Central Park Sat/Sun (11th/12th): 21 warbler species + flycatchers + thrushes

When delayed, spring migration has a predictable way to reassert itself.  In this case the even more compressed migration timeframe saw a noticeable transition in species mix on successive days, as numbers dropped after the big wave day on Friday.

Scarce to non-existant on Friday, Flycatchers and Thrushes turned up Saturday and Sunday.  It was unusual to get first-of-year Least Flycatcher and Eastern Wood-Pewee on the same day, but multiples of the former were seen both days along with Great Cresteds and Eastern Kingbirds (reports from elsewhere suggested a big flight of Eastern Kingbirds).   "Earlier" warbler species were supplemented by later spring species - I saw my first Blackpoll of the year on Friday, and had my first female Blackpoll on Sunday, as Yellow-rumped showed a rapid fall-off in numbers and I had 3 Wilson's on Sunday - they're rarely numerous in the park.

The stars of the show were a cooperative Blackburnian Warbler on Saturday morning, a male Prothonotary Warbler on Sunday afternoon, and I found a Marsh Wren while trying to reacquire the Prothonotary ahead of the storm front on Saturday.  The Prothonotary was seen on Turtle Pond on Sunday morning but then flew north - illustrating the act of faith of migrating warblers since it doesn't know the Reservoir or the Loch is ahead of it when it set off over the Great Lawn.

I came up with an aggregated total of 21 warblers for Sat-Sun and 23 for the Fri-Sun "triple".  Migration still remains, for example few Gray-cheeked Thrushes have been reported and the Eastern Wood-Pewees were silent and as singles, but the majority of the marked migration lag has been removed with the major push over the last few days.  Remains to be seen if we're going to pick up many sparrows this year, with no Lincoln's so far and a single Field and Swamp on Sunday.


Green Heron
Spotted Sandpiper
Chimney Swift
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Black-capped Chickadee
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Palm Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Prothonotary Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Canada Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Field Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Baltimore Oriole

When I say tame, I mean ABSURDLY tame - Prothonotary on my camera bag

On Thursday a.m. I took the opportunity of a relatively warm and sunny morning to revisit Bryant Park and the Prothonotary. This bird was just as tame as before. At one point I had stored a sliced banana on top of my camera bag and the Prothonotary hopped on top to investigate. What's more, I was too close to my bag so I stepped away to get this bird within my minimum focus distance. The bird didn't care. In fact the bird didn't care much for the banana either - it preferred a piece of pastry offered by a non-birder, and I watched it consume it with great enthusiasm. Somewhat ironic, since I had placed a few slices of banana around to try and get it to eat that instead of being a carbohydrate crack addict. (Ben noted that croissant, which is what this pastry might have been, is loaded with fat too).

I once had a Prothonotary Warbler (the Raritan River bird) fly inside my lens hood on the glimpse of its reflection in my objective lens - it had been singing endlessly for weeks and was a very tweaked male, that one. This PRWA is the Big Lebowski variant of Prothonotary. Next thing it will be smoking weed and eating french fries.

No reports of this PRWA on the morning of a strong northerly wind (Oct 29th) and even stronger migration flight (mostly sparrows, robins) in NJ and NY. Please God let this bird have got a clue and gone south while it still can. Update: no subsequent reports suggest that it left during the night of Oct 28th/29th on the first of a series of good flight days of late fall migrants.

Prothonotary Warbler impersonates House Sparrow

No, these aren't Photoshop composites, that really is a Prothonotary Warbler scavenging for food underneath and on top of trash cans and tables in Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan. This bird was discovered by Matthew Rymkiewicz on October 21st but conversations with locals suggest that it's been around for at least 2 weeks prior to that. It's feeding on crumbs and other bits of food just like a House Sparrow and will often follow the flocks around for just that purpose.

This is the eastern edge of Bryant Park along 5th Avenue and right in front of the NY Public Library. There are some trees, a few bushes and a fine display of chrysanthemums but otherwise is totally urban and about the last thing that resembles a southern swamp.

Based on feather shape the bird is a first fall immature, and by coloration and extent of white on the tail it's a male. There are pretty much never any fall records of Prothonotary Warbler in NYC for one good reason: there's no breeding population north of us. It seems likely that this immature bird is has a confused sense of direction. Unfortunately this also means that it might not reset and head south when the weather turns colder. But at least for the next week the weather looks good for its survival.

Context really alters bird behavior - not only is this Prothonotary very tame indeed, so are the White-throated Sparrows, Hermit Thrushes and in particular the Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers that were spending time in this small space. There were 4 sapsuckers working the trees along the two city blocks (40th-42nd) along 5th avenue, often at eye level and extremely approachable. There was also one Black-capped Chickadee, reflecting the invasion year that we're having. The Prothonotary hasn't started using the sapsucker holes yet, a behavior we've seen with other birds that have stayed into the winter (Cape May Warbler in Riverside Park, Western Tanager in Central Park, and possibly the Scott's Oriole).

This bird last seen on Thursday, Oct 28th.

Prothonotary, and a few other species, 4/29

Weekday coverage of spring migration in Central Park for me involves waking up at 0430 and getting the 0537 train to Manhattan. What joy. Some days are more rewarding than others in that context, and Thursday was not an epic day although it did hold one special bird: a singing male Prothonotary Warbler present for the fourth day in a row. I think most or all of the few Prothonotarys that I've seen in NYC have been males, but I don't recall any of them singing. I heard this bird before even seeing it, and from time to time it approached relatively closely although almost invariably occluded by some leaves.

There was also a sign of some decent migration, although not yet in big numbers. The vibe was still of early season migration (still only Hermit Thrush; Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers predominating) with the leading edge of other species starting to arrive.

Broad-winged Hawk (single fly-over)
Accipiter sp (1 Sharp-shinned-like, the other uncertain)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (2 males)
Blue-headed Vireo
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
Brown Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Pine Warbler
Palm Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow

Central Park, May 10th

Although May 10th is often a high-volume day in spring migration, this particular day was pretty slow, and for a long time I had about 5 species of warbler, mainly Magnolia. Eventually the quality picked up with a Prothonotary Warbler on the Point, a Least Flycatcher, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird male and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo (the latter two at Azalea Pond). Still, I only barely made it into double digits for warbler species. In the afternoon I drove back home via Bull's Island State Park, where I added the fairly reliable Acadian Flycatcher and Cliff Swallow to my year list.

Double-crested Cormorant
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Least Flycatcher
Red-eyed Vireo
Black-capped Chickadee
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Prothonotary Warbler
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Field Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting

Belleplain and Heislerville

Instead of battling crowds in Central Park I made a late start and went to southern NJ. In Belleplain State Forest along Sunset Rd birds were more heard than seen. Heard-only were Acadian Flycatcher, Blue-winged Warbler and Scarlet Tanager. Seen was the reliable Prothonotary Warbler and a pair of Worm-eating Warblers as well as a fly-by Louisiana Waterthrush. A visit to Jake's Landing in the heat of the day added predictable Seaside Sparrow, Marsh Wren, Willet and calling Clapper Rails. Northern Harriers were still hunting over the marshes, surely breeding there. And then onto Heislerville WMA where it was a little after high tide and many shorebirds were on the mudflats rather than in the rather full impoundment. Nothing novel here, instead the usual roster: Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers, Dunlin, Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitcher, Black Skimmer.

Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Northern Harrier
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Forster's Tern
Great Crested Flycatcher
Marsh Wren
Worm-eating Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush
Seaside Sparrow

Heislerville WMA, May 25th

In a fit of enthusiasm I baled out of Princeton at 5:30 am and made my way down I-295 and Rt-55 to Heislerville WMA on the southern Delaware Bay shore in NJ. I got there at 7am and found that I had badly miscalculated the tide and the number of shorebirds in the impoundment was low, and getting lower as they flew out to the saltmarsh to feed.

So instead I headed over to Jake's Landing near Dennisville to try and take photos of the usual suspects - in the case of Jake's Landing this is Seaside Sparrows and Marsh Wrens, neither of which were totally cooperative but I did get a few photographs. I saw a few Clapper Rails flying around (and heard far more) but failed to see any Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows as I had done there the previous weekend. Surprisingly, given prior experience, I was neither devoured by no-see-ums nor disturbed every five minutes by boat launchers. A couple of cars with birders were all I found there - has this place become unpopular with the boating public ?

Once the sun started to get high and I tired of creeping up on Seaside Sparrows I headed to the nearby Belleplain State Forest and staked out the Prothonotary Warbler site on Sunset Road. As if by magic the male Prothonotary put in an appearance within 5 minutes, singing over the road. I hung out there for a while, taking pictures as it periodically dropped by (or flew by) and then, in what's a first for me at that location, spotted a female Prothonotary being far less conspicuous except for one brief interaction between the two. Also present were assorted usual suspects: Hooded Warbler (I actually saw one), Pine Warbler, a probable Worm-eating Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Acadian Flycatcher, Eastern Towhee. [Note added later - in early June a Swainson's Warbler was reported singing around this spot, but since nobody has laid their eyes on it, it could conceivably be another warbler singing a strange song].

Despite the bust at Heislerville early in the day it turned out to be relatively productive and worthwhile. On the way out I surveyed Heislerville WMA again at closer to high tide (1pm ?) and had the added bonus of a Curlew Sandpiper seen well but in harsh light at 11:30am.

Highlights:
Clapper Rail (Jake's Landing)
Black-bellied Plover (Heislerville WMA)
Semipalmated Plover (Heislerville WMA)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Heislerville WMA)
Dunlin (Heislerville WMA)
Curlew Sandpiper (Heislerville WMA)
Short-billed Dowitcher (Heislerville WMA)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Belleplain SF)
Acadian Flycatcher (Belleplain SF)
Great Crested Flycatcher (Belleplain SF)
Marsh Wren (Jake's Landing)
Blue-winged Warbler (Belleplain SF)
Yellow-throated Warbler (Belleplain SF)
American Redstart (Jake's Landing)
Prothonotary Warbler (Belleplain SF)
Worm-eating Warbler (Belleplain SF)
Louisiana Waterthrush (Belleplain SF)
Eastern Towhee (Belleplain SF)
Seaside Sparrow (Jake's Landing)
Boat-tailed Grackle (Jake's Landing)