Might as well be Spring

dramatic Jay

The last weekend of winter was chilly but bright. Sunday I took a walk through Central Park, testing out a new camera. I caught a couple of birds in dramatic light at Tanner's Spring.

Grackle down for a drink

The camera is a Nikon P900, which I bought mostly for it's huge zoom range; I'm hoping to use it instead of a spotting scope when I go to Jamaica Bay. Hauling around a scope and tripod is a pain in the ... backpack. It seems to work pretty well despite its tiny sensor.

Cardinal in a song battle

There's a lot of birds singing now. In the Ramble I watched a Cardinal counter-singing against a nearby rival. House Finches are in voice, and I've heard Fox Sparrows and even a few Juncos. The Goldfinches seem to be behind this year, though--I haven't even seen any really bright males yet.

Robins have been singing in small numbers. WHite-Throated Sprows have been relatively silent--there haven't been very many in the Park this winter.

O Robin, harbinger of Spring!

Then Spring came in with a blizzard. I saw a flock of over 40 next to the Met Museum in the falling snow on Wednesday. That's the most I've seen at once since last Summer. I guess they flew in just before the storm.

Hopefully we'll start getting real Spring weather soon.

Big weekend

I started my weekend by taking Friday off from work. There had been a lot of rarities reported in Central Park on Thursday--Blue Grosbeak, Red-Headed Woodpecker, both kinds of Cuckoo--but I was responsible adult and went to work.

They were all gone Friday, but I quietly got a total of 49 species anyway. A lot of migrating warblers were in.

I'm on my way

And a lot of resident birds were going about their business--establishing territory

I am wren, hear me roar

bathing

Orchard Oriole and a Yellow-Rumped Warbler at the bird spa

and foraging.

yum!

It was a splendid day. I had 46 species by noon, and then went off to look for the Mourning Warbler seen between Balcony Bridge and Triplets Bridge. I found it--along with dozens of other people--and had some good views, but I spent the rest of the day trying to get a good photo of it. It was too wily for me, though.

Saturday was the Global Big Day, organized by the Cornell Ornithology Lab as a conservation-awareness and fundraising initiative. The idea was to get a lot of people out in the field and see how many species they could see. The Lab hoped to record 4500 of the 10000+ species--they got almost 6000.

But it was a bit slow in New York. I had only twenty species in the Ramble, so I went up to Inwood Hill Park. The tide was rushing in when I arrived, but I was lucky enough to see the previously-reported Greater Yellowlegs

skinny legs and all

which was a life New York City bird for me, and as a bonus there were a pair of Snowy Egrets--

Egrets, I've had a few

--first of the year for me, and a very good bird for Inwood Hill.

Since I was there, I decide to look for the Wild Turkey that had been reported recently, and on the way up the hill I met Nadir Sourigi, a really fine birder who leads walks for Audubon and so on, and we went off to look for her and for Cuckoos. No luck on either, but I highly recommend the experience of birding with someone who's massively better than you. Great fun, as well as instructive and informative.

Sunday was a little brisker in Central Park, and a lovely day for birding as well.

Northern Parula

Blue-Headed Vireo

I'll post more soon.

Right back at you

The pace of migration is picking up. In Central Park, many Pine, Palm, and Yellow-Rumped Warblers continue, some singing. There's been some reports of Blue-headed Vireos, and I saw my first Black-and-White Warbler on Sunday. The day's highlight, though, was this very late Pine Siskin at the Evodia feeders.

With the warming weather, the birds are all quite busy, and I've gotten very good looks at some. This White-Breasted Nuthatch has been around Laupot Bridge all winter, and still seems to have a lot of food stashed in the bridge posts.

He was making curious little grumbling sounds as he worked around the area, on occasionally giving out the typical brash "henk! henk!" call Nuthatches are known for.

The cardinals in Central Park tend to be quite tame, and will often get up close to people, like this one:

And why not? People sometimes have peanuts and stuff.

Nesting season is already starting for some resident birds. I've seen some Robins on nests, and others gathering nesting material.

Cardinals and Grackles have been carrying around nesting material as well.

I've seen all three of the common swallow species (Barn, Tree, and Northern Rough-Winged) at Turtle Pond in the last week, and a bunch of cormorants has been hanging out there as well.

Sometimes you can see why the Cormorant is called the devil's bird.

Some species have already passed through. The Fox Sparrows are gone. and the bulk of the Song Sparrows and Juncos as well. White-Throated Sparrows are still plentiful at the moment.

They'll be moving on soon, but I'm enjoying them while they're still here.

Where are the Robins?

Have you seen me?

I haven't been seeing many Robins or Cardinals lately. Usually at this time of year, there are Robins by the dozen in the Ramble and on Cedar Hill and, oh, pretty much everywhere. Not this year; I've gone days without seeing any, and when I see them, there's only a handful. Cardinals are normally quite plentiful as well. Not this Fall.

American Robins are normally migratory--it's right in their name, Turdus migratorius--but over the last few decades, more and more of them have wintered in the New York area. These are probably short-haul migrants (birds from upstate or New England moving here for the winter, while birds that summered here go down to Maryland or so, and birds from there move farther south). This year, they seem to have skipped the City and gone on south.

Northern Cardinals are sedentary--they don't migrate, they stay in their nesting areas year-round. But there were a plenty of them this summer, and very few now.

On the NY state Birds mailing list today, Shai Mitra has noticed something odd going on as well:

Back around the end of September there was a thread on this list regarding recent incursions into NYS, not only of classic irruptives such as Pine Siskins and Red-breasted Nuthatches, but also of more cryptic migrants, such as Downy Woodpeckers. [...] Since that time, the data have strongly confirmed that not only Downy Woodpeckers, but also Hairy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers and White-breasted Nuthatches (and even Northern Cardinals!), are all staging major irruptions this year.
[...]
I was part of a group that conducted a stationary morning flight count [at Robert Moses SP, Suffolk County], and my companions will attest that our total of 5 Hairy Woodpeckers had me freaking out a little bit.... Among other relatively (or allegedly) sedentary species moving this morning were 12 Downies, 20 Red-bellies (possibly a local daily max), and a White-breasted Nut, and our total of 28 Northern Cardinals in obvious morning flight was a true spectacle of nature!

not a classic irruptive

So what's going on? why are these birds on the move?

Sometimes people try to forecast the winter by the birds. "Oh, they're staying north this Fall, must be a mild winter coming", or "Everything went through early, hard winter ahead". I'm not sure that makes a lot of sense. How would birds know what was coming? Weather forecasting is hard.

You can see how it would be a big evolutionary advantage, though, especially for sedentary and short migrants. If you're a bird that normally stays on its nesting territory, and you knew that the winter was going to be harsh, you'd move. But, Central Park lost most of its Carolina Wrens in last winter--surely they'd have moved out if they'd known how harsh it was going to be.

I don't know. Last winter's harshness was very unexpected. The Fall was so mild, do you remember? Maybe the birds got caught by surprise. Maybe this year, they know what's coming.

What are you seeing where you are? What are the Robins, Cardinals, and woodpeckers doing?

Just waiting on a wren

at long last / suddenly / a wren appears

Some birds appear rarer than they really are, because they are simply difficult to spot even when they're around. The Marsh Wren, for example, is mildly rare and only comes through New York in migration, but the real problem is that it is tiny and brown and well-camouflaged as it skulks in the reeds at the water's edge.

In the last week, there have been two sets of reports of Marsh Wrens in Manhattan. One is at Muscota Marsh up in Inwood Hill Park. It was probably there when I went to see the the Pectoral Sandpiper last week. Oh well. Then, a series of reports from a very careful birder named Adrian Burke of a wren, and then two, in Central Park at The Pond at 59th Street. That I could try for after work, and I did, twice, without success.

But hope springs eternal, and since the bird was apparently still there on Friday--and the Global Citizen concert was going to make things difficult in the Ramble-- Elena and I went downtown on Saturday. A quick trip around the Pond--there's clearly activity in the Hallett Sanctuary, and we saw a Hermit Thrush through the fence there--ended at the northmost end of it, where there's a little mud flat near the fence around the skating rink grounds. The bit of pond that extends into the fence area is good place for a Marsh Wren. Nobody's going to bother it in there, except maybe the rats, of which there are a really startling number.

We had a little excitement shortly after arriving, when a wren popped out of the fence. But it was a grayish plain-backed bird, a House wren. Marsh Wrens are browner and have prominent streaks on the back.

A pair of Northern Waterthrushes who didn't care for each other's company enlivened the waiting, as did a Northern Parula warbler who came down to bathe.

Northern Parula with a powerful urge to get clean

The parula splashed around and was joined by some House Sparrows, huge in comparison.

bathing with a friend

More waiting followed. Swamp Sparrows. Song Sparrows. A sparrow with a plain breast and a very streaky head, maybe a juvenile White-Crowned. A Pewee, being chased by a House Sparrow. A charming family of catbirds. It was a fun wait, but a long one. Other birders came...and went. a mile away from the Great Lawn, we could hear the bass thumping from the concert. After two and a half hours, we were thinking of giving up. I went over to the fence one last time and--something was down in the reeds.

got to be good-looking 'cause you're so hard to see

It was the Marsh Wren. I got a good enough look to confirm the ID, and called Elena over. The bird foraged near the fence for a couple of minutes, then melted back into the foliage.

We went home happy. A happy robin bade us goodbye as we crossed Barstow Bridge.

thanks for coming to Central Park, we hope you enjoyed your visit!

Meanwhile, back in Manhattan...

Mourning Dove feeding fledgling, Hudson River Greenway near 24th Street

While I was upstate, I saw a report online from a reliable observer of a Eurasian Collared-Dove on the Hudson River Greenway just north of Chelsea Piers. That's quite a bird--though it's likely that one in this area is an escapee, there are established colonies in Florida, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility that this was a wild bird. So on Monday (6/23), I went downtown to look for it.

Alas, no Collard-Dove for me. There were compensations, though, such as the Mourning Dove I saw feeding a fledgling. Plus, I saw a Raven flying nearby--probably part of the family living on the Chelsea Hotel. That's my 168th New York County species this year.

There were also a lot of Mockingbirds--I saw two adults carrying nesting materials, and several recent fledglings.

fledgling Mockingbird, Hudson River Greenway near 24th Street

Later in the week, the Conservancy opened the Hallet Sanctuary for an afternoon. There wasn't much there--Orioles and Robins nesting, and I heard a red-Bellied Woodpecker nearby. I took a walk around The Pond afterwards, and many of the usual summer residents were in evidence. The first to really catch my eye was a Great Egret.

Great Egret hunting, The Pond, Central Park

There were several adult Black-Crowned Night Herons flying around the pond, and an odd looking juvenile heron roosting near the far shore.

when you stare at the turtle, the turtle also... well, the maybe turtle ignores you

Stripy throat and chest like a juvenal, but not speckled on the back. I'm guessing this is a first-summer Black-Crowned, not yet molted out of its stripes underneath.

Elsewhere, Robins, Catbirds, and Starlings were enjoying the summer crop of berries.

hit-and-run berry snatching

savor the moment

Late warbler, angry birds

The weekend was a bit slow. We did see a late Black-and-White Warbler on Saturday.

B&W Warbler taking the leisurely approach to life

Nesting season continues. For Robins, nesting season started in April and will continue to about September. You may be familiar with the sight of two apparently peaceful Robins (males, seemingly) suddenly both flying up 8 or 10 feet and coming straight back down in a flurry. It's a bit too fast for my eye to follow, so I've been trying to get photos. I do have a nice shot of the scramble right after landing.

boys will be boys

Quite unfriendly. They don't seem to hurt each other, since they typically go a few rounds and then return to foraging calmly side-by-side.

---

On the rumors-of-birds front, I'm still seeing reports of Screech Owls uptown, so I will try Inwood again soon.

Everybody sing

It's Spring and everybody's singing. The sparrows are singing in their own special ways:

a long chittering verse

"Oh sweet Canada Canada Canada!"

Cardinals are singing unstoppably at each other:

Anything you can sing, I can sing louder

Robins are singing all over:

we shall sing in the trees, we shall sing in the bushes, we shall sing on the ground, we shall never go silent

This House Finch did his best to convince me he was some other bird:

Take a deep breath and sing

And everybody wants to get into the act.

I am too a songbird

Favorable winds

Gentle southerly winds overnight brought a few new species into Central Park on Tuesday morning. The big news was a male Cerulean Warbler spotted by Miriam (whose last name I don't know) at the Gill just south of Azalea Pond about 11:30am.  She was sitting on a bench watching birds coem down to bathe, and a Cerulean came down to eye level.

Unfortunately, only a couple of other people got to see the bird before he went back up into the treetops, as a Cerulean does.  I wasn't one of the lucky ones.  I found out about the bird when I got to the Azalea Pond around noon, and stayed  in the area for an hour and a half.  As far as I know, nobody saw the bird again.

Also reported were a pair of Purple Finches and a Northern Waterthrush, but I didn't see them either. Also a Savannah Sparrow at Maintenance meadow--this one I did get:

a very confiding Savannah Sparrow

A very cooperative bird. A group of birders stood off about 25 feet or so, not wanting to disturb it as it went about its lawful sparrow business foraging in the grass. It gradually worked its way closer until it was about 10 or 12 feet away. This is by far the best look I've ever gotten at a Savannah. Charming little bird.

In addition to the new species, a lot of birds from already-present species came in overnight. There were quite a few Yellow-Rumped Warblers (which I saw while looking for the Cerulean), Palm and Pine Warblers, a Blue-headed Vireo, and a number of Hermit Thrush. I did see a warbler, high up, a dull yellow breast with dark streaks; maybe a female Yellow Warbler, but not a good enough view to say for sure.

Most of the recently-seen species were still around, even if not in greater numbers.

Remember how I said in the last post that I didn't have any good photos of House Wrens? That's fixed now:

House Wren in action

While migration is just getting into swing, some resident birds have gotten down to the business of nesting:

Spring!

Surprisingly slow

Sunday and Monday were beautiful days, after nights of steady southerly winds; Tuesday came up gloomy and rainy, but again after a night of good winds.

Rainy Day Robin #12

Despite three nights of favorable winds, few migrating birds came into Central Park. There are still Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers, mostly on the Point.

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

Ruby-Crowned Kinglets are also still around; the Golden-Crowneds seem to have mostly moved on. There are Pine and Palm Warblers, and a couple of Yellow-Rumped Warblers, but no others; except one report of a Prairie Warbler near Turtle Pond. But I'm told that one of the birding guides played recordings of Prairie Warbler songs "to bring it in closer" until the stressed bird escaped elsewhere.

Swallows are coming in, however; Tree and Northern Rough-Winged Swallows at Turtle Pond on Monday, and today one Tree Swallow and a very small, fluttery, brown swallow that from the size and flight style might be a Bank Swallow. On the other hand, Bank is highly unusual in the park, and they don't tend to travel singly, so perhaps not. I couldn't get my binoculars on it for more than a tenth of a second, so I didn't get any field marks.

At Evodia on Monday I saw an extremely pretty female Red-Winged Blackbird. The females are usually quite reclusive. Unfortunately, a female Brown-Headed Cowbird was hanging around with it. That's not good news.

Soap opera in progress