End of summer

I feel there should be some fine Japanese calligraphy on this one

This weekend was the technical end of Summer. Of course, that means that Fall migration is about halfway done already--more for some birds, such as shorebirds.

Despite that, there was a report on Saturday of a very unusual bird for New York, a Pectoral Sandpiper, at Muscota Marsh in Inwood Hill Park. They come through the region on migration in the Fall fairly regularly, but apparently there had never been one in Manhattan before.

Sunday morning, a report from eBird said the bird was still there, so off I went to the very northern edge of Manhattan.

The Pectoral gets its name from the fact that it's upper chest is quite buff. Seriously.

And there it was, hanging out with a couple of dozen Semipalmated Sandpipers. Our hero bird was notably larger and browner. I was very lucky--after I had watched the flock from some distance awhile, they took off---and landed not thirty feet in front of the bench I was sitting on.

Pectoral and Semipalmated Sandpipers synching up

I watched them there for a long time, then went off to see what was doing in the rest of Spuyten Duyvil Creek (answer: not much). When I returned, another birder told me that a Peregrine Falcon had flown in and perched atop a light tower at Baker Field (the Columbia University athletic complex right next to Inwood Hill Park). The sandpipers had mostly flown off, except a few very brave or very foolish Semipalmateds.

The Peregrine eventually gave up, but the Pectoral did not return while I was there. Which doesn't mean it's gone.

dinner is served

Meanwhile, in Central Park this weekend, migration also continued. Scarlet Tanagers, Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, and a good variety of warblers are all around. Oh, and hummingbirds. Did I mention the hummingbirds? They were all over the place.

right now, wherever there's jewelweed, there are hummingbirds

I also had a Red-Breasted Nuthatch at the Pinetum--my first of the year, and I had only one in all of 2013 as well--, a Kingfisher (always charming to see) and various confusing fall warblers. One of the warblers might have been a very dull Bay-Breasted, but most were Pine Warblers, I think.

confused Fall warbler

The Red-Breasted Nuthatch was my 178th species in New York County this year, and the Pectoral Sandpiper was my 179th (and a life bird).

Astonishing

The variety of birds passing through Central Park this weekend was astonishing.  Let's start with this guy:

Wilson's all over

Wilson's Warbler. I saw my first of the season on Thursday. Sunday I saw sixteen. Possibly more--I tried not to count more than one in an area unless I saw them all at the same time. That's a crazy number. You see one or two Wilson's a day, if you're in luck. Not sixteen.

Wilson's wasn't the only very abundant warbler. Sunday we saw eleven Magnolia Warblers,

That's a Magnolia, sugar

which is a lot, and nine Redstarts, which is not too few.

American Redstart disapproves of you

Friday I saw eleven Ovenbirds, but they seem to have mostly moved on (only three on Sunday), or maybe they were just less noticeable with all the other activity. Other warblers were frequent as well. I even got a Tennessee Warbler on Friday, my first of the year, and a couple of Blackpolls on Sunday (also FOY).

And then there were rarities. This fella showed up roosting in a tree near Azalea Pond:

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron

Yellow-crowned Night Heron, a life bird for me, and I not something that shows up in Central Park often. If ever. And we (Elena and I and our friend Melissa) ran into a group of birders near the Weather Station who were looking at a Yellow-Billed Cuckoo.

Yellow-Billed Cuckoo

OK, those come through every year. One or two, anyway--so you don't necessarily see them every year. I didn't get a Yellow-Billed last year, for instance.

A couple of other first-of-year birds for me his weekend were Olive-sided Flycatcher (at the northeast corner of Azalea Pond, favoring the bare branches at the top of a tall snag--I think the same bird visits there every migration) and Eastern Kingbird (at least one at Turtle Pond).

any question as to why they call him the King-Bird?

That all puts me at 153 species in New York County this year.

Some nice birds continue, as well. A Summer Tanager has been hanging around Turtle Pond the last few days.

Summer Tanager

Scarlet Tanagers have been pretty frequent, as well.

any excuse is a good excuse to post a photo of a Scarlet Tanager

And, well, almost everything else. Really an astounding migration season.

For the May Day is the great day...

Wednesday nigh the winds were generally southerly, and the rain mostly ended before dawn. So there was a pretty good migratory movement into Central Park, and I had a really good day: 43 species, ten first-of-year, ten warblers.

In the morning, I started off with a Blue-Winged Warbler at Maintenance meadow (it stayed around there all day).

Blue-Winged Warbler and prey

A Northern Parula warbler and a Warbling Vireo were high in trees above the Gill source; I saw Wood Thrush in various places, and heard their echoing songs; Gray Catbirds popped up here and there.

In the late afternoon, I returned--a Worm-Eating Warbler had joined the Blue-Winged, and down the Riviera were Canada and Chestnut-Sided Warblers.

Canada Warbler posing

Finally, as I was leaving, I joined a group looking at a Scarlet Tanager high in the trees near the "captain's bench".

Scarlet Tanager, suspicious

Yellow-Rumped and Palm Warblers remained ubiquitous, Black-and-white warblers were around in small numbers; a Yellow Warbler sang very loudly just south of Willow Rock, and a Prairie Warbler sang at Tupelo Meadow.

Prairie Warbler singing

In other warbler news, the Yellow-Throated Warbler was again seen near Tavern on the Green, and Black-Throated Blue Warblers and both waterthrushes were reported.

Winds look to be westerly, maybe West-southwest, tonight, so I expect there won't be a lot of movement out. Maybe I can still catch up with the Yellow-Throated.

Yellow Warbler on the move

(I'm now at 120 species this year in New York County; 14 species, or 9 days, ahead of last year.)