May 11 - Inwood Hill Park

I went out into the park before 7:00 am hoping to beat the rains that were predicted to start around 11:00 am. Unfortunately, the rains started about  an hour and a half early, driving home. I still managed to have some nice birds, even some new ones for my April/May list. Starting off nicely, yesterday's Marsh Wren continued at Muscota Marsh where it was singing loudly when I visited the deck over looking the marsh. It continued to sing intermittently during the day. Shortly before 11:00 am when I was back home I heard it from my apartment window and was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of it when it briefly popped up on some vegetation. An addition to my spring list was Least Sandpiper with a group of five on the mudflats north of the soccer fields. The small flock was first reported by Nathan O'Reilly and Nadir Souirgi. There was less activity on the ridge than yesterday, but there were still pockets of birds. The best area was the middle path between the pine groves. It was frustrating birding, however, since the birds stayed high in the trees where they were backlit in poor line. Exacerbating the challenge was that this was when it started raining. Earlier, by the nearby former hacking station overlook I picked up another bird for the spring - a male Wilson's Warbler. My curtailed birding list totaled 44 species. The two new spring birds brought my spring total for the park to 108 species. Today's list below.

Canada Goose 4
Mallard 6
Rock Pigeon 6
Mourning Dove 1
Least Sandpiper 5
Spotted Sandpiper 1

Ring-billed Gull 15
Herring Gull 1
Double-crested Cormorant 2
Great Egret 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 3
Eastern Kingbird 1
Warbling Vireo 4
Blue Jay 9
Barn Swallow 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
House Wren 1
Marsh Wren 1 .
Carolina Wren 3
European Starling 10
Gray Catbird 5
Northern Mockingbird 3
Wood Thrush 2
American Robin 10
House Sparrow 10
Song Sparrow 2
Eastern Towhee 1
Baltimore Oriole 2
Red-winged Blackbird 3
Common Grackle 2
Ovenbird 3
Black-and-white Warbler 2
Common Yellowthroat 2

Northern Parula 2
Magnolia Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Wilson's Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 6

May 10 - Inwood Hill Park - an addition to my window list

It was a beautiful day in the park. It started out cool again in the morning with temperatures in the upper 30's, but with much lighter southwest winds than yesterday and bright blue skies, the high got up the mid 60's. I headed into the park around 7:30 am. On reaching the deck overlooking Muscota Marsh I received a text message from Hilary Russ that she and Diane Schenker reported a Marsh Wren at Muscota Marsh only four minutes earlier. I texted them for more info and then joined them in the lower portion of the Muscota area. They had heard the bird calling, but hadn't seen it. It took a while but eventually we heard it calling again and then it did pop up into view briefly. In the afternoon, after getting home from birding in the park with Hilary and Diane, I spent time at my apartment window hoping to add the Marsh Wren to my apartment list. Eventually Ann and I both heard it calling from the reeds in Muscota. This was species number 117 for my all time apartment list.

While watching and listening from the window I also picked up two other species for my list of species recorded from the apartment since April 1st: Green Heron and Yellow Warbler. This brought my spring apartment list to 41 species. It was also a very nice day birding in the park, though Hilary and Diane said it was not as busy as yesterday when they were in. Nevertheless, I recorded 61 species in the park with Common Yellowthroat, Magnolia Warbler and Tennessee Warbler. These, with the Marsh Wren brought my Inwood list since April 1st to 106 species. The following list of 65 species are the birds found on our walk in the park with a few additional birds I saw from my apartment window.

In the category of nonavian animals seen there was a Red-eared Slider swimming in the shallows of the bay north of the soccer fields and a Muskrat swimming in the shipping canal seen from my apartment.

Canada Goose 12
Mallard 20

Mallard female and brood

Rock Pigeon 10
Mourning Dove 4
Chimney Swift 1 (and another couple from the window)
Ring-billed Gull 12
Herring Gull 1
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Double-crested Cormorant 2
Great Egret 1
Green Heron 1 (seen from apartment window)
Turkey Vulture 2
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 5
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 1

Blue-headed Vireo 2
Warbling Vireo 4
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 10

American Crow 1
Fish Crow 1 (heard from the apartment)
Tufted Titmouse 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Tree Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 2 (seen from the apartment)
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
House Wren 2
Marsh Wren 1 Distinctive rattling song heard repeatedly.
Carolina Wren 3
European Starling 15
Gray Catbird 12
Northern Mockingbird 2
Veery 1
Wood Thrush 3
American Robin 25
House Sparrow 20
American Goldfinch 3

White-throated Sparrow 6
Song Sparrow 4
Swamp Sparrow 1
Eastern Towhee 1
Baltimore Oriole 10
Red-winged Blackbird 4
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Common Grackle 4
Ovenbird 3
Black-and-white Warbler 10

Tennessee Warbler 1
Nashville Warbler 2
Common Yellowthroat 2
American Redstart 1
Northern Parula 3
Magnolia Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler 1 (from apartment window)
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Black-throated Blue Warbler 3
Yellow Warbler 1 (from apartment window)
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Prairie Warbler 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 3
Scarlet Tanager 2

Northern Cardinal 2

May 9 - Muscota Marsh - cold and windy

It was a cold and very windy day. At sunup it was 35 F and very windy. I decided to make it a "shelter in place" day from the weather and the coronavirus. At various times during the day I spent some time watching for birds from the apartment window. Most of the day was sunny, though the temperature never got out of the mid-forties. In the afternoon we had a few passing showers of sleet, before it got sunny again at the end of the day.

Ominous sky to the northwest before afternoon sleet shower.

During the course of the day I recorded 19 species from the window. While nothing was new for my spring list, there were several good birds for the window: Spotted Sandpiper, Common Raven, and Northern Rough-winged Swallow. Full list below.

Canada Goose
Mallard
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Spotted Sandpiper
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Blue Jay
Common Raven
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
European Starling
Northern Mockingbird
American Robin
House Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Northern Cardinal

May 8 - Inwood Hill Park - cold, but birdy

It was a cold, mostly gray morning in Inwood Hill Park with rain from midday on. Still, it was one of the best birding days of the spring so far. There was a good variety of warblers up on the ridge. In fact, at times it was quite frustrating because there were many warblers around in some areas, but most of them were high in the trees in poor light and mostly backlit. Many individuals had to be just passed over as warbler species(?) because it was not possible to get a good enough look to identify them. Nevertheless, I found 51 species on my walk through the park and I later added three more species for the day from my apartment window. I added five species to my spring Inwood list, bringing the total to 102 species. (The five new species are in italics in the list below.) One of the new species was seen from my window, a Spotted Sandpiper on the mud by Muscota Marsh in the afternoon. This brings my apartment list for the same period to 38 species.

Canada Goose
Mallard
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Spotted Sandpiper - Muscota mud flats (apartment)
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee - my first of the year; on the west path on the ridge
Great Crested Flycatcher 2 - heard calling in the Clove and on the ridge
Blue-headed Vireo 4 - probably an undercount
Warbling Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Blue Jay 10
Common Raven 1
Tree Swallow 1

Barn Swallow 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3
Carolina Wren 4
European Starling 20
Gray Catbird 6
Northern Mockingbird (apartment)
Hermit Thrush 1
Wood Thrush 5
American Robin 15
House Sparrow 6
White-crowned Sparrow - on the path on the north side of the soccer field

White-throated Sparrow 6
Song Sparrow 2
Eastern Towhee 2
Baltimore Oriole 7
Red-winged Blackbird 4
Common Grackle 1
American Goldfinch 2 (apartment)
Ovenbird 4
Black-and-white Warbler 15
Nashville Warbler 1
American Redstart 2
Cape May Warbler 2 - on the ridge path between the pine groves
Northern Parula 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 1 - on the ridge
Northern Cardinal 2

May 7 - Inwood Hill Park

A beautiful morning in the park. As he usually is, Nathan O'Reilly was in early and reported a White-crowned Sparrow near the Nature Center. I headed straight to that area when I went in to the park, but had no luck. I did have a nice singing Yellow Warbler perched up there. I also ran into Hilary Russ who told me about an Eastern Kingbird further out the peninsula. I went out there and found two individuals. Kingbird turned out to be the only new species I picked up for my April/May Inwood list. It brought my total to 97 species. I met up with Danny Karlson up on the ridge and we birded together. The weather was beautiful with deep blue skies, but a bit cool. I only managed to find 38 species today, my smallest total this week.

Up on the ridge Danny spotted some Lilies-of-the-valley coming in to bloom. I am afraid my picture is a little blurry.

Lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis)

Canada Goose
Mallard
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Kingbird 2
Warbling Vireo
Blue Jay
Common Raven
Barn Swallow
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Veery
Wood Thrush
American Robin
House Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Baltimore Oriole

Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler

Northern Cardinal

May 6 - Inwood Hill Park

An overcast, cool, raw morning in the park. In the early morning Nathan O'Reilly found a Marsh Wren in Muscota Marsh. I tried to spot it myself both from my window and when I was down on the deck before going into the park, but had no luck. In the park, I only managed to find 42 species, with one new species for my April/May total - a Blackburnian Warbler feeding in a tree up on the ridge with a Nashville Warbler in the same binocular field. It started raining at 1:00 pm and that is when I called it quits. Before I get to the bird list here are a few wildflowers I came across, most have been in bloom in the park for some time.

Greater Periwinkle (Vinca major)

Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)

Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum)

Recently, there has been a Chipmunk frequenting the upper stretches of the Clove path. This small ground squirrel is surprisingly scarce in the park.

Now the day's bird list.

Canada Goose 
Mallard 
Rock Pigeon 
Mourning Dove 
Ring-billed Gull 
Herring Gull 
Great Black-backed Gull 
Double-crested Cormorant 
Great Egret 
Turkey Vulture 
Bald Eagle - over the Hudson
Red-tailed Hawk 
Red-bellied Woodpecker 
Downy Woodpecker 
Northern Flicker 
Great Crested Flycatcher - by the pine groves on the ridge
Blue-headed Vireo 2 - chasing each other around at the top of the Clove
Warbling Vireo 
Blue Jay 
Common Raven 
Tree Swallow 
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 
White-breasted Nuthatch 
House Wren 
Carolina Wren 
European Starling 
Gray Catbird 
Northern Mockingbird 
Wood Thrush 
American Robin 
House Sparrow 
White-throated Sparrow 
Song Sparrow 
Baltimore Oriole 
Red-winged Blackbird 
Common Grackle 
Ovenbird 
Black-and-white Warbler 
Nashville Warbler 
Blackburnian Warbler
Northern Cardinal 
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 

May 5 - Inwood Hill Park

I am catching up on posting my day lists. May 5 was quieter than the previous three days. On each of the previous three days I was able to record over 50 species on my walk in the park. On May 5, I only found 43 species. This included only one new species for my April/May total - a Red-eyed Vireo (italics below).

I was surprised on my walk to discover that evidently someone had taken the large Dryad's Saddle mushroom I had photographed only yesterday. There was no sign of it today.

Canada Goose
Mallard
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Osprey - over the Hudson
Bald Eagle - over the Hudson
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay - photographed a bird on its nest in a pine tree

Tufted Titmouse
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
House Sparrow
American Goldfinch
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird
Black-and-white Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal

May 4 - Inwood Hill Park - slower, but still birds

Having spent two long days birding in the park I slept in this morning. I didn't get into the park until nearly 11:00 am. It felt quieter than the last two mornings though my total for the day of 54 species was my best day yet this spring. I just had to work harder for things. I ran into Nadir Souirgi early on and we birded together most of the time, joined part of the time by Rachael Joakim. I only picked up two new species for the spring: Great Crested Flycatcher and a briefly seen male Scarlet Tanager.

Before giving the full bird list, a couple of non-birder photos. The first is the flower of Common Dewberry (Rubus flagellaris), a prickly vine that can be unpleasant to get caught in, but that can be fairly pretty.

The second photo is of the Dryad's Saddle mushroom that I presented in yesterday's post. Today's picture is of the same specimen, but today when I photographed in I put my Leatherman tool in the picture to give some scale. The tool is four inches long.

The following is today's bird list.

Canada Goose
Mallard
Feral Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Turkey Vulture 2 - one over the Palisades and one over the park
Osprey 1 - over the Hudson River
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Peregrine Falcon 2 - overhead at the Meadow Overlook
Least Flycatcher 1 - on the ridge; path between the pine groves
Great Crested Flycatcher 1 - east side of the Clove, towards Payson Avenue
Yellow-throated Vireo 1 - top of the Clove
Blue-headed Vireo 3 - scattered locations
Warbling Vireo 2 - probably more around the north side of the soccer fields
Blue Jay
Common Raven 1 - over the Palisades
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
House Wren 1 - on the ridge in a brushy tangle
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird - all over the park now
Northern Mockingbird - around Muscota Marsh
Wood Thrush - singing in the Clove and on the ridge
American Robin - everywhere
House Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Chipping Sparrow - soccer fields
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle - scarcer this spring than in other years
Ovenbird
Black-and-white Warbler - many fewer than Saturday
Nashville Warbler 1 - on the ridge
Northern Parula - various locations
Chestnut-sided Warbler - the Clove
Black-throated Blue Warbler - the ridge
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Scarlet Tanager - the ridge
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 4 - top of the Clove path

May 3 - Inwood Hill Park

I spent over six hours this morning birding in Inwood Hill Park. Most of the time with Danny Karlson, but we were joined at times by Diane Schenker, Hilary Russ, and Rachael Joakim. It was a nice morning with warmer temperatures and a nice variety of birds, but fewer than yesterday. This was a surprise since the overnight winds and radar indicated a good flight of migrants.and most of us expected a better morning than yesterday. One surprise was the relative paucity of Black-and-white Warblers. Yesterday they were easily the most common warbler around. They seemed to be everywhere. This morning they were around, but in far fewer numbers.

I did end up with 50 species of birds (adding a Great Black-backed Gull from my window when I got home). That total included eight new species for my April/May list (in italics in the list below). I also heard a singing Baltimore Oriole from my window after getting home. My overall April/May list for the park is now 92 species with 37 from my apartment. Also seen from my window today was the first Canada Goose goslings I have seen this year.

Before getting to the bird list, a couple of non-bird photos. A very nice Tiger Swallowtail cooperatively posed in the Overlook Meadow when we were trying to track down a singing Yellow-throated Vireo.

Growing on a dead tree stump on the eastern edge of the Overlook Meadow was this very large Dryad's Saddle fungus (Cerioporus [Polyporus] squamosus). It was larger than a large dinner plate.

Today's bird list:

Canada Goose

Mallard
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture - over the Palisades
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo 
Blue Jay
Tufted Titmouse
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Veery 
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush - singing in the Clove and on the ridge
American Robin
House Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Chipping Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Blue-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal

May 2 - Finally a decent day of migrants

I got into Inwood Hill Park today and found it pretty birdy. Judging by the weather forecast, and looking at tonight's radar, tomorrow should be even better. But if you go out tomorrow, REMEMBER TO FOLLOW THE NEW RULES. WEAR A MASK AND PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING!

I am just going to give today's list (below) with a few notes included. I want to get to bed so i can get up early tomorrow. Before I give the list, I have one wildflower picture taken today: White Violets.

I recorded 52 species in the park today; 16 of them (in italics) were new for my Inwood spring list. This raises my April/May Inwood total to 86 species.

Canada Goose
Mallard
Feral Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Lesser Yellowlegs 1 - seen in the afternoon by Hilary Russ and myself north of the soccer fields
Laughing Gull 1 - heard flying over the river
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Least Flycatcher 1 - between the pine groves on the ridge
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
Fish Crow 5 - one flock flying over calling to each other
Tufted Titmouse
Tree Swallow

Ruby-crowned Kinglet
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren 1 - singing at the upper end of the Clove
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird

Northern Mockingbird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
House Sparrow
American Goldfinch
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Orchard Oriole 
Baltimore Oriole 
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird - one or more singing in the Clove
Worm-eating Warbler 1 - upper end of the Clove
Black-and-white Warbler - they were everywhere

Hooded Warbler - male on the ridge between the pine groves

American Redstart 1 - upper end of the Clove
Northern Parula 1 - on the ridge
Yellow Warbler - by northwest corner of soccer field
Black-throated Blue Warbler 1 - upper end of the Clove
Palm Warbler 6 - on the ridge

Yellow-rumped Warbler - on the ridge
Prairie Warbler 1 - upper end of the Clove
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2 - two males together in the Clove