Central Park, May 5th

Another overcast day ending in -y, so back to Central Park.  The Grasshopper Sparrow put in another appearance, as did even more Indigo Buntings and a White-crowned Sparrow.  I'd been hearing the White-crowned, but not seeing them, and Falconer's is one of the best places in the park to find them.

The Ramble was significantly quieter than previous days, perhaps with much of the volume of the Weds-Fri migration burst passing through.  Small patches of warbler activity, especially on the west side of the Ramble, added to the warbler species total of 12 but there was clearly a lot less volume around.  Apart from the Grasshopper Sparrow one of the more interesting birds of the day for me was my FOY Green Heron which was feeding in Azalea Pond despite being a little too sensitive to the passing dog walkers and periodically retreating to the trees.  Potential FOY birds Orchard Oriole and Red-eyed Vireo were heard but not seen, but there are still very few Red-eyed in the park.

Green Heron                            
Chimney Swift                       
Northern Flicker                       
Blue-headed Vireo                      
Warbling Vireo                         
Red-eyed Vireo (heard)                    
Barn Swallow                           
House Wren                             
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher                  
Wood Thrush                          
Ovenbird                               
Blue-winged Warbler                    
Black-and-white Warbler                
Nashville Warbler                      
Common Yellowthroat                    
American Redstart                      
Northern Parula                        
Magnolia Warbler                       
Blackburnian Warbler                   
Chestnut-sided Warbler                 
Yellow-rumped Warbler                  
Black-throated Green Warbler    
Grasshopper Sparrow     
Chipping Sparrow                       
Swamp Sparrow                          
White-throated Sparrow                 
White-crowned Sparrow                  
Scarlet Tanager                        
Indigo Bunting                         
Orchard Oriole (heard)                         
Baltimore Oriole                       
        

Central Park, May 4th

On the second of what was eventually four consecutive days birding the park, the numbers in the Ramble were almost as high as the previous day (Thursday).  The highlight of the day was a Grasshopper Sparrow which had been found on the croquet courts the previous day, and which I happened to find first on adjacent Falconer's Hill early in the morning.  This is my third species of Ammodramus sparrow in Central Park - the others being Saltmarsh Sparrow (twice!) and Nelson's Sparrow.  My park list is now 196 although getting to 200 would be quite a challenge.  Also on Falconer's were the colorful duo of male Indigo Bunting and two male Scarlet Tanager.

A close second in the celebrity stakes was a male Cerulean Warbler, initially silent but finally singing, making it easier to find in its traditional canopy top habits.  The area it was found in (the small hillock now called the "Captain's Bench" is approximately the same as that of last year, and might reflect the Cerulean's habitat preference of sycamores associated with nearby water, at least based on where I find them in NJ and NY.  Many Baltimore Orioles were nearby, particularly fond of the flowering Tulip Trees.

Other good birds included Veery, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Yellow-throated Vireos, Blackburnian Warblers and a Least Flycatcher that actually vocalized in addition to a silent Empidonax seen later.  The light was still challenging, with significant overcast, which made identifications frequently a challenge.  Before returning to Falconer's Hill to watch the Grasshopper Sparrow again in the early afternoon I saw quite an unlikely event: a Solitary Sandpiper flying through the Ramble at eye level headed through the trees toward the Lake.

16 species of warbler, down a little from the previous day but covering reduced territory.

Solitary Sandpiper                     
Ruby-throated Hummingbird              
Least Flycatcher                       
Empidonax sp. (Least-ish)                    
Great Crested Flycatcher               
Yellow-throated Vireo                  
Blue-headed Vireo                      
Warbling Vireo                         
House Wren                             
Ruby-crowned Kinglet                   
Veery                                  
Hermit Thrush                          
Wood Thrush                            
Brown Thrasher                         
Ovenbird                               
Northern Waterthrush                   
Black-and-white Warbler                
Nashville Warbler                      
Common Yellowthroat                    
American Redstart                      
Cerulean Warbler                       
Northern Parula                        
Magnolia Warbler                       
Blackburnian Warbler                   
Yellow Warbler                         
Chestnut-sided Warbler                 
Black-throated Blue Warbler            
Yellow-rumped Warbler                  
Prairie Warbler                        
Black-throated Green Warbler           
Eastern Towhee                         
Chipping Sparrow                       
Grasshopper Sparrow                    
Swamp Sparrow                          
Scarlet Tanager                        
Rose-breasted Grosbeak                 
Indigo Bunting                         

Negri-Nepote Dickcissel

Trying to pack in a few breeding season sites in good weather before I wander off to the Pacific NW I went to Six Mile Run (Grasshopper Sparrow etc) and Negri-Nepote Grasslands. I've been to Negri-Nepote before but not very often - it's just far enough away to represent a higher effort barrier. However this Franklin Twp-managed site is better than Griggstown and probably should become my spring-summer alternative to that.

For example: I heard (and probably saw) a Grasshopper Sparrow within the first 200 yards from the parking lot at Negri-Nepote. I wasn't there for very long since this was a short visit sandwiched between Six Mile Run and work. Predictable birds were: Indigo Bunting, House Wren, Field Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat. On the pond was a male Mallard, Killdeer, Great Egret and a swarm of feeding swallows (Tree, Barn). The bird I mainly came to see was a singing male Dickcissel, given a relatively monotonous and uninspired song even compared to other Dickcissels, but it did make it pretty easy to find.

Dickcissel's breeding range once covered the Atlantic coast but breeding in this area has become a rare to very rare event. They breed here and there in Delaware, but breeding in NJ is extremely irregular. Normally I see this species as a misdirected fall migrant (Jones Beach) or more rarely as a spring wanderer (Central Park) but this is the first Dickcissel I've seen in NJ. Unlike the movement of Cassin's Sparrow's east in response to the major drought of the interior west, there's no obvious climatic reason for Dickcissel turning up in NJ. I saw some in very late May in coastal TX at Anahuac NWR, in March in FL, and for me this is a banner year for them since previously I've seen them very infrequently.

Grasslands, 6/12

Sunday wasn't any better weather-wise than Saturday, and in fact it was lightly drizzling by the time I reached Six Mile Run State Park (Franklin Twp, NJ). I found the usual suspects fairly straightforwardly: the usual Willow Flycatcher tussle near the parking lot (could it actually be the same two males each year), American Goldfinch feeding in the thistle, Tree Swallow and Barn Swallow, Field Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow out in the field. One Grasshopper Sparrow was singing consistently and the other one (also probably male) was just giving contact calls. One singing male Indigo Bunting, a distant Prairie Warbler, Eastern Bluebirds, and an adult Cooper's Hawk hunting the area. The Red-winged Blackbirds must have just fledged or be close to it - several males ended up hovering in an agitated way over my head although they didn't dive-bomb me.

No orioles and no Blue Grosbeak, but Willow Flycatcher and Grasshopper Sparrow were new birds for the year.

A few miles to the south I visited Griggstown. I didn't hear any Grasshopper Sparrows, nor any Indigo Buntings, but I did add both Baltimore and Orchard Orioles for the day. Red-winged Blackbird numbers seemed low and this site definitely appears not to have bounced back from mismanagement in recent years. We shall see if it pulls in the sparrows this fall.

Six Mile Run, May 26th

A quick hour-and-a-bit around the main field trails (east of the parking lot) before work. Three male Willow Flycatchers (one on marginal territory but the most active singer), two Orchard Oriole males (one first spring), two or three singing Grasshopper Sparrow males were the highlights of this trip and not coincidentally also year birds. Otherwise a worthwhile but totally predictable list of species. The biggest miss was Indigo Bunting, neither seen nor heard.

Great Blue Heron (fly-over)
Red-tailed Hawk
Black Vulture
Willow Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Tree Swallow
House Wren
Brown Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Field Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Orchard Oriole
American Goldfinch

Griggstown and Six Mile Run, May 30th

I really haven't spent any time at my two local grasslands this spring, so I rectified this on Saturday morning by going to Griggstown Native Grassland Preserve and the nearby Six Mile Run, both on the east side of the D&R canal in Franklin Twp.

Griggstown was somewhat of a disappointment, since it held neither Bobolink nor any singing Grasshopper Sparrow and there was no Willow Flycatcher - I'm wondering if the successional nature of what's going on there may have something to do with it - the habitat has a different feel to Six Mile Run. I did see a smattering of usual species and a Red Fox: Song, Chipping and Field Sparrows, an Indigo Bunting, Orchard and Baltimore Oriole, Eastern Bluebird, Yellow Warbler and Common Yellowthroat and the inevitable Red-winged Blackbirds and Tree Swallows.

At Six Mile Run, there was all this and more. There were several singing male Grasshopper Sparrows, some of them obviously paired. There were two singing Willow Flycatchers (not obviously paired) and a pair of Great Crested Flycatchers in the parking lot. Best of all there was a Blue Grosbeak male a little further up the trail I usually take. The Willow Flycatcher shot is from Six Mile Run.

Princeton area Grasslands - May 7th 2008

After an uninspiring stint in Central Park on May 6th I decided to look locally on May 7th at three local grassland preserves: Griggstown, Six Mile Run and Negri-Nepote, all of which are in Franklin Twp which seems to value its open space in contrast to other localities.

Starting at Griggstown there were swallows looking for mud on the ground, including a Northern Rough-winged Swallow that dropped down into the parking lot. There were four Bobolinks around the parking lot, which left when I arrived, but I kept seeing male Bobolinks in the preserve - they weren't being vocal or displaying however. There were also (silent) Savannah Sparrows but I heard no singing Grasshopper Sparrows. Griggstown appears to be getting a slow start. Wood Thrushes were to be heard from the woodland, at least.

Next I went to Six Mile Run, where the usual Chipping Sparrows were in the parking lot and Brown Thrasher, Baltimore Oriole and Yellow Warbler were in the scrubby area nearby. One interesting thing was watching a female Yellow Warbler gather silk strands from a Gypsy Moth caterpillar tent for nest building. She visited various tents several times for this. In the fields Eastern Bluebirds, Tree Swallows and Field Sparrows are inevitable. Two Indigo Buntings were singing, along with a Blue-winged Warbler. Further down the trail I came across the first of four singing Grasshopper Sparrows - in fact the first one was a very brightly-marked male. Since they starting singing later in the morning it's conceivable that they hadn't started at Griggstown.

After Six Mile Run I went to Negri-Nepote, where a Prairie Warbler sang near the parking lot, another Grasshopper Sparrow at the first of the grasslands. At the freshwater pond there were Hooded Merganser, several Least Sandpipers, Solitary Sandpipers, a full breeding plumage Spotted Sandpiper and a Lesser Yellowlegs. The sun was high enough that I didn't waste time photographing them, but it was interesting to see how they use any little bit of water they can find. Near Negri-Nepote I noticed other undeveloped private land that looked like it could be good for grassland species, although the two lots on the corner of Skillman Rd right next to the preserve had For Sale signs on them.

Finally I visited Princeton's Institute Woods to check that there hadn't been a warbler dropout - apart from Rose-breasted Grosbeak and singing Yellow Warbler things were relatively quiet at 11am and I left without spending too much time there.