XtDcnT00LYzPb2ck0Uvff-83sCNrvf893lCzy4wPn031SKD5DKatkrgiCw/s1285/IMG_3059.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1026" data-original-width="1285" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_OvahodKRMXRlsYuFrhWRK5DDuqeeEAc0QttcSPcKXBGqBajwzd8Ms8-oc_M3vZVWgBTUMAhhuUywCOM0XtDcnT00LYzPb2ck0Uvff-83sCNrvf893lCzy4wPn031SKD5DKatkrgiCw/w640-h512/IMG_3059.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Common Redpoll - January 30, 2021 - Inwood Hill Park</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>The Common Redpoll was my 225th species for Inwood Hill Park. My full Inwood list is on <a href="https://inwoodbirder.blogspot.com/p/my-inwood-list.html" target="_blank">My Inwood List page</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Away from Inwood Hill Park, I picked up two new birds for my New York State list. I was extremely lucky to get them since they were both originally found in early-January when COVID curtailed my birding. One of them was New York State's first ever Ferruginous Hawk which was discovered in early January up in Orange County. Lucky for me, the bird settled in and I was able to get a brief view of it on January 25 on my second try with Georgia Rose. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a photograph. I believe the Ferruginous is still present, but is often elusive. The second state bird, also originally found in early-January, was a Spotted Towhee in Baldwin Harbor in Nassau County. This was not a first record for NYS, but there are less than ten previous records. This individual was also often elusive, but Hilary Russ and I were able to see it on February 14. The Spotted Towhee was my 430th bird on my New York State list.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwCpy6lgJOHdi60oh_DR4BrR2ow_9KaiqUcG1iMiC1NAtSVyzmcFh3pWvsW1Es4sLp5p-HPDcexhn1z8F4mJbZ5auoXJPI9eeQQAc-vzlv7ikTuHYn6w7hjTrN7kBy9UCNAt0lJZ9uooU/s2355/IMG_3074.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2032" data-original-width="2355" height="552" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwCpy6lgJOHdi60oh_DR4BrR2ow_9KaiqUcG1iMiC1NAtSVyzmcFh3pWvsW1Es4sLp5p-HPDcexhn1z8F4mJbZ5auoXJPI9eeQQAc-vzlv7ikTuHYn6w7hjTrN7kBy9UCNAt0lJZ9uooU/w640-h552/IMG_3074.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spotted Towhee - Baldwin Harbor Park - February 14, 2021</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Finally, this catch-up report would not be complete without noting my dashing down to Central Park on January 27 to see the Snowy Owl that turned up on a ballfield in the north end of the park. A second record for the park, the last one being in December 1890. Because of COVID, this was actually my first visit to Central Park since 2019.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI4Hmr07zCQB3VJGrCCME5dToO6BDtNTBTYRyNUaSPEuESwZ_263VjQmQvStoHQ4fQHyGFFtKY1bqupBcgYbPWBySaQHs3WsI5MGrHsv1fSGXzDOg8A0BJHZb6Ln7E-HielSCT_Ttd650/s1177/IMG_3041.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1054" data-original-width="1177" height="572" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI4Hmr07zCQB3VJGrCCME5dToO6BDtNTBTYRyNUaSPEuESwZ_263VjQmQvStoHQ4fQHyGFFtKY1bqupBcgYbPWBySaQHs3WsI5MGrHsv1fSGXzDOg8A0BJHZb6Ln7E-HielSCT_Ttd650/w640-h572/IMG_3041.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snowy Owl - Central Park - January 27, 2021</td></tr></tbody></table>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-13405137222110070332020-12-17T18:38:00.000-08:002020-12-17T18:38:34.505-08:00December 17 - Inwood Hill Park: Look up!The day started with snow - a lot of snow. From yesterday afternoon through this morning, NYC had its biggest snowstorm in several years. Inwood picked up about a foot of snow. By late morning the snow had stopped and the sky started to clear. By this evening we had crystal clear skies. Ann and I took advantage of the lovely sky and braved the cold temperatures to go out and check out Jupiter and Saturn as they approach their closest conjunction in centuries. The conjunction is still four days away, but you never know what he weather will be a few days from now, Besides, tonight also featured a nice crescent Moon.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg65xg5DRkCcU1JS8VAjPs8r2fZzNLYFmCzFqxUaKau7N0IbojOj5PbFj2rNueNVSAOHAnDc3xaBNn4bDtNf5mmBwF1r7xhZMw1bfYoPxZ7Yvn3N0ULNdArM8t6jiduaongIuBtNZ3SIB4/s2048/EE18CF02-7671-4072-87DE-25425202F609.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1934" data-original-width="2048" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg65xg5DRkCcU1JS8VAjPs8r2fZzNLYFmCzFqxUaKau7N0IbojOj5PbFj2rNueNVSAOHAnDc3xaBNn4bDtNf5mmBwF1r7xhZMw1bfYoPxZ7Yvn3N0ULNdArM8t6jiduaongIuBtNZ3SIB4/w400-h378/EE18CF02-7671-4072-87DE-25425202F609.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jupiter (the brighter one) and Saturn on the right; Moon on the left.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkvuYR69qMMf20BqLnDzZsVUMlKApPqEGP_IWZuMbbMEibFea-KTtu9GYxu1YDaQ6pP8ft3GUOxcQxPm_-j2hZ9TZzwJ0xGVLozzT1UKxfapdrnpkjYZBSXVdZMHPYkLHEGZvw8uQksAE/s2048/B318F67A-5659-4262-92C3-D2EE5BD46F8B.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1933" data-original-width="2048" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkvuYR69qMMf20BqLnDzZsVUMlKApPqEGP_IWZuMbbMEibFea-KTtu9GYxu1YDaQ6pP8ft3GUOxcQxPm_-j2hZ9TZzwJ0xGVLozzT1UKxfapdrnpkjYZBSXVdZMHPYkLHEGZvw8uQksAE/w400-h378/B318F67A-5659-4262-92C3-D2EE5BD46F8B.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jupiter with three moons (bottom); Saturn (top)</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-36570708380222285282020-12-13T17:54:00.000-08:002020-12-13T17:54:12.904-08:00December 13 - Inwood Hill Park: Orange-crowned Warbler<p>Back on December 3, Nathan O’Reilly found an Orange-crowned Warbler in the fenced area on the north side of the soccer field. Danny Karlson also saw the bird later that day, but it was not seen subsequently. This morning Danny texted that he had found it again in the same area. I headed over and was able to refind it. A short time later Nathan also walked up to see it. The bird was often difficult to see but I was able to get a few pictures of it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrj5VER_OAdXTDHxhGeV4Mabhgh88EPxZERIaT3xFOHP09nH28aEktbdA1ul7SOy-BCi3-pXBVRKnobv4W9KZ08OQVFxhb0PcIUSnlxuWxfrJdB4vq3qEFhkJqWqL25kMjMEFSv34ER9w/s1962/4F5B3DC9-19B9-4408-8B8F-E66DA2E7C626.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1264" data-original-width="1962" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrj5VER_OAdXTDHxhGeV4Mabhgh88EPxZERIaT3xFOHP09nH28aEktbdA1ul7SOy-BCi3-pXBVRKnobv4W9KZ08OQVFxhb0PcIUSnlxuWxfrJdB4vq3qEFhkJqWqL25kMjMEFSv34ER9w/w640-h412/4F5B3DC9-19B9-4408-8B8F-E66DA2E7C626.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkPfq555Pxm-MvONkV3a87uCnqD32KmG-VybuD4N22JrDOe0Y1jXX7HDowOIWZgabfHV3XrgqVCG5oHhKXRZpnFuz7YcZpxza9bHOTcL4pGK2eL0FQC2G_QQR2blhx3ppJw7AiRUSAGvE/s1719/5BE1492B-626F-46E3-A66D-72977E1AB468.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="1719" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkPfq555Pxm-MvONkV3a87uCnqD32KmG-VybuD4N22JrDOe0Y1jXX7HDowOIWZgabfHV3XrgqVCG5oHhKXRZpnFuz7YcZpxza9bHOTcL4pGK2eL0FQC2G_QQR2blhx3ppJw7AiRUSAGvE/w640-h496/5BE1492B-626F-46E3-A66D-72977E1AB468.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-45264118984639651182020-12-12T20:01:00.003-08:002020-12-12T20:01:48.468-08:00December 12 - Inwood Hill Park: Cooper's HawkA juvenile Cooper's Hawk has been seen fairly regularly around the north end of Inwood Hill Park recently. Today it was perched cooperatively in a small tree on the edge of the large bay at the north end of the soccer field. <div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4HR-IJyW375Z3-TxVxMpmU2ZKoI5i8YoCH4OodmKiOpfj6DwLU-w3byn3Wohnqcg6G6PCOEWi5kqsVCa2YdBUGX1kMPp1naNI8E58s6boUbaQtvBzgcUV_Q-fto0FFIGzzPR8ENppJ0/s3277/IMG_2971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2798" data-original-width="3277" height="546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4HR-IJyW375Z3-TxVxMpmU2ZKoI5i8YoCH4OodmKiOpfj6DwLU-w3byn3Wohnqcg6G6PCOEWi5kqsVCa2YdBUGX1kMPp1naNI8E58s6boUbaQtvBzgcUV_Q-fto0FFIGzzPR8ENppJ0/w640-h546/IMG_2971.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cooper's Hawk - December 12, 2020 - Inwood Hill Park</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The recent movement to do away with bird names that commemorate people I think is quite silly. I think it is far more interesting to find out who these people were. There are many books that provide just this sort of historical information. The classic one for North American birds is <i>Audubon to Xantus: The Lives of Those Commemorated in North American Bird Names</i> by Barbara and Richard Mearns (1992, Academic Press). This book is out of print now, but just published this year is <i>Bird is the Word: An Historical Perspective on the Names of North American Birds</i> by Gary H. Meiter (2020, McDonald & Woodward Publishing). Much of the following is derived from these two references.<div><br /></div><div>Cooper's Hawk (<i>Accipiter cooperii</i>) was described and named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1828. (Bonaparte was a 19th Century ornithologist and naturalist for whom Bonaparte's Gull is named. He is a nephew of Napolean, deserves a post of his own.) Bonaparte named the hawk for William Cooper (c. 1798 - 1864). Cooper was a wealthy New Yorker and naturalist with an interest not just in birds but also many other branches of natural history. He was a founder and officer of the Lyceum of Natural History (today's New York Academy of Sciences). Cooper edited two of the volumes of Bonaparte's <i>American Ornithology</i> after Bonaparte returned to Europe. Cooper had also supplied to Bonaparte information on at least one specimen of the hawk that would bear his name that he had collected on Long Island. </div><div><br /></div><div>William Cooper has several other connections to North American Birds. In 1825 published the first scientific account of the Evening Grosbeak based on specimens from near Lake Superior in Michigan. The scientific name of Olive-sided Flycatcher (<i>Contopus cooperi</i>), named by Thomas Nuttall in 1831 also honors Cooper. Another famous bird named for Cooper was a shorebird collected by him on Long Island on May 24, 1833. Twenty-five years after Cooper collected it Spencer Baird named it Cooper's Sandpiper (<i>Calidris cooperi</i>). The specimen still exists in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. For over 150 years it was the only known specimen of the "species" and was argued about by generations of ornithologists. In 1981 a similar bird was collected in Australia and named as a new species, Cox's Sandpiper. Both birds are now believed to be hybrid individuals resulting from the interbreeding of Pectoral and Curlew Sandpipers. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Cooper Ornithological Club is named for James Graham Cooper (1830-1902), William Cooper's eldest son and a renowned ornithologist in his own right who did extensive studies of West Coast North American birds.</div>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-31301416861561659802020-12-12T18:50:00.003-08:002020-12-12T18:50:27.414-08:00December 12 - Menhaden die off has a long historySince this past summer people have been noting large numbers of dead and dying fish along the Hudson River and locally here in Inwood Hill Park. The Ring-billed, Herring, and Great Black-backed gulls have all been feasting on the fish and in some cases fighting each other for the carcasses of the fish. The fish are Menhaden also known as Mossbunker, or just Bunker (<i>Brevoortia tyrannus</i>). Many local newspapers in New York City and up the Hudson River have carried stories about the dead fish. Many of the stories have attributed the die-off to various environmental factors, the most commonly cited being low oxygen content in the water, with high population numbers as a contributing factor. Indeed, these factors are probably the proximate causes of the die off. Some news accounts have been quick to bring environmental degradation such as poor water quality or climate change into the mix as culprits. While we should always be concerned about such factors it is also important to be careful not to jump to easy answers. In fact large die offs of Menhaden have a very long history on the Atlantic coast and in the New York City area. In a quick Google search I turned up a scientific paper from 1999 that reported on a large die off of Menhaden off the coast of North Carolina in 1997 ("A Large Fish Kill of Atlantic Menhaden, <i>Brevoortia tyrannus</i>, on the North Carolina Coast" by Joseph W. Smith in the <i>Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society</i> 115(3):157-163.) <div><br /></div><div>However, Menhaden die offs have a far older history than merely the incident noted above from North Carolina. In his classic 1959 book <i>A Natural History of New York City</i> John Kieran cites an account of a trip in 1679 and 1680 by two preachers named Jasper Danckaerts and Peter Sluyter which they published called <i>Journal of a Voyage to New York, and a Tour of Several of the American Colonies</i>. In their published account Danckaerts and Jasper report on finding on the shores of Staten Island the remains of thousands of fish known as "marsbancken", what we now call Menhaden. Elsewhere in his book, Kieran quotes from a story in the <i>New York Times</i>, dated July 30, 1954 which reports on the removal of forty tons of dead Menhaden from five miles of Rockaway Beach.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thus, these die offs of Menhaden have happened periodically not just in recent decades, but indeed have been documented for centuries!</div><div><br /></div>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-28126402077300198702020-12-04T13:53:00.000-08:002020-12-04T13:53:23.902-08:00December 4 - Inwood Hill Park: continuing Blackpoll Warbler<p>The Blackpoll Warbler first found by Nathan O’Reilly and Danny Karlson back on November 21 continues in Inwood Hill Park. It is often found in the fenced area on the north side of the soccer fields at the north end of the park. But, sometimes it is behind the brush piles in the northwest corner of the soccer field. When I first reported on this bird I noted that the late record for the species in New York State was December 3. This was based on the species account in “<i>Bull’s</i> Birds of New York State” which was published in 1998. However, today Sean Sime told me that there is a record in eBird of a Blackpoll Warbler seen in Brooklyn on December 14, 2012. Therefore, the bird currently in Inwood is not yet a record late date for the species for New York. Anyway, here a some pictures from today of the Inwood’s Blackpoll Warbler.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8uLz0QeLQeKCdexKjsasNEBwa-3QAIzQ_MDr_N1iWYSiqzufGW2wTpMjcG0ZmVRSPxz7bV5qmwJ6588W_w3Agb-X0RUOR9c03nNf_fE8sipmV0QtOV8PD_37_Gc2YGVyy2jAx0CcS-98/s2048/1FBF84D4-F531-4C2F-AC73-48B592331E38.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1475" data-original-width="2048" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8uLz0QeLQeKCdexKjsasNEBwa-3QAIzQ_MDr_N1iWYSiqzufGW2wTpMjcG0ZmVRSPxz7bV5qmwJ6588W_w3Agb-X0RUOR9c03nNf_fE8sipmV0QtOV8PD_37_Gc2YGVyy2jAx0CcS-98/w640-h460/1FBF84D4-F531-4C2F-AC73-48B592331E38.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpquTVXxyQZ2ZJRU-AX9LmZtqMnqA_pFDWpyvJ_Qs1HYjez4r-fqqRlhAQbsiqT16kiI9mJ3Ie9E0ApcpVoe0fZPJw3vLYP3jjqPE9Xqr3PDZGnDLbHY9srqqmFf0IU5KQNLsrAUsMpGg/s2048/B89BCB0C-81BC-4727-810B-BE5F2C08B659.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1344" data-original-width="2048" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpquTVXxyQZ2ZJRU-AX9LmZtqMnqA_pFDWpyvJ_Qs1HYjez4r-fqqRlhAQbsiqT16kiI9mJ3Ie9E0ApcpVoe0fZPJw3vLYP3jjqPE9Xqr3PDZGnDLbHY9srqqmFf0IU5KQNLsrAUsMpGg/w640-h420/B89BCB0C-81BC-4727-810B-BE5F2C08B659.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk_GVbMTNM7JPWq-4S32Hrphu_Gx0NQjRksfyzCME13eExD2yDudpXV5WKO4RosTcLfiBSd7u1aHpBcoEJTB9fG4gxOhXfP1ELgwS38gaoeqZF6Q4EOMn89jDrHIIgfGlJ1LUm-dzXXJo/s2048/E5D16B97-3A89-45E4-94C3-2365640F73A4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1435" data-original-width="2048" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk_GVbMTNM7JPWq-4S32Hrphu_Gx0NQjRksfyzCME13eExD2yDudpXV5WKO4RosTcLfiBSd7u1aHpBcoEJTB9fG4gxOhXfP1ELgwS38gaoeqZF6Q4EOMn89jDrHIIgfGlJ1LUm-dzXXJo/w640-h448/E5D16B97-3A89-45E4-94C3-2365640F73A4.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-33217472311481437542020-11-23T08:56:00.007-08:002020-11-24T15:34:43.449-08:00November 22 - Inwood Hill Park: Brown BoobyI wish the Brown Booby in this post was my observation, but, alas, it is not! This morning, Nathan O'Reilly and Nadir Souirgi saw and photographed an immature Brown Booby from the Dyckman Street pier as it flew down the Hudson River. An incredible pickup for the park. Indeed, a great find anywhere in the metropolitan NYC area.<div><br /></div><div>I have added an addenda to <a href="https://inwoodbirder.blogspot.com/p/my-inwood-list.html" target="_blank">My Inwood Bird List</a> page of species that have been recorded in the park, but that I have not seen myself. The total is now 255 species.</div>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-82450253477614915492020-11-21T14:34:00.006-08:002020-11-21T14:37:33.577-08:00November 21 - Inwood Hill Park: near record late Blackpoll WarblerJust a short note for today. Did not get into the park in the morning because of shopping at the Farmer's Market for Thanksgiving. Nathan O'Reilly texted in the morning that he had a warbler or vireo in the park on the north side of the soccer fields. He followed up with a text that he thought it was a Blackpoll Warbler. In the afternoon, Ann and I were having lunch outside at the café in front of our building when Danny Karlson walked out of the park. He said the bird was still there. So after lunch I grabbed my bins and camera and headed over to see it. This is very late for a Blackpoll. I was able to find it and get one recognizable shot.<div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNgtUNxI7sl3z4M9yM-sw2e00KD7jp6SaLdhigRCA3Q3TAOIrVQe-YXwek045pI_WvEOrIZ0cgs37z128469XKV-3sFZBp2_i9JYdLaIfTGMtz0p_GRSJATU4vMeQCTmLziERh4A1U2ic/s2024/IMG_2945.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1349" data-original-width="2024" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNgtUNxI7sl3z4M9yM-sw2e00KD7jp6SaLdhigRCA3Q3TAOIrVQe-YXwek045pI_WvEOrIZ0cgs37z128469XKV-3sFZBp2_i9JYdLaIfTGMtz0p_GRSJATU4vMeQCTmLziERh4A1U2ic/w640-h426/IMG_2945.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blackpoll Warbler - Inwood Hill Park - November 21 2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Afterwards, I checked my own records and the references. This is the first Blackpoll I have ever seen in the month of November. It is less than two weeks short of a record late date for New York State, which is December 3. Far more likely at this date would be the very similar Pine Warbler. This bird can be identified as a Blackpoll by the streaks on the back and the yellow feet. A Pine Warbler would have dark feet and a plain, unstreaked back.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> </div></div>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-17917139765663823472020-11-16T20:47:00.003-08:002020-11-17T01:49:28.546-08:00November 16 - Inwood Hill Park: mainly watching the river<div>Hoping to get some interesting migrants on the Hudson River I met Hilary Russ on the Dyckman Street pier at 7:30 am. A few other birders had similar ideas and a friend of Hilary's joined us a little after 8:00. We got reports of a female Common Eider seen down river at West 70th Street flying north. We watched for it but finally heard it had turned around and was seen again there later headed south. We did see Bald Eagle and later two Peregrine Falcons chasing a small passerine (unsuccessfully) but the river was quiet except for the usual gulls. After a while we headed north on the ballfields and met up with Danny Karlson. The fields were also quiet. Hilary, her friend, and Danny left and I was joined by Diane Schenker. We continued to scan the river. Finally, Diane and I were rewarded with three Greater Scaup (two males and a female) flying up river. They settled on the water and drifted north. This is a relatively infrequent visitor to the park and are the first I have seen in the park since the winter of 2014. After leaving the ballfields Diane and I spent some time on the ridge, but it was very quiet. On our way out of the park we encountered a large flock of Mourning Doves (two dozen) feeding on the soccer fields at the north end of the park.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyd4B_D7Gq9FK-Os1za1fHiKjFlOlX-q2WDZttWxCB7v42JdrNmYeEVdPe8v7HdcKPutripy0MMjKHrRHf9NbcLGOErfKsTzgravEQZn66xGea5-9czvTjGtTS2jfF3xms2A4Ncsq9CUg/s5113/IMG_2941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1699" data-original-width="5113" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyd4B_D7Gq9FK-Os1za1fHiKjFlOlX-q2WDZttWxCB7v42JdrNmYeEVdPe8v7HdcKPutripy0MMjKHrRHf9NbcLGOErfKsTzgravEQZn66xGea5-9czvTjGtTS2jfF3xms2A4Ncsq9CUg/w640-h212/IMG_2941.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Part of a flock of 24 Mourning Doves on the soccer field - November 16 2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>As we left the park we stopped at Muscota Marsh where we spotted the lone Brant from yesterday feeding along the shoreline on the north side of the ship canal. My bird list of 30 species is below.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Brant 1</div><div>Canada Goose 8</div><div>Mallard 4</div><div>Greater Scaup 3</div><div>Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 4</div><div>Mourning Dove 24</div><div>Ring-billed Gull 70</div><div>Herring Gull 20</div><div>Great Black-backed Gull 8</div><div>Double-crested Cormorant 1</div><div>Great Blue Heron 1</div><div>Turkey Vulture 2</div><div>Bald Eagle 2</div><div>Red-tailed Hawk 3</div><div>Red-bellied Woodpecker 2</div><div>Downy Woodpecker 1</div><div>Peregrine Falcon 2</div><div>Blue Jay 8</div><div>American Crow 2</div><div>Black-capped Chickadee 5</div><div>Carolina Wren 1</div><div>Northern Mockingbird 2</div><div>American Robin 1</div><div>House Sparrow 12</div><div>American Goldfinch 2</div><div>White-throated Sparrow 1</div><div>Song Sparrow 2</div><div>Red-winged Blackbird 20</div><div>Common Grackle 30</div><div>Northern Cardinal 1</div></div>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-22352818420480819332020-11-15T15:45:00.002-08:002020-11-15T15:45:24.419-08:00November 15 - Inwood Hill Park: two new birds for my personal park list<p>On a mostly gray day I added two species to my personal Inwood Hill Park list. The first was shortly after I started at 7:30 am. I was on the deck at Muscota Marsh when I heard a flock of Canada Geese approaching from the north. As they passed over to the south I raised my binoculars to count the flock. If I hadn't I would not have spotted a group of six passerines also flying south. I was thrilled to recognize them as a group of Evening Grosbeaks! This fall has seen a considerable finch flight with many "winter finches" being seen throughout the NYC/Long Island area. Inwood has had many Pine Siskins. Evening Grosbeaks have been reported from many parks and cemeteries around the city. None had been reported from Inwood before today, but I had been watching for them, so I was thrilled to spot this small flock. It was species number 223 for me for the park. Later in the morning, Nathan O'Reilly and Nadir Souirgi reported a flock of Common Goldeneye on the Hudson River. Danny Karlson and I looked for them with no success. This would have been another new species for my personal list. A while later Danny and I were at the Hudson Overlook on the ridge when Nathan texted that he and Nadir had a Black Scoter on the Hudson near a barge and tug anchored in the river. Danny and I were able to spot the bird from our higher vantage point and watched it as it took off and flew down river. This was another new species for me for the park (and the last of the three scoters for my park list), thus becoming species 224 for my list. This has been a great year for my Inwood Hill Park bird list. I have added nine species to it this year.</p><p>I spent a considerable amount of my time in the park today watching from the Hudson River Overlook; first with Danny and then with Hilary Russ who joined us and stayed after Danny left. We had a number of Bald Eagles and a few Cooper's Hawks including one large female. The highlight, however, were the hundreds of blackbirds going by in mixed flocks of Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Brown-headed Cowbirds. The numbers for these species in my day list below are low estimates.</p><p>In the afternoon, after I got home to my apartment and had finished lunch I got a text message from Rachel Joakim that she was across the street on the Muscota Marsh deck and there was a Brant by the Columbia Dock. This is a species that is usually only seen in flocks passing over the park on migration. A few weeks ago we had hundreds going over on one day. It is however, rare to have one settle down in the park, so I went out and photographed the visitor.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirhRg36k3oAx7mckbt3RExYY9ZBJBILa2qVfYj364gA1m5DeYcwvkx7U6aPCMQ0VcnFUvk666HtfAfgwSqXCJTVpo7Ia4GenLnj9ASElKM4jQQEMnRB9kHk9dbG-zHMWSou0QYiXGdgao/s4489/IMG_2937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4489" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirhRg36k3oAx7mckbt3RExYY9ZBJBILa2qVfYj364gA1m5DeYcwvkx7U6aPCMQ0VcnFUvk666HtfAfgwSqXCJTVpo7Ia4GenLnj9ASElKM4jQQEMnRB9kHk9dbG-zHMWSou0QYiXGdgao/w640-h492/IMG_2937.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brant - Inwood Hill Park (Muscota Marsh mudflats) - Nov 15 2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><div style="text-align: left;">Canada Goose 30<br />Mallard 16<br />Black Scoter 1 <br />Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 30<br />Mourning Dove 6<br />Ring-billed Gull 50<br />Herring Gull 30<br />Great Black-backed Gull 6<br />Great Blue Heron 4<br />Turkey Vulture 2<br />Osprey 1 (late for this species).<br />Cooper's Hawk 3 <br />Bald Eagle 7<br />Red-tailed Hawk 2<br />Belted Kingfisher 1<br />Red-bellied Woodpecker 2<br />Northern Flicker 1<br />Peregrine Falcon 1<br />Blue Jay 10<br />American Crow 2<br />Common Raven 1<br />Black-capped Chickadee 10<br />Carolina Wren 1<br />European Starling 5<br />Northern Mockingbird 2<br />American Robin 8<br />House Sparrow 30<br />Evening Grosbeak 6 <br />American Goldfinch 14<br />Dark-eyed Junco 4<br />White-throated Sparrow 1<br />Song Sparrow 6<br />Red-winged Blackbird 500 Blackbird flocks migrating.<br />Brown-headed Cowbird 50 Blackbird flocks migrating.<br />Common Grackle 500 Blackbird flocks migrating.<br />Northern Cardinal 2</div><div><br /></div>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-63551256666192243322020-11-14T15:21:00.002-08:002020-11-14T17:59:34.497-08:00November 14 - Inwood Hill Park: beautiful fall day<div>An absolutely beautiful fall day in the park. Crystal blue, cloudless skies. I started out at Muscota Marsh around 7:15 am. Shortly afterward I was joined by Diane Schenker. Later we met Danny Karlson on the soccer field. During the course of the day we met and birded a bit with Nathan O'Reilly, Nadir Souirgi, Elizabeth White-Pultz, and few others. Danny and I left the park around 2:45 pm.</div><div><br /></div><div>When we started it was nearing high tide and with New Moon tonight, it was a very high tide. The little canal that connects Muscota Bay and the main bay was flooded and Diane and I found a Muskrat sitting in the open there.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4gBA8RmN1uVAIIrSBZbUno3hyZO035dIwjNTan8_tcOwTRZ8hFdDJVsv8TCUYPxW9lFdOydSU-X2gWdrMuft_BGrMpQXyOuOaOQVVTenxe-imUWLgp9PCQhA1_WVHQWHI8kG-mXD-WGI/s3552/IMG_2869.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2415" data-original-width="3552" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4gBA8RmN1uVAIIrSBZbUno3hyZO035dIwjNTan8_tcOwTRZ8hFdDJVsv8TCUYPxW9lFdOydSU-X2gWdrMuft_BGrMpQXyOuOaOQVVTenxe-imUWLgp9PCQhA1_WVHQWHI8kG-mXD-WGI/w640-h436/IMG_2869.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Muskrat - Inwood Hill Park - 11/14/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>On the north side of the soccer field the tide was so high the main paved path was flooded as was much of the fenced in area. In recent weeks there had been good numbers of Pine Siskins around and we usually found some in the lower Muscota Marsh area or a few at the fenced in area on the soccer field, however, they seemed to moved on since we did not see any today. Indeed, I haven't seen hardly any in the last week. It was another good raptor flight day. I recorded seven species, plus a Turkey Vulture that Danny spotted over the Palisades. The highlight among the raptors was a total of nine Bald Eagles, most of them immatures, but a few adults. There were also some flocks of blackbirds moving over and Danny and I encountered a group of Red-wings and Grackles that landed in a tree on the ridge as we headed down the Clove. For me, the highlight, or rather highlights, of the day were picking up two year birds: an American Pipit (finally!) on the Hudson River ballfields and an Eastern Bluebird up on the Ridge.</div><div><br /></div><div>I ended the day with 49 species (full list below). I was also able to get some photos to add to <a href="https://inwoodbirder.blogspot.com/p/my-inwood-list.html" target="_blank">My Inwood List</a> page. I now have photos for 115 of 222 species on my Inwood list. </div><div><br /></div><div>I missed the best bird reported in the park today. Nathan and Nadir saw a gull flying south over the Hudson River in the morning. Nathan got some very poor quality photos of the bird which appear to show an immature Black-legged Kittiwake. This would almost certainly be a first record for the park.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Canada Goose 60</div><div>Mallard 5</div><div>Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 3</div><div>Mourning Dove 6</div><div>Ring-billed Gull 40</div><div>Herring Gull 15</div><div>Great Black-backed Gull 6</div><div>Double-crested Cormorant 3</div><div>Great Blue Heron 2</div><div>Black-crowned Night-Heron 1</div><div>Turkey Vulture 1</div><div>Osprey 1 (getting late for this species)</div><div>Sharp-shinned Hawk 1</div><div>Bald Eagle 9</div><div>Red-tailed Hawk 3 (probably more than this, but it is impossible to tell migrants from residents)</div><div>Belted Kingfisher 1</div><div>Red-bellied Woodpecker 2</div><div>Downy Woodpecker 1</div><div>Northern Flicker 1</div><div>American Kestrel 1</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje9d22CuWQc8zdW6wffRBzo7GGaxwKjimBAqNYvs-umZEarBkHwQdzrW4eU8QKuZZEF7ZyX7Ja28pP_0pTHv04e8a3QizqcBMPSuyzNhiLkUGzjFoVEVjDyHoStjaY11bnfWsvzUQhyphenhyphenzg/s1836/IMG_2879.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1694" data-original-width="1836" height="590" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje9d22CuWQc8zdW6wffRBzo7GGaxwKjimBAqNYvs-umZEarBkHwQdzrW4eU8QKuZZEF7ZyX7Ja28pP_0pTHv04e8a3QizqcBMPSuyzNhiLkUGzjFoVEVjDyHoStjaY11bnfWsvzUQhyphenhyphenzg/w640-h590/IMG_2879.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">American Kesrel - 11/14/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Merlin 1</div><div>Peregrine Falcon 2</div><div>Blue Jay 2</div><div>American Crow 3</div><div>crow sp. 16 One flock.</div><div>Common Raven 1</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUHMEodw71Soar6SiWn_EM_kIhtoj8BNDpq_HZ9D0UawLoPGkOxtzPX8dfTY_l92Q8Ra98DdKRE3VuwLt0tbexx7BIPK81_XQBraS5CDrEo-cC-sFUEBEn9iB5yGD8hxo2h6mS5IuTms/s2055/IMG_2872.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1492" data-original-width="2055" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUHMEodw71Soar6SiWn_EM_kIhtoj8BNDpq_HZ9D0UawLoPGkOxtzPX8dfTY_l92Q8Ra98DdKRE3VuwLt0tbexx7BIPK81_XQBraS5CDrEo-cC-sFUEBEn9iB5yGD8hxo2h6mS5IuTms/w640-h464/IMG_2872.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Common Raven - 11/14/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Black-capped Chickadee 6</div><div>Tufted Titmouse 2</div><div>Golden-crowned Kinglet 1</div><div>Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1</div><div>Carolina Wren 1</div><div>European Starling 1</div><div>Northern Mockingbird 2</div><div>Eastern Bluebird 1 (Nathan had a flock of 14 on the Ridge) </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiyGhuXVMoBAhH0g4ZrOhV_I9hhg2lIMzMDdMymGyG5ESMsh4ZloU81LCzfnULqy_REetrGL2tq_b-DfNb0z3gRHiDwmusX3sI7m4uCrEA0k3g2egJllFlzyMCBYB8EUgsjxsRXYxDuH0/s1896/IMG_2898.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1480" data-original-width="1896" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiyGhuXVMoBAhH0g4ZrOhV_I9hhg2lIMzMDdMymGyG5ESMsh4ZloU81LCzfnULqy_REetrGL2tq_b-DfNb0z3gRHiDwmusX3sI7m4uCrEA0k3g2egJllFlzyMCBYB8EUgsjxsRXYxDuH0/w640-h500/IMG_2898.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eastern Bluebird - 11/14/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div>American Robin 2</div><div>Cedar Waxwing 10</div><div>House Sparrow 10</div><div>American Pipit 1 </div><div>House Finch 4</div><div>Purple Finch 2</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgx_01w1sQnE0TC1Wf3nrxjjmpmdvrgEPkg34yuxYKk5Aqy6-5YIs0XOdmGNCIbguHsuSUUlIHBGYXqhjo-OaquUr7_dmGU_78mtPolqmhy9LvydzYbHysQ0G6zBpoFfSoGg0KIVeE4so/s3235/IMG_2891.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2279" data-original-width="3235" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgx_01w1sQnE0TC1Wf3nrxjjmpmdvrgEPkg34yuxYKk5Aqy6-5YIs0XOdmGNCIbguHsuSUUlIHBGYXqhjo-OaquUr7_dmGU_78mtPolqmhy9LvydzYbHysQ0G6zBpoFfSoGg0KIVeE4so/w640-h450/IMG_2891.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Purple Finch (female) - 11/14/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div>American Goldfinch 10</div><div>Chipping Sparrow 2</div><div>Dark-eyed Junco 10</div><div>White-throated Sparrow 2</div><div>Song Sparrow 4</div><div>Swamp Sparrow 2</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr3MkgfrLldxCdP_PVX8U_3C1gVZCskgU-sEOlMI2gRmO7AKRIC7nwIoFIRfO285UyKFCkSClYf-xXsbcuVfgz7Rkd1N7o70n0WEKTH95DfT_8M0KO2OcROUBexVD4g7N9gBPUDUDPSS4/s2420/IMG_2924.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1886" data-original-width="2420" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr3MkgfrLldxCdP_PVX8U_3C1gVZCskgU-sEOlMI2gRmO7AKRIC7nwIoFIRfO285UyKFCkSClYf-xXsbcuVfgz7Rkd1N7o70n0WEKTH95DfT_8M0KO2OcROUBexVD4g7N9gBPUDUDPSS4/w640-h498/IMG_2924.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swamp Sparrow - 11/14/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Red-winged Blackbird 2</div><div>Common Grackle 20</div><div>Tennessee Warbler 1 (late for this species - spotted by Nathan on the Hudson River ballfields)</div><div>Northern Cardinal 1</div></div><div><br /></div>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-91338792515489136592020-11-04T12:43:00.000-08:002020-11-04T12:43:03.069-08:00November 3 - Inwood Hill Park: A Big Turnout.There was a big turnout of diurnal migrating raptors and vultures in Inwood Hill Park today! What? Did you think I was referring to something else?<div><br /></div><div>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 <b>Golden Eagle </b>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.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3sysyI6gn8YvBdi1iga-sOF99idnoQ_dQmLobgJr9EOWvb5twfK2lMR5CJVPXIhMyOtXR_T5vBVeSUTSGhUFmJT4Fl5QhokGtUwq2M2jZb5qiq9yWzOycCRf9DKmM4JMUJW-97zWUQc/s3138/IMG_2781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2456" data-original-width="3138" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3sysyI6gn8YvBdi1iga-sOF99idnoQ_dQmLobgJr9EOWvb5twfK2lMR5CJVPXIhMyOtXR_T5vBVeSUTSGhUFmJT4Fl5QhokGtUwq2M2jZb5qiq9yWzOycCRf9DKmM4JMUJW-97zWUQc/w640-h500/IMG_2781.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red-tailed Hawk - Inwood Hill Park - November 3, 2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>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 <i>Pholiota</i>. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilPNmoDOP81vrcWKvAraTLHshPlvdDL_U8Lzc2a8nYNaOaYBvkfIx1eqAutAJIxSQIriwo2DsW43Q3CsZrhtoLBOojX4Ja6zf7fVCFs3xqUyd_efDeJKiU1rZL7lb6W2WrrgUawhz4vgw/s4032/IMG_2713.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilPNmoDOP81vrcWKvAraTLHshPlvdDL_U8Lzc2a8nYNaOaYBvkfIx1eqAutAJIxSQIriwo2DsW43Q3CsZrhtoLBOojX4Ja6zf7fVCFs3xqUyd_efDeJKiU1rZL7lb6W2WrrgUawhz4vgw/w480-h640/IMG_2713.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Genus <i>Pholiota</i> - Inwood Hill Park - November 3, 2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />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 <i>Phellinus</i>, some say <i>Fulviformes</i>. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju1CBmMwSkEA-w8VotYcg4_Hn0Sa1DamquHq8BNZnfX1MihBxnkblFRJuKQ6XeoXrcBDZ_Ql5W1jHjLD3IJuG2WtLXYP6-mrB_D_JJo3q-Yha2TbKhyphenhyphen96RjzMEA4XTP4ZlNu7J1Y64n90/s4032/IMG_2718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju1CBmMwSkEA-w8VotYcg4_Hn0Sa1DamquHq8BNZnfX1MihBxnkblFRJuKQ6XeoXrcBDZ_Ql5W1jHjLD3IJuG2WtLXYP6-mrB_D_JJo3q-Yha2TbKhyphenhyphen96RjzMEA4XTP4ZlNu7J1Y64n90/w480-h640/IMG_2718.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cracked Cap Polypore, <i style="text-align: left;">Fulviformes </i><span style="text-align: left;">(</span><i style="text-align: left;">Phellinus</i><span style="text-align: left;">) <i>robiniae </i>- November 3, 2020</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>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.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9SKzPLV0Z8EIkpvvJGVjtrRltBlT1T23mT7v33KUOfXUxmtGRPZfZqdosEwt2_W5RvNbG7NuGGigYkK6t-ij-3FCYsbMwYEX7YfofZ-K-k3s_LlkBY0XJLAXBNLeIgmRsZ6lgXzS4EPQ/s4032/IMG_2722.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9SKzPLV0Z8EIkpvvJGVjtrRltBlT1T23mT7v33KUOfXUxmtGRPZfZqdosEwt2_W5RvNbG7NuGGigYkK6t-ij-3FCYsbMwYEX7YfofZ-K-k3s_LlkBY0XJLAXBNLeIgmRsZ6lgXzS4EPQ/w480-h640/IMG_2722.HEIC" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinese Mantis (<i>Tenodera sinensis</i>) - Inwood Hill Park - November 3, 2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><div>Brant 20</div><div><div>Canada Goose 25</div><div>Mallard 10</div><div>American Black Duck 3</div><div>Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 5</div><div>Mourning Dove 1</div><div>Ring-billed Gull 30</div><div>Herring Gull 1</div><div>Great Black-backed Gull 1</div><div>Great Blue Heron 1</div><div>Turkey Vulture 32 </div><div>Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 </div><div>Cooper's Hawk 10 </div><div>Bald Eagle 14</div><div>Red-shouldered Hawk 2</div><div>Broad-winged Hawk 1 </div><div>Red-tailed Hawk 8</div><div>Belted Kingfisher 2</div><div>Red-bellied Woodpecker 1</div><div>Downy Woodpecker 1</div><div>Northern Flicker 2</div><div>American Kestrel 2</div><div>Merlin 1</div><div>Peregrine Falcon 2</div><div>Blue Jay 6</div><div>American Crow 16 </div><div>Common Raven 7 </div><div>Black-capped Chickadee 4</div><div>Tufted Titmouse 1</div><div>Golden-crowned Kinglet 8</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZbYrU3eGhgaFw8RvXHI7rTpK643vupp_zQ8pdlrOUCjf8DMbz3Z_SYtu_AJP6vZkoDBv6YHbFHh7nP8LlmTkGXOt06zESKuLVEOf_Ll5Cg7HTozKn0XR6WSKwrLiYxxqLuPRUp4Zi2Q/s3183/IMG_2801.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2533" data-original-width="3183" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZbYrU3eGhgaFw8RvXHI7rTpK643vupp_zQ8pdlrOUCjf8DMbz3Z_SYtu_AJP6vZkoDBv6YHbFHh7nP8LlmTkGXOt06zESKuLVEOf_Ll5Cg7HTozKn0XR6WSKwrLiYxxqLuPRUp4Zi2Q/w640-h510/IMG_2801.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Golden-crowned Kinglet - Inwood Hill Park - November 3, 2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4</div><div>White-breasted Nuthatch 1</div><div>Brown Creeper 1</div><div>Winter Wren 1</div><div>Carolina Wren 1</div><div>European Starling 8</div><div>Northern Mockingbird 1</div><div>Hermit Thrush 4</div><div>American Robin 4</div><div>House Sparrow 6</div><div>House Finch 5</div><div>Purple Finch 6</div><div>Pine Siskin 30</div><div>American Goldfinch 10</div><div>Chipping Sparrow 2</div><div>Dark-eyed Junco 1</div><div>White-throated Sparrow 4</div><div>Savannah Sparrow 1</div><div>Song Sparrow 4</div><div>Swamp Sparrow 1</div><div>Brown-headed Cowbird 4</div><div>Common Grackle 200 - 400</div><div>Yellow-rumped Warbler 1</div><div>Northern Cardinal 1</div></div><div><br /></div></div>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-45424428894766902542020-11-02T18:04:00.000-08:002020-11-02T18:04:30.936-08:00November 2 - Inwood Hill Park: high winds and migrating vultures and hawksAfter yesterday's rains a cold front with high winds moved into the area overnight. In the morning we had sustained winds of over 20 mph from the northwest. The weather pattern brought a significant flight of diurnal migrants over the park in the morning. I went out for about 2.5 hours starting around 8:30 am. I only went as far as the soccer fields and watched the skies from there. There was a good movement of Turkey Vultures and Bald Eagles. It is possible more may have been visible from either the Hudson River Overlook on the ridge or from the ball fields along the river. However, the viewing would have been much harder in those locations because of the lack of shelter. In any event I ran up a nice list of migrants passing over the fields and the ridge. One surprise was a Broad-winged Hawk; it is getting late for that species. My total bird list is below.<div><br /></div><div><div>Canada Goose 45</div><div>Mallard 10</div><div>Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 6</div><div>Mourning Dove 1</div><div>Ring-billed Gull 70</div><div>Herring Gull 3</div><div>Great Black-backed Gull 1</div><div>Turkey Vulture 35 Conservative count of migrating birds.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKmzr5MW-2M98_LbFUYhadY0UjSakibkFS3NNWX0p9hC7YsGLqziIiIfnP2ttVso4j89eryGV47m90WL5NvYONs0nrgy9cMMJxrdySUGzxUCNfUXFzP6l7gxYjcMSMAt6kQKC2mB7hHQ/s2190/IMG_2755.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1423" data-original-width="2190" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKmzr5MW-2M98_LbFUYhadY0UjSakibkFS3NNWX0p9hC7YsGLqziIiIfnP2ttVso4j89eryGV47m90WL5NvYONs0nrgy9cMMJxrdySUGzxUCNfUXFzP6l7gxYjcMSMAt6kQKC2mB7hHQ/w640-h416/IMG_2755.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLnnhl4uwW22TGT6yWH6S8rQgFtEjMAQrMKV-FpoPHhmCOagqAtDrw_U4kfPyDZZI7A1FDvuqZ-Xvo5H_7zBnEHmCpLpSInK8CFxACKFDVe5lY21hfgx6UkDo56Nadtxf8wcamc0yk1Qw/s2740/IMG_2752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2518" data-original-width="2740" height="588" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLnnhl4uwW22TGT6yWH6S8rQgFtEjMAQrMKV-FpoPHhmCOagqAtDrw_U4kfPyDZZI7A1FDvuqZ-Xvo5H_7zBnEHmCpLpSInK8CFxACKFDVe5lY21hfgx6UkDo56Nadtxf8wcamc0yk1Qw/w640-h588/IMG_2752.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Cooper's Hawk 7 Individual southbound migrants counted.</div><div>Bald Eagle 10 Minimum total count. At one point had four birds in view at one time.</div><div>Broad-winged Hawk 1 </div><div>Red-tailed Hawk 5</div><div>Merlin 1</div><div>Blue Jay 6</div><div>Fish Crow 20 One migrant flock; several were calling. .</div><div>European Starling 6</div><div>Northern Mockingbird 1</div><div>American Robin 5</div><div>House Sparrow 20</div><div>Pine Siskin 1</div><div>American Goldfinch 1</div><div>White-throated Sparrow 2</div><div>Song Sparrow 4</div><div>Red-winged Blackbird 30</div><div>Common Grackle 40</div></div><div><br /></div>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-43272402593993713422020-11-01T12:11:00.000-08:002020-11-01T12:11:03.218-08:00November 1 - Inwood Hill Park: A quick morning walk.<p> Daylight Savings Time ended overnight, but despite the extra hour's sleep I did not get out early. Also, since my back was bothering me, I only went for a short walk to Muscota Marsh and out to the soccer fields. In any event, rain was predicted to start around midday (and it did). Still in that short time I was able to record 23 species, including a few nice ones. A Marsh Wren is always nice to see in the park and it is starting to get a little late in the fall for them, so one in Muscota Marsh, first reported by Nathan O'Reilly around sunup was a welcome sight.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGoWsHM8Mqw0-iOIvaTLr8KrurDl71H1mZv6sIC9nxSIqWdmC5fTFnGn_CL7MxNxPfYRRh2aCI1tV8dzRGIeYzwljr9_XmxZcjI9wl9h9yMqF93QylS_YtYCm6PKfW1wVIvHMIQnLDZys/s2655/IMG_2742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2007" data-original-width="2655" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGoWsHM8Mqw0-iOIvaTLr8KrurDl71H1mZv6sIC9nxSIqWdmC5fTFnGn_CL7MxNxPfYRRh2aCI1tV8dzRGIeYzwljr9_XmxZcjI9wl9h9yMqF93QylS_YtYCm6PKfW1wVIvHMIQnLDZys/w640-h484/IMG_2742.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marsh Wren - 11/01/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />My full list of 23 species is below.<div><br /></div><div><div>Mallard 10</div><div>Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 10</div><div>Mourning Dove 1</div><div>Ring-billed Gull 30</div><div>Herring Gull 1</div><div>Great Blue Heron 1</div><div>Eastern Phoebe 1</div><div>Blue Jay 6</div><div>American Crow 1</div><div>Common Raven 1</div><div>Marsh Wren 1 </div><div>European Starling 7</div><div>Northern Mockingbird 2</div><div>American Robin 3</div><div>House Sparrow 40</div><div>Pine Siskin 1 </div><div>American Goldfinch 2</div><div>White-crowned Sparrow 1</div><div>White-throated Sparrow 2</div><div>Song Sparrow 5</div><div>Palm Warbler 1</div><div>Yellow-rumped Warbler 1</div><div>Northern Cardinal 1</div></div>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-72082434065869319342020-11-01T11:57:00.004-08:002020-11-01T11:57:55.223-08:00October 31 - Halloween in Inwood Hill ParkA beautiful, but cold day in the park. It was the first subfreezing temperatures of the fall - though just barely. It was 31 F when I started out at 7:30 am. I met up with Danny Karlson, Diane Schenker, and Elizabeth White-Pultz at Muscota Marsh. Nathan O'Reilly was also with us for a bit in the morning, though Nathan headed directly up onto the ridge while the rest of us headed over to the ballfields along the river after we headed towards the Henry Hudson Bridge. We had hoped for some Evening Grosbeaks given the overnight northwest winds which continued into the daylight hours. Alas, though we heard reports of grosbeaks from around the NYC area, we did not encounter any. A highlight of the walk was an immature Bald Eagle that sat unperturbed in a tree along the Hudson River for probably more than half an hour.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-1fbWgbF8vMiNn8wqxnG9UMpbic9zWxxQOg0AWkpZSMgBb5KLEm4MIf7wNSSZNcL0uOXqubcIcsyLW06sqA-nTbtNlJLWssayelIrnIk5dcMmp4ESBimoxQVd3eUMi383U00Qa7pYok/s2912/IMG_2723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2831" data-original-width="2912" height="622" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-1fbWgbF8vMiNn8wqxnG9UMpbic9zWxxQOg0AWkpZSMgBb5KLEm4MIf7wNSSZNcL0uOXqubcIcsyLW06sqA-nTbtNlJLWssayelIrnIk5dcMmp4ESBimoxQVd3eUMi383U00Qa7pYok/w640-h622/IMG_2723.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bald Eagle (immaure) - 10/31/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>In addition to the immature we also saw three adult Bald Eagles: one over Muscota Marsh when we started and two more over the Hudson later. On the river there was a lone Brant which took off when the immature eagle finally left his perch and flew over where the Brant was resting on the water.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRJb5VFcVPbNhcGcFZwZSa3xqzgM8fKzAYVGsefPCunNEAg3tpABqqSIgwpW_xY1nL-6_y8EaDS_nPR318bV3AxzA3uNkKDu-rvU-5ZuZpqgywQJhcKoAzpf1wti7Y8H8EeVdz8LSSFO8/s5184/IMG_2737.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRJb5VFcVPbNhcGcFZwZSa3xqzgM8fKzAYVGsefPCunNEAg3tpABqqSIgwpW_xY1nL-6_y8EaDS_nPR318bV3AxzA3uNkKDu-rvU-5ZuZpqgywQJhcKoAzpf1wti7Y8H8EeVdz8LSSFO8/w640-h426/IMG_2737.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brant - 10/31/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>This single Brant was in marked contrast to last Sunday when on a similar cool day with northerly winds, hundreds of Brant flew over in various size flocks. We did have one flock of Canada Geese fly over in one of their classic "v" shaped migrating flocks, so different from the "untidy" flocks of Brant that caused hunters to call them "wavies".</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8AhifjW4IW04KJbLTPJxBWzxi_2WpPOsJ6gz6jlyERBKR_L-wjspE6MG0pe02Nzat6kS4LBKGgaeVFoA02nmR83TNMi92SIer1GeBszmxoL34o6tNN4ubgdBLZ9c4PWWLz_CuwUcEV3Y/s3321/IMG_2712.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2478" data-original-width="3321" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8AhifjW4IW04KJbLTPJxBWzxi_2WpPOsJ6gz6jlyERBKR_L-wjspE6MG0pe02Nzat6kS4LBKGgaeVFoA02nmR83TNMi92SIer1GeBszmxoL34o6tNN4ubgdBLZ9c4PWWLz_CuwUcEV3Y/w640-h478/IMG_2712.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canada Geese - 10/31/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Another highlight of the walk was an adult Cooper's Hawk perched in a low tree up on the ridge near the "whaleback" rock. It was identifiable as an adult by its reddish underparts. It seemed fairly large, so was probably a female.</div><div><br /></div><div>I picked up two new birds for this fall season: a small flock of Bufflehead on the river (first spotted by Nathan) and two Winter Wrens up on the ridge. The Winter Wrens were my first ones this year. Other people had seen the species this fall, but I had missed them until now.</div><div><br /></div><div>My total list of 53 species for the day is below.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Brant 1</div><div>Canada Goose 30</div><div>Mallard 20</div><div>Bufflehead 6</div><div>Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 80</div><div>Mourning Dove 6</div><div>Ring-billed Gull 20</div><div>Herring Gull 2</div><div>Great Black-backed Gull 1</div><div>Common Loon 1</div><div>Double-crested Cormorant 7</div><div>Great Blue Heron 1</div><div>Black-crowned Night-Heron 1</div><div>Turkey Vulture 2</div><div>Osprey 1</div><div>Cooper's Hawk 1</div><div>Bald Eagle 4</div><div>Red-tailed Hawk 2</div><div>Belted Kingfisher 1</div><div>Red-bellied Woodpecker 1</div><div>Downy Woodpecker 2</div><div>Northern Flicker 1</div><div>American Kestrel 1</div><div>Peregrine Falcon 1</div><div>Eastern Phoebe 2</div><div>Blue-headed Vireo 2</div><div>Blue Jay 12</div><div>American Crow 8</div><div>Black-capped Chickadee 12 </div><div>Tufted Titmouse 2</div><div>Golden-crowned Kinglet 5</div><div>Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3</div><div>White-breasted Nuthatch 2</div><div>Brown Creeper 1</div><div>Winter Wren 2</div><div>Carolina Wren 5</div><div>European Starling 4</div><div>Northern Mockingbird 2</div><div>Hermit Thrush 2</div><div>American Robin 4</div><div>House Sparrow 40</div><div>House Finch 4</div><div>Pine Siskin 1 </div><div>American Goldfinch 4</div><div>Chipping Sparrow 10</div><div>Dark-eyed Junco 50</div><div>White-throated Sparrow 10</div><div>Song Sparrow 5</div><div>Swamp Sparrow 1</div><div>Brown-headed Cowbird 30</div><div>Common Grackle 15</div><div>Yellow-rumped Warbler 5</div><div>Northern Cardinal 3</div></div>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-18822433698697223652020-10-30T11:21:00.002-07:002020-10-30T11:21:30.877-07:00October 30 - My Inwood Bird List<p>We have had two days of rainy weather courtesy of the remnants of Hurricane Zeta. So I used some of the indoor time to make a new page on my blog. It is a full list of the birds I have found in Inwood Hill Park. The page can be found in the list of pages on the right side of the main page of the blog. Here is a link to go to it directly: <a href="https://inwoodbirder.blogspot.com/p/my-inwood-list.html">My Inwood Bird List</a>. The list currently stands at 222 species. I will add to it as I see new species in the park. I will also be adding more photographs of birds to the list.</p>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-67291406114039166372020-10-28T12:11:00.005-07:002020-10-28T14:22:39.763-07:00October 28 - Dobb’s Ferry - Tropical KingbirdAnn and I made the dash up to Dobb’s Ferry to try for the Tropical Kingbird discovered there yesterday. This is a megararity. A first record for New York State. Not to draw this out we were successful! After parking at the Ardsley-on-Hudson train station we followed the directions for various returning happy birders. We encountered a small group of birders watching the bird. We got some great views, particularly through Tom Burke’s spotting scope. I must thank Tom Warren who found the bird yesterday. A second big thanks to Tom Warren who was at the bird when we were there and who drove us back to our car saving us a bit of a walk!<div><br /></div><div>This was my 428th species in New York State.</div>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-52169948515980708442020-10-28T06:29:00.002-07:002020-10-28T06:29:23.736-07:00October 27 - Inwood - Flying Squirrel<p>Last night I received a text with a video from Diane Schenker who lives a few blocks from Inwood Hill Park. Last night she took a video of a Flying Squirrel coming in her window!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy3Z2QXaqEytT1vU2E7IhBkdBiXBpzX0g4eyJfDdErm_z3jw0NYcRT0sSfz9YJMILZ896_8XI6JFUjR2dXmMA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /> <p></p>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-56545055613985139572020-10-27T19:15:00.002-07:002020-10-27T19:15:34.373-07:00October 27 - Inwood Hill Park - miscellaneous<p>Very gray morning. Cleared a little in the afternoon before turning gray again. In the afternoon I looked out the window and saw there were some hawks and vultures going by. I saw at least two Bald Eagles and a few Turkey Vultures. I headed down to Muscota Marsh with my scope to watch from there. I saw another Bald Eagle, Turkey Vulture, Osprey and some Red-tailed Hawks. There were again Pine Siskins feeding around the marsh plantings. Later I walked over to the soccer fields (minus the scope). Met Hilary Russ and later Diane Schenker and Elizabeth Pultz-White there. Lots of Dark-eyed Juncos, a few Song Sparrows, a Savannah Sparrow and an immature White-crowned Sparrow.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2cCed9FvNse0AgpV3eeJrxFc0_ob81cRZHuw9L8v8Y8EjmudrhdoR9tYuzLgmRkHV6gf7ND8MM71JG7V4WdMcF8ew_wVv38dL02aQSKDUfUiEZSp0jYEJm26JQwg2mqNYL-G5f3O1DBk/s1876/IMG_2696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1575" data-original-width="1876" height="538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2cCed9FvNse0AgpV3eeJrxFc0_ob81cRZHuw9L8v8Y8EjmudrhdoR9tYuzLgmRkHV6gf7ND8MM71JG7V4WdMcF8ew_wVv38dL02aQSKDUfUiEZSp0jYEJm26JQwg2mqNYL-G5f3O1DBk/w640-h538/IMG_2696.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White-crowned Sparrow - Inwood Hill Park - 10/27/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> Overhead small flocks of Brant were migrating south.</p>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-70560417797965073402020-10-26T16:57:00.002-07:002020-10-26T16:57:51.982-07:00October 26 - Inwood Hill Park - new apartment bird.<p>It was a dreary, wet day with lots of clouds and drizzle. I did make a trip up on to the ridge trying to refind a mystery warbler seen, but not identified yesterday. I had no luck finding the unknown bird from yesterday. However, there were still Pine Siskins around and a number of sparrows including flocks of Dark-eyed Juncos, Field Sparrow and several White-crowned Sparrows. There were at least two White-crowns out on the soccer field. Back at Muscota I found another immature White-crowned. As soon as I saw it I realized it would be visible from the apartment window, so I headed upstairs to try to add it to my apartment bird list. When I looked out from the window there were no birds at all in the bush I had seen the sparrow in. It took a few minutes, but finally birds started coming out to feed again. My guess is that someone had walked by and frightened all the birds back into the dense bushes. Finally they were out feeding again and there with the Song Sparrows, goldfinches, and siskins was the White-crowned Sparrow. The sparrow was species number 121 for the apartment.</p>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-71383952527633060452020-10-25T19:51:00.009-07:002020-10-26T13:47:57.669-07:00October 25 - Inwood Hill Park: a great day.The day started out mostly clear and fairly cook with temperatures in the low 40's. Just as they were yesterday afternoon, Pine Siskins were feeding in the plantings (with goldfinches) in Muscota Marsh.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg15QI2oSHnP8JG3c_w27EWXON3oz_w9AfwRhJCqCOs-kZK3DVAfs9EgQDeCdbqdQ8tDC_sQ6XayNogFEppBBDW0rcDA1v0cDJ5Wiq_gSTwmhiXcHwG6SDlZi0MoDbMraIwOhKwVk4zSNc/s3006/IMG_2658.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2395" data-original-width="3006" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg15QI2oSHnP8JG3c_w27EWXON3oz_w9AfwRhJCqCOs-kZK3DVAfs9EgQDeCdbqdQ8tDC_sQ6XayNogFEppBBDW0rcDA1v0cDJ5Wiq_gSTwmhiXcHwG6SDlZi0MoDbMraIwOhKwVk4zSNc/w640-h510/IMG_2658.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9I6X2djk_unChRCkBHlmnqEdHj74aUNgAWvTNkxG6CPOoSAzlIdFrE60dWdSJ6dCSqr2koNnvZcVYCDB96bVboLdn7HNtEE3Bv8i56j4fLKYCKLZ5sfqnEOHlL_Qk3S2amp9yJSu4KnQ/s2914/IMG_2651.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2172" data-original-width="2914" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9I6X2djk_unChRCkBHlmnqEdHj74aUNgAWvTNkxG6CPOoSAzlIdFrE60dWdSJ6dCSqr2koNnvZcVYCDB96bVboLdn7HNtEE3Bv8i56j4fLKYCKLZ5sfqnEOHlL_Qk3S2amp9yJSu4KnQ/w640-h478/IMG_2651.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCXQZxgYGWOOXTmrZafxnbUhovpwSFIbJgSRTL0mdA30vTlljvY_mwU6rZKXVJIe1RB1-Dbh6cfcJSILGfwZkAroqRBpVMlMmBN_mJzX4wrNYJX03zMnfsTPAMXa-9aY1S2a9NGxy37MU/s3501/IMG_2649.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2763" data-original-width="3501" height="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCXQZxgYGWOOXTmrZafxnbUhovpwSFIbJgSRTL0mdA30vTlljvY_mwU6rZKXVJIe1RB1-Dbh6cfcJSILGfwZkAroqRBpVMlMmBN_mJzX4wrNYJX03zMnfsTPAMXa-9aY1S2a9NGxy37MU/w640-h506/IMG_2649.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pine Siskin (left) and American Goldfinch - Muscota Marsh - 10/25/2020</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Black-capped Chickadees also continue in good numbers in the park and some were in Muscota.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfgxR4hZ6uvX7UqBedXFfxdd5r1doj-37GxpnekC-AdsHgO_hbG4cTxGcFygyhGGy0Hi8xu1IhB5vfmzR7kDaOXUqGCWAXJWyW7gA8Y1jqtz-h4d4glOlJaN8o87HKwNkZFKH2eSkbTII/s3668/IMG_2630.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2942" data-original-width="3668" height="514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfgxR4hZ6uvX7UqBedXFfxdd5r1doj-37GxpnekC-AdsHgO_hbG4cTxGcFygyhGGy0Hi8xu1IhB5vfmzR7kDaOXUqGCWAXJWyW7gA8Y1jqtz-h4d4glOlJaN8o87HKwNkZFKH2eSkbTII/w640-h514/IMG_2630.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>All morning flocks of Brant flew over, particularly over the Hudson. Before getting over to the Hudson I found an American Black Duck and a male Hooded Merganser in the bay north of the soccer field. Danny Karlson, Diane Schenker, and Elizabeth White-Pultz headed into the park though Elizabeth had to leave early. Danny, Diane, and I decided to head over to the ball fields along the Hudson since we heard that birds were being seen flying south along the river. Hilary Russ later joined us over there. We found lots of sparrows and juncos on the fields, particularly at the north end. There were many Chipping Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos. Hilary spotted a Nashville Warbler along the Amtrak fence line. Hawks, Bald Eagles, and ravens flew over. After walking down to the pier at Dyckman Street and spending some time there we headed back into the park proper and up onto the ridge. It wasn't as birdy up there but there were things around. In the end we were in the park for about nine hours, leaving just before 5:00 pm. The entire bird list of 59 species, quite a good total for a late October day is below. On the way out of the park we looked for and Danny spotted a Vesper Sparrow that had been reported earlier. I only got a poor photo.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv3N4eHgm9qazj8IsQgM7kz0U4y5onawCXVOvw-qBcqxLLRA1kpv0IRDvhzK1Ft2btvprkapagNKv2Fk7c0qM6Q_fpO4wsJGMF_1MiPnvN_W5dbBD0BULBtjen7uySjWEaAyGkIrLdcDI/s1650/IMG_2681.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1532" data-original-width="1650" height="594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv3N4eHgm9qazj8IsQgM7kz0U4y5onawCXVOvw-qBcqxLLRA1kpv0IRDvhzK1Ft2btvprkapagNKv2Fk7c0qM6Q_fpO4wsJGMF_1MiPnvN_W5dbBD0BULBtjen7uySjWEaAyGkIrLdcDI/w640-h594/IMG_2681.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vesper Sparrow - Inwood Hill Park - 10/25/2020</td></tr></tbody></table><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><div>We also encountered some interesting mushrooms on the walk. I am certainly not a mushroom person. I rely on the iNaturalist app to identify them for me. Diane told us about the impressive poltypore and took us all to it.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh73SFQzeP3FJla3z5H2YSLKXeKChCZ7POe9jXADrlgG7VEsA3EQIfrr1OqHsaEswmUHbvJn-63jQuL5IfASpwxbJrJaia57viHIcY3ohEqo3A9YskSbeuEuR5NyCPV-RHogrMEj5F_ZCE/s4032/IMG_2692.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh73SFQzeP3FJla3z5H2YSLKXeKChCZ7POe9jXADrlgG7VEsA3EQIfrr1OqHsaEswmUHbvJn-63jQuL5IfASpwxbJrJaia57viHIcY3ohEqo3A9YskSbeuEuR5NyCPV-RHogrMEj5F_ZCE/w480-h640/IMG_2692.HEIC" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pear-shaped Puffballs (Apioperdon pyriforme) - Inwood Hill Park -10/25/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxd229ulp2z25alF7Anwk7jwtKrHMsnKF1NySg9w3BTpAa2kwlcdJE-nTVWmDbM-5U8WOlz9iYkaOodIl_qkjfzkH93Gy8f1HMQ-2U7OlqHEQ5ya9O6CpOmOtZPHA8N8kMr-bkl5FJqw/s4032/IMG_2697.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxd229ulp2z25alF7Anwk7jwtKrHMsnKF1NySg9w3BTpAa2kwlcdJE-nTVWmDbM-5U8WOlz9iYkaOodIl_qkjfzkH93Gy8f1HMQ-2U7OlqHEQ5ya9O6CpOmOtZPHA8N8kMr-bkl5FJqw/w480-h640/IMG_2697.HEIC" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Resinous Polypore (Ischnoderma resinosum) - Inwood Hill Park -10/25/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Below is the full checklist for the day.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Brant 500 (Conservative estimate.) </div><div>Canada Goose 80</div><div>Mallard 30</div><div>American Black Duck 1</div><div>Hooded Merganser 1</div><div>Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 8</div><div>Mourning Dove 4</div><div>Sanderling 35 (Flock of very pale shorebirds flying down Hudson River; slightly larger than peep.)</div><div>Ring-billed Gull 15</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlgnXGjXH5DDsvKzL1SjXgBj0uVQa509ymoL8AUj9EVCwd5-oW6o2M9mJRPZ9wbdYv4tRJ9skb_nIizPT5rcFfKf_JYKvp7yHB46TFdFPV1bkHeFRzFXvJdBqrOD-JMSDdm_2_Q3denLU/s3597/IMG_2670.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2613" data-original-width="3597" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlgnXGjXH5DDsvKzL1SjXgBj0uVQa509ymoL8AUj9EVCwd5-oW6o2M9mJRPZ9wbdYv4tRJ9skb_nIizPT5rcFfKf_JYKvp7yHB46TFdFPV1bkHeFRzFXvJdBqrOD-JMSDdm_2_Q3denLU/w640-h464/IMG_2670.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ring-billed Gull - Inwood Hill Park - 10/25/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Herring Gull 1</div><div>Great Black-backed Gull 1</div><div>Common Loon 1</div><div>Double-crested Cormorant 1</div><div>Great Blue Heron 4</div><div>Turkey Vulture 4</div><div>Osprey 2</div><div>Cooper's Hawk 3</div><div>Bald Eagle 2</div><div>Red-tailed Hawk 2</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgszSv-sDpBm-9NBKNaq5K09p_KcRIZ3-RaUhojeEjYQRN_W8WBRF6I9FAmljz8bHVmMqIpBVp5IN26Urz0Scq_GKED_zy6k81niVKhnFiq-GJilCjOdRUAblfmVkOm6B-Fce6p3gcmShc/s2706/IMG_2680.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2480" data-original-width="2706" height="586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgszSv-sDpBm-9NBKNaq5K09p_KcRIZ3-RaUhojeEjYQRN_W8WBRF6I9FAmljz8bHVmMqIpBVp5IN26Urz0Scq_GKED_zy6k81niVKhnFiq-GJilCjOdRUAblfmVkOm6B-Fce6p3gcmShc/w640-h586/IMG_2680.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red-tailed Hawk - Inwood Hill Park - 10/25/2020</td></tr></tbody></table><div>Belted Kingfisher 1</div><div>Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1</div><div>Red-bellied Woodpecker 2</div><div>Hairy Woodpecker 1</div><div>Northern Flicker 2</div><div>American Kestrel 1</div><div>Peregrine Falcon 1</div><div>Eastern Phoebe 2</div><div>Blue-headed Vireo 1</div><div>Blue Jay 10</div><div>American Crow 5</div><div>Common Raven 1</div><div>Black-capped Chickadee 8 Very conservative number. Could easily be double that.</div><div>Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4</div><div>White-breasted Nuthatch 1</div><div>Carolina Wren 1</div><div>European Starling 20</div><div>Northern Mockingbird 2</div><div>Hermit Thrush 5</div><div>American Robin 5</div><div>Cedar Waxwing 1</div><div>House Sparrow 12</div><div>House Finch 4</div><div>Pine Siskin 20 Very conservative number. Part of continuing flight in the last week or so.</div><div>American Goldfinch 8</div><div>Chipping Sparrow 50</div><div>Field Sparrow 1</div><div>Dark-eyed Junco 60</div><div>White-crowned Sparrow 1</div><div>White-throated Sparrow 4</div><div>Vesper Sparrow 1 </div><div>Savannah Sparrow 2</div><div>Song Sparrow 6</div><div>Swamp Sparrow 1</div><div>Red-winged Blackbird 1</div><div>Common Grackle 150</div><div>Nashville Warbler 1 </div><div>Palm Warbler 4</div><div>Yellow-rumped Warbler 6</div><div>Northern Cardinal 1</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-73607318665697736422020-10-24T18:26:00.002-07:002020-10-24T18:26:23.498-07:00October 24 - Inwood Hill Park, Muscota Marsh: Pine Siskins again<p>I didn't get out into the park today, but in the afternoon when the weather cleared a bit I watched from my apartment window. Yesterday a single Pine Siskin was a new species for my apartment list. This afternoon there were 20-30 Pine Siskins (plus 10+ American Goldfinch) feeding in the plantings in Muscota Marsh. It was hard to know whether the flocks I saw flying around were always the same individuals or different groups so I don't know for sure how many siskins were about. The pictures below were all digiscoped from my apartment window.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfXh2N1Y9OwBMWEu1eoW-l2VsirWXKyT14jOcvguKXORctPQANNDWk19haVgFcVFMy0LnTpdcSD_UEshKAoGj239SjptG5iQ3X_TNmeTmKY4qMdwmR3j62IyOa1DlYmK0fdjjNtUaES1g/s1780/IMG_2683.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1290" data-original-width="1780" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfXh2N1Y9OwBMWEu1eoW-l2VsirWXKyT14jOcvguKXORctPQANNDWk19haVgFcVFMy0LnTpdcSD_UEshKAoGj239SjptG5iQ3X_TNmeTmKY4qMdwmR3j62IyOa1DlYmK0fdjjNtUaES1g/w640-h464/IMG_2683.HEIC" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pine Siskin - Muscota Marsh - 10/24/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBXJgbvkBqVJZniZpA60Vw9iV3qbGT7d124pXWtazkqlQTe_mA9AjxbwUvlHjP7JJbLQJIJbwzpwB7DG4o4TNoKUFComaLdJTEdpPBOQE-NCh6Jch4_m67mi_feT9wvhCxas8RuHnXp0/s1914/IMG_2681.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1741" data-original-width="1914" height="582" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBXJgbvkBqVJZniZpA60Vw9iV3qbGT7d124pXWtazkqlQTe_mA9AjxbwUvlHjP7JJbLQJIJbwzpwB7DG4o4TNoKUFComaLdJTEdpPBOQE-NCh6Jch4_m67mi_feT9wvhCxas8RuHnXp0/w640-h582/IMG_2681.HEIC" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pine Siskin - Muscota Marsh - 10/24/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK7ls051DBZfFLO2OpoSPUu-fSZmSfhHN9ux4_DKNG3M5i7cqL91X6X3Pw6NasGIjAKdOfMFL2pnRx1sJGWvrnBzdg2CG0uCNa35AxkrURZb4B7zro-bFCFFs3gBitG8bqQ5uHRJs-np0/s2523/IMG_2677.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2057" data-original-width="2523" height="522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK7ls051DBZfFLO2OpoSPUu-fSZmSfhHN9ux4_DKNG3M5i7cqL91X6X3Pw6NasGIjAKdOfMFL2pnRx1sJGWvrnBzdg2CG0uCNa35AxkrURZb4B7zro-bFCFFs3gBitG8bqQ5uHRJs-np0/w640-h522/IMG_2677.HEIC" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pine Siskins - Muscota Marsh - 10/24/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-62580387800279230922020-10-23T19:03:00.002-07:002020-10-23T19:03:38.343-07:00October 23 - Inwood Hill Park: fog again, but a new apartment bird.<p> Yet another foggy morning at sunup, but it mostly lifted early, though it remained cloudy for most of the day. However, as in recent days I saw reports on the Internet of flocks of Pine Siskins around the city so I decided to spend some time in the later morning watching from an apartment window in hopes of adding the species to my apartment list. I was encouraged by flocks of American Goldfinches feeding in the flowers and weeds around Muscota Marsh. Finally I spotted a siskin with a group of goldfinch across Muscota on the other side of the boat ramp. At that distance I was only able to get a poor digiscope photo of the bird, but it is recognizable.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji3wW6MjMXsVbmZ5BoMZihNtsmgIQq0OjWI6D2MOr3pdunpi_KXWwJo9u9SqOTrMQOMIl-NGozocN9pH7NqBjE2NPqv0nzj_aEzmPzhYb9ebWkfCpGLinlcNt12HBmFQZGsDCO85SZRJ8/s1767/IMG_2662.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1585" data-original-width="1767" height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji3wW6MjMXsVbmZ5BoMZihNtsmgIQq0OjWI6D2MOr3pdunpi_KXWwJo9u9SqOTrMQOMIl-NGozocN9pH7NqBjE2NPqv0nzj_aEzmPzhYb9ebWkfCpGLinlcNt12HBmFQZGsDCO85SZRJ8/w400-h359/IMG_2662.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pine Siskin (above) - Inwood Hill Park - 10/23/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />This was species number 120 for my apartment list, the second new species for the list this month, after the Nelson's Sparrow on October 14.<div><br /></div><div>In the afternoon I went for a short walk over to the soccer field. The fenced in "marsh restoration area" was productive. with among other species, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Black-capped Chickadee, Palm Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Savannah, Song, and Swamp sparrows, American Goldfinch and another Pine Siskin. Below are a few pictures.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVibdANU6BqZtyJOjhUMc_ZYILUzQv7p48jxk5BdVQBKz_FntwdMTma4kTjEAfXYFtg8vwKLKru9jn0_5mRfJ3fNKw5H14VLtiYwLQfL41N0fFmjA30QNnhpOuSfEw_SnCeKujsj6G_eE/s3119/IMG_2620.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2130" data-original-width="3119" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVibdANU6BqZtyJOjhUMc_ZYILUzQv7p48jxk5BdVQBKz_FntwdMTma4kTjEAfXYFtg8vwKLKru9jn0_5mRfJ3fNKw5H14VLtiYwLQfL41N0fFmjA30QNnhpOuSfEw_SnCeKujsj6G_eE/w640-h438/IMG_2620.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow-rumped Warbler - Inwood Hill Park - 10/23/2020<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho4xpXZCb2ijpECu6OxFsNonj-Q_hVNEEqFySsbIe6IIuAVPrZOvGG7MdYJn6sBZrFuShdXBn3bHH7yuh7kguxSqoODL-i4c7oU6GLM5X1IMiLTRVabL6vl1OTGIo-lM0hCRuVO2W4sow/s2328/IMG_2616.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1837" data-original-width="2328" height="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho4xpXZCb2ijpECu6OxFsNonj-Q_hVNEEqFySsbIe6IIuAVPrZOvGG7MdYJn6sBZrFuShdXBn3bHH7yuh7kguxSqoODL-i4c7oU6GLM5X1IMiLTRVabL6vl1OTGIo-lM0hCRuVO2W4sow/w640-h506/IMG_2616.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Savannah Sparrow - Inwood Hill Park - 10/23/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggBGxoRrrIGq92SsUsa2UG3A_Fgh43ip19YvBIbGcowy8VrTlj-xApR56MScaujEqcQtyN5SQ1Ayr-gJ3TcKReVTZgkB1sSwIBxuBAsSpORQ8aoV-qF-1YNuYI9lfRf5zpX96ktArXTsY/s2595/IMG_2622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1777" data-original-width="2595" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggBGxoRrrIGq92SsUsa2UG3A_Fgh43ip19YvBIbGcowy8VrTlj-xApR56MScaujEqcQtyN5SQ1Ayr-gJ3TcKReVTZgkB1sSwIBxuBAsSpORQ8aoV-qF-1YNuYI9lfRf5zpX96ktArXTsY/w640-h438/IMG_2622.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pine Siskin - Inwood Hill Park - 10/23/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1821627394699661934.post-78123537831716955042020-10-22T08:06:00.002-07:002020-10-22T08:07:04.010-07:00October 22 - fog again.<p>Another foggy morning in Inwood; the third in a row. So I thought I would post some bird pictures I took back on October 9. That morning was a lovely morning with a fair number of birds around. I birded that day with Danny Karlson, Hilary Russ, Diane Schenker and a couple of others. I recorded 55 species that morning. The list included five woodpeckers: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, and Northern Flicker. The list also included both Ruby-crowned, and Golden-crowned kinglets; both Red-breasted, and White-breasted nuthatches; and a couple of Pine Siskins. Another highlight was eight species of sparrows: Chipping, Field, White-crowned, White-throated, Savannah, Song, and Swamp sparrows, and Dark-eyed Junco. A White-throated Sparrow was especially cooperative and posed for its picture.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2yLRl-NHOTq3ErSsnIuiF9gfs9xpiDZQ0yR-_DMfLNhLy27XrsTqUuinvaXJHErHTdPh7_4UB5tI7IexghLdA4XXff95oNbabSWNcB_n_nyANluxd8TaRMho09_ie9zTLaow-wr_XLZg/s2124/IMG_2431.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1496" data-original-width="2124" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2yLRl-NHOTq3ErSsnIuiF9gfs9xpiDZQ0yR-_DMfLNhLy27XrsTqUuinvaXJHErHTdPh7_4UB5tI7IexghLdA4XXff95oNbabSWNcB_n_nyANluxd8TaRMho09_ie9zTLaow-wr_XLZg/w640-h450/IMG_2431.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White-throated Sparrow - Inwood Hill Park - 10/09/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I also recorded seven warblers that morning: Tennessee, Magnolia, Blackpoll, Palm, Yellow-rumped, and Black-throated Green warblers, and Common Yellowthroat. A Tennessee and a Black-throated Green, like the White-throated Sparrow, were both particularly cooperative.<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5PzMJYF4feZWsItnxTqoYmiUA27PM8DZH1P_K9Di_Q9NtR39w_iyMZahcUUMxqvczgCVrMyL2U5fDDEGTqbBSWnxQwp_w2K8ht8mc0MfTrVz9XnkL-pl66KkyxP0AnLWbtKMEWkawhg/s3252/IMG_2474.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2319" data-original-width="3252" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5PzMJYF4feZWsItnxTqoYmiUA27PM8DZH1P_K9Di_Q9NtR39w_iyMZahcUUMxqvczgCVrMyL2U5fDDEGTqbBSWnxQwp_w2K8ht8mc0MfTrVz9XnkL-pl66KkyxP0AnLWbtKMEWkawhg/w640-h456/IMG_2474.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tennessee Warbler - Inwood Hill Park - 10/09/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_VMAtLxgLwiXVvAKziBs-eS1wYbD_-pQ7X2HGCHXPavH3etv0T_QB4_5ZWj2_Dmj4erDF6t3WNaeeLA7t-mBT7Q7phfgw1Xf66k051HbAxGkklxAeDTSacofp5vikUTtXs7GW8Wy9RI/s3164/IMG_2428.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2199" data-original-width="3164" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_VMAtLxgLwiXVvAKziBs-eS1wYbD_-pQ7X2HGCHXPavH3etv0T_QB4_5ZWj2_Dmj4erDF6t3WNaeeLA7t-mBT7Q7phfgw1Xf66k051HbAxGkklxAeDTSacofp5vikUTtXs7GW8Wy9RI/w640-h444/IMG_2428.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black-throated Green Warbler - Inwood Hill Park - 10/09/2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>The Tennessee Warbler was one of two by the Hudson River overlook on the ridge and was quite actively feeding in some low vegetation.</div>Joe DiCostanzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13539111832912608624noreply@blogger.com0