Very out-of-area: Texas, December 2008

I flew to Dallas mainly for personal reasons, but predictably I was unable to resist tacking a little birding onto the trip while I was there. Missing my outbound flight compressed the schedule somewhat, and the occurrence of two rarities (Crimson-collared Grosbeak and Blue Bunting) in the lower Rio Grande Valley led me to go there yet again, skipping most intermediate sites.

1,500 miles later I flew back out of Dallas in the afternoon of the 30th.

The trip added a few new year birds (LeConte's Sparrow, Sprague's Pipit, Sedge Wren etc) and one life bird (female Crimson-collared Grosbeak). I ended the year at 612 USA species (all lower 48) and a 2008 list of 367 - actually my highest total outside the big year 450+ totals.

Trip report (in edit): http://www.philjeffrey.net/TX2008Dec.html

Catskills - Dec 7th - Crossbills

Rolling out of Ewing at 6:30am I was a little late to get to Califon (NJ) for dawn in search of Barnacle Goose. And Lo! it was not there. Fortunately it didn't put me too far off my main destination of the day: the Catskills.

Sullivan Co NY has been very productive the last two winters - I had fun seeing the Pine Grosbeaks at Grahamsville last winter, and this winter a mini-invasion of White-winged Crossbills had also hit the same general area. After some traffic on Rt-17 after a tractor trailer accident I finally got onto the roads climbing into the Catskills around 10am. The Accord isn't exactly optimal for driving on challenging snowy roads, and the antilocks got somewhat of a workout today, but after a little messing around I found myself parked on Brown Settlement Road hearing White-winged Crossbills calling from the spruce grove. A little while later I saw one, then 7. In fact I think I saw the same 7+ several times, despite the fact that there are allegedly close to 100 in this location. Perhaps they were clumping in groups of 7. Never mind - I've only seen White-winged Crossbills once or twice before.

The weather was relatively harsh - a rising strong wind, snow falling about 60% of the time, so there were no photo ops and viewing conditions were sub-optimal to say the least. I didn't find any Pine Siskins and the other notable sightings were two Bald Eagles and a few distant Common Ravens. I doubt the weather bothers the Crossbills - these birds nest during the winter in areas of good food sources.

Leaving the Catskills the truck crash had turned into a hazmat issue, so I lost 45 minutes to slow traffic through that area on "The Quickway" (I love that name). Filling up the tank on Rt-17 in NJ my iPhone proved its worth once again with confirmation of sightings of the Franklin Lakes Ross's Goose (earlier in the day there were negative reports). After winding through the recommended route I immediately saw the Ross's Goose in with the Canada's - no doubt that this flock is wild since it was relatively spooky with passing cars (and even with me opening my passenger side window for photos). Interestingly the only other adult Ross's Goose I'd seen in the east was with a flock of Canadas at Jones Beach, although perhaps this has something to do with the challenge of pulling out a small white goose in another flock of nearly identical white geese - the immature that I saw at Jamaica Bay WR was in a flock of Snow Geese but at least easier to find.

[Edit: a Ross's Goose with a Canada flock was also seen on the Princeton CBC on 12/14 but so far not relocated]

After Franklin Lakes the sun was getting pretty low but I decided to make a sprint for Califon once again, getting there just as the sun set, and after a couple of minutes of searching I did locate the Barnacle Goose at the back of the pond. Seems that sunset is better than sunrise.

I assume this is the same bird that I saw last year, which I took as USA #600. It's interesting to ponder that, given that Barnacles are vagrants from Greenland. This bird must have taken up with this flock of migratory Canadas and stayed with it. A post on JerseyBirds suggested that there was a goose in that flock that showed intermediate character between Barnacle and Canada Goose, which would make sense since hybrids are more likely to occur between an out-of-range Barnacle that finds itself within a Canada flock at breeding time with no other options to pair up with. I didn't see this possible hybrid, but that will lead me to go back and look for it myself.

[Edit: I didn't find either the Barnacle or any potential hybrid on 12/13 at Califon, despite checking multiple times]


Good day, although a tiring one with many road miles.

Cave Swallows

At Barnegat Inlet on Sunday morning the combination of fisherman and a westerly gale put a quick end to any birding intentions I had there. Heading south I went down Great Bay Blvd into Tuckerton WMA and found two previously-reported King Eiders at the end of the road fishing offshore. There was a moderate movement of many small flocks of American Goldfinch, which didn't seem to have any Pine Siskins mixed in despite the ongoing invasion.

My intention was to head further south to Cape May via Brigantine/Forsythe NWR to seek out Cave Swallows, however in the Tree Swallow flock at the start of the loop road I located 2-3 Cave Swallows - seen well, enough to eliminate Cliff Swallow which isn't present in November anyway. Brigantine didn't hold anything else exciting, and given the highly challenging birding conditions I gave up and headed home after a single loop around the impoundments, although not before looking at the Cave Swallows one last time.

Beware the range map

Cornell's site All About Birds is something that I often send people links to when suggesting ID's - I sometimes get "what's this bird" inquiries because of the websites that I run. But two things lately have illustrated that their range maps may be way out of whack.

A discussion on the email list TEXBIRDS about American Black Duck shows that their range map for this birds has it occurring all the way down into the lower RGV. That's nonsense, and there's only a handful of recent records for this species in TX.

Chatting to a friend about her finding a Peregrine Falcon on campus in Illinois led to the discovery of a large variance between Sibley's range map (which seems plausible) and the AAB map which seems to ignore the reintroduction of the Peregrine in the east.

Griggstown Preserve, November 2nd

Back again to Griggstown in search of Vesper Sparrows - no luck there, and the general vibe was that the sparrow numbers had dropped. However the weather was cold, partially overcast, and there was a good selection of raptors so these may have been factors. Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, American Kestrel and Red-tailed Hawk were around. There were good numbers of Eastern Bluebird and American Goldfinch, several flocks of American Robins and blackbirds overhead, a probable small group of Siskins, and the usual suspects:

Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
House Finch
American Goldfinch

Harris's Sparrow at Brandywine Creek SP in Wilmington DE

I took a little early morning jaunt down to Brandywine Creek State Park on the outskirts of Wilmington DE to look for the Harris's Sparrow that had been there since October 11th. After a little wait the bird came in and was quite cooperative. Photos at Harris_2008.html

This was only the second Harris's Sparrow that I'd ever seen, and the other one was many years ago (March 1999) at Wainscott on eastern Long Island. That bird was timid, but this one was the reverse, being relatively tame although disappearing for periods of time. Since there were no White-crowned Sparrows present this - our largest sparrow - was fairly easy to spot when it flew from shrub to shrub.

Griggstown Preserve, October 25th and 26th

I birded Griggstown Native Grassland Preserve in Franklin Twp on the mornings of Sat and Sun the 25th and 26th. On the Saturday the weather was gray and foreboding the rain storm to come, and bird activity was fairly quiet with only a few sparrows. There were a few good hawks, however: two Sharp-shinned, Cooper's, Red-tailed and an American Kestrel.

In contrast, after the passage of the storm, the following morning was much birdier with cooperative Savannah Sparrows everywhere and the usual suspects: Swamp, Savannah, Song, White-crowned, White-throated, Field Sparrows. There was also a late Blackpoll Warbler along with Yellow-rumped, Palm Warblers and Common Yellowthroat.

Bird activity at Pole Farm (Mercer Co Park NorthWest) was much lower, with Field and Song Sparrows, a fleeting Eastern Meadowlark, and the best bird being a fly-over immature Bald Eagle. Two Northern Harriers were hunting the fields.

The aggregate birding list for Griggstown was:
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Hairy Woodpecker
Carolina Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
House Finch
American Goldfinch

Griggstown Preserve, October 13th

Typical for a day in mid October, Griggstown Native Grassland Preserve was swarming with Savannah Sparrows. There were also good numbers of Swamp Sparrows and various other expect sparrow species. Two American Kestrels, a Northern Harrier and a late Bobolink rounded out the selection.

Northern Harrier
American Kestrel
Carolina Wren
Eastern Bluebird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Bobolink

Central Park, Oct 4th

A big Blue Jay migration day with multiple flocks over the park, and one small flock still heaed south over the marshland near Secaucus NJ seen from the southbound NJ Train. Not seen by me was a Connecticut Warbler. A decent mix with 12 species of warbler, modest numbers, but notably a mid-late fall mix with both species of kinglet, Pewee and Phoebe.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Phoebe
Red-eyed Vireo
Carolina Wren
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Gray Catbird
Nashville Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Indigo Bunting

Central Park, Oct 2nd

Off a somewhat northerly wind, I took the 6:03am train into NYC in the hopes of a little migrant birding. A slow trickle at Strawberry Fields held a Canada Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Green with some Towhees sounding off and a single fly-by Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. One Chimney Swift overhead. Most of the Ramble was quiet, but the Maintenance Field at times held a few warblers - Nashville being the best one. A White-eyed Vireo was found there, unusual for the park.

The Wild Turkey has lost a lot of feathers, and now looks thin, however I'm hoping that it's just going through prebasic molt and will look healthier again soon.

Red-tailed Hawk
Chimney Swift
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
White-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Swainson's Thrush
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Canada Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
White-throated Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Baltimore Oriole

Princeton, Sept 17th

Only a brief time before work and a 10am meeting - enough time to wander down the gravel road to the water company and back. Northern Parula, Nashville Warbler, American Redstart, Black-throated Blue Warbler and Black-and-white Warbler were of note. A high vireo couldn't be ID'd to species. Undoubtedly more there, but I didn't have time to check them out.

Central Park, Sept 16th

Faced with a drop in temperatures and a north wind overnight I went into Central Park for a day's birding. The weather was overcast rather than the forecast partly sunny, and there were less birds around than I was expecting - later reports came in of Connecticut Warblers in various city locations, but one was not found in Central Park. Nevertheless there was a decent selection of species to be found in modest numbers:

Gadwall
Osprey
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Great Crested Flycatcher
Red-eyed Vireo
House Wren
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Pine Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Baltimore Oriole

Also of note was a group of 6 migrating Chimney Swifts riding a thermal over the Maintenance Field going south.

Central Park, Sept 13th

A warm and slow day in the park had a few redeeming features. Finding nothing much at Strawberry Fields (Rose-breasted Grosbeak) or the Lower Lobe (Green Heron), I found a few Gadwall on the Lake on my way to the Upper Lobe where things were a little more interesting. While photographing a flock of Cedar Waxwings coming down to feed on pokeberry, a Yellow-breasted Chat popped up. This wasn't an easy bird to re-find, although Tony Lance saw it about 45 minutes later. There was also a Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding nearby and a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher vocalizing over our heads. The warbler count was low in species and numbers - a Palm Warbler in the Maintenance Field was the most interesting one.

Green Heron
Gadwall
Cooper's Hawk
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
House Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Gray Catbird
Cedar Waxwing
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Palm Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-breasted Chat
Song Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Baltimore Oriole

Jamaica Bay, Sept 4th - Wilson's Phalaropes

Ahead of the deluge that was TS Hanna I decided to do some afternoon birding at Jamaica Bay. Tide levels were non-ideal, approaching low tide. The numbers of shorebirds on the East Pond were modest, and 90% of them were Semipalmated Sandpipers. Few Least, and few Semipalmated Plovers. But this being early September there were one or two interesting shorebirds around, with Stilt Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper and Pectoral Sandpiper. One juvenile Pectoral was fairly tame, the White-rumped somewhat, and the Stilt Sandpipers relatively spooky. There were a few juvenile Red Knots in the mix.

Not a great birding experience, but decent for photography now that the water levels have dropped a bit. As I was leaving, at sundown, I finally dug out the spotting scope from my camera pack and confirmed my suspicions - there were 3 Wilson's Phalaropes feeding along the north-east corner of the Pond - I could see them as gray-white blobs using binoculars, standing out from the Yellowlegs.


Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Gadwall
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Osprey
Semipalmated Plover
American Oystercatcher
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Red Knot
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Phalarope
Forster's Tern
Black Skimmer
Northern Waterthrush

Brigantine NWR, August 24th

Did a little birding at Brigantine/Forsythe NWR at Oceanville NJ. Somewhat of an ill-timed visit since we managed to get there both at high tide and at noon. There were a lot of shorebirds in the impoundments, but heat shimmer and high contrast light made identification a challenge. The best birds of the trip were Black Tern - several in the north-east corner of the impoundments, one or two Northern Harriers hunting the saltmarsh, and a single Cattle Egret hunting along the road, still in breeding plumage. Otherwise it was largely the usual suspects:

Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Glossy Ibis
American Black Duck
Mallard
Bufflehead
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Forster's Tern
Least Tern
Black Tern
Black Skimmer
Eastern Kingbird
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Seaside Sparrow

Jamaica Bay, August 16th

I made an early morning trek across the Verrazano Bridge to Jamaica Bay WR in search of shorebirds and some decent photographic opportunities. If anything the water in the East Pond was even higher than on my previous visit, but there was some exposed mud at the south end which is where I started. Shorebird numbers were fairly low, and diversity even lower, with the most novel shorebirds being a single Short-billed Dowitcher and two Spotted Sandpipers. Semipalmated Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers, Least Sandpipers and a few Lesser Yellowlegs dominated the activity. I have a lot of photos of those so I gave up early and went to the north end.

Here the water was even higher than on my previous trip - the Sharp-tailed Sandiper one - and the water was up to the edge of the phragmites in most cases. Really quite remarkable conditions for mid-August, when they normally have the pond drawn down. However I was able to pull out a distant Red-necked Phalarope (always a good bird here), a few White-rumped Sandpipers, and two fly-by juvenile Gull-billed Terns. The situation was so odd that I was standing in about 6 inches of water looking at shorebirds and taking photos of White-rumped Sandpipers while looking back toward the phragmites. Thankfully nobody attempted to go past the cove, sparing some exposed mud for roosting and feeding shorebirds. You'd probably sink up to your neck in that section anyway.

Griggstown Preserve, August 10th

A late summer visit to Griggstown after several weekends bogged down with house-hunting revealed no great surprises. Song Sparrows, Field Sparrows and a few Indigo Buntings were in evidence. The Red-winged Blackbirds had moved off breeding territories although a few appeared to be staging at the cherry trees over toward Canal Rd. Also there were two Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, chasing each other. There were a few Bobolinks - either all females/juveniles or the males had already molted. I'm not sure if they bred here this year, but at the very least they were using it in late summer - a promising sign. Other species were several Eastern Bluebirds including juveniles (despite the wet and cold spring), Barn Swallows, House and Carolina Wrens, Common Yellowthroat, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Towhee, Orchard Oriole and heard Baltimore Oriole. A loud begging juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was making its way around the edge of one of the fields and there was also a large (female?) immature Cooper's Hawk being far more unobtrusive.

Very little singing, as you might expect, apart from a Song Sparrow or two and an Indigo Bunting.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Red-necked Stint at Jamaica Bay

At 6:40am on Sunday morning (Aug 3rd) I was the first birder at the north end of the East Pond at Jamaica Bay. Almost the first bird I set my eyes on was very unusual - the structure of a Pectoral Sandpiper but heavily barred with barring going well into the flanks. The overall color and pattern reminded me more of breeding plumage Stilt Sandpiper or Western Sandpiper. Another birder turned up but ironically set up so that when I tried to point out the bird to him I was right in his line of sight, and the "mystery" bird flew before I could get him on it.

Ten minutes of thinking later, I decided the most likely candidate was full alternate plumage White-rumped Sandpiper, something I doubt I've seen very much of, even though the structure of the bird was much more Pectoral-like. I was wrong with the initial ID, but I was never comfortable with it anyway.

30 minutes later there were a few more birders and the mystery bird turned up again, in better light, and for a little longer look. There was a rufous cap and partially rufous scapulars, and when it took flight there was only a weak pale wing bar and a strong dark line through the upper tail coverts and the tail. Very Pectoral-like. This wasn't a White-rumped Sandpiper - this was a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. An adult, in full breeding plumage - probably a little worn and darker because of that.

An amazing way to start the day. We saw the bird a couple more times after that. As of writing (8/4) it had been found the following morning (Monday).

After another 90+ minutes Jim Schlick did find the nominal target, a Red-necked Stint, which was the whole reason I went down to Jamaica Bay in the first place. Views were distant (east side of the pond viewed from the west side) and in bad light, but this bird glows in the right light given that it's in pretty much full breeding plumage. The Sharp-tailed remains more special for me, given that it's the first rarity that I've found.

Other, still interesting, birds present were two Wilson's Phalaropes, White-rumped Sandpiper and several Stilt Sandpipers. Other peeps were numerous, and there were some yellowlegs and Short-billed Dowitchers. I didn't see a Pectoral Sandpiper but these were reported by others.

Suburban birding

I've been bogged down buying a house (or trying to find one to buy) for much of June and July and not doing much birding. However the apartment complex I'm living in does have an unusually interesting mix of birds at times. It's built adjacent to some sort of state park (apparently closed to the public), near some wet woods and there's a fallow field across the way. So despite being suburban it has a semi-rural aspect to it.

My list of "apartment complex birds" are basically those I've seen and heard from the complex itself.

The best birds in the apartment complex have been American Woodcock singing right next to the parking lot, a Peregrine Falcon harassing a Ring-billed Gull and Bald Eagle. There's also been novelties like Common Merganser (I once picked up a dead female from the apt complex road), Sharp-shinned Hawk and Tree Swallow. There are breeding birds on and around the complex - Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat and Northern Flicker in the wet areas, House Finch and American Goldfinch, the sadly ubiquitous Brown-headed Cowbird and the typical suburban Song Sparrow and Northern Mockingbird. However the more heavily wooded areas near the edge of the complex have also yielded Great Crested Flycatcher and Eastern Phoebe, and in the fields I have heard Field Sparrow and Indigo Bunting - these two species appeared to move in in mid-summer, and were not singing initially in spring.

But the best bird, one that was no more than 300 yards from my apartment, was a bird I didn't actually see myself - a Barnacle Goose was reported from the edge of Quakerbridge Rd on the grassy area beyond the field, in what is a now-abandoned corporate lot. I never did manage to see that goose, which was only found a couple of times, and ironically had to go further afield (Califon, Montauk) to find one.

Delaware Little Egret - not - June 14th

Emboldened by my successful run for the Prime Hook Wood Sandpiper a few weeks back I made a trip to familiar territory of the Bombay Hook NWR near Smyrna, DE in search of the reported Little Egret. I'd seen a few Little Egrets at my old UK childhood birding patch in January (much to my surprise), but I'd never seen one in the USA.

Little Egret looks a lot like a white Western Reef-Heron, and in fact one may be a subspecies of the other - the taxonomy is in flux. The most pressing problem is telling it from Snowy Egret, with which it shares similar overall size, black legs with yellow feet, and of course an overwhelming whiteness. Telling Little Egret from Snowy is not an issue in the UK. However here in the USA more subtle clues are needed. For one thing Little Egret has a rather thicker and longer bill - it presents as heavier than the Snowy's. The other thing, and something shown by the Delaware bird, is the presence of two thick plumes on the back of the head in contrast to the wispier plumes of the Snowy Egret. A recent post on BIRDWG01 by Alvaro Jaramillo also mentioned that the breast plumes were thicker and coarser in Little Egret. Of much less use, in general, are the bare parts since Little Egret can show yellow lores and the feet have a variable color too. In the case of this specific individual the Little Egret's lores were dull blue-gray so this was another ID mark for this bird, although perhaps not for the species in general.

Getting to Bombay Hook around 8am the tide was high, which I figured would push the small egrets into the pools. Barn Swallows and Purple Martins were at the visitor center. The first pool contained a decent number of Great Egrets, showing just how variable the size of a Great Egret can look when you're looking for small white herons. There were one or two Great Blue Herons as well. In the second pool, Shearness, there were quite a few of both those heron species, Black-necked Stilt and some nervous Killdeer. At the far end of the pool there were a couple of Snowy Egrets. Then onto Bear Swamp pool where there were almost no herons at all. I alternated between Shearness and Bear Swamp while I was there, because this is where the bird was seen. After 3 hours of covering the 3 pools at the reserve, and I wasn't the only one doing this, I gave up and came home. I've seen no sightings of the Little Egret from the past weekend, either.

Nice sightings while I was there were a couple of in-flight Clapper Rails, 5 Bald Eagles (one adult, 4 immatures), several Black-necked Stilts, Marsh Wren. Very few terns were in evidence - perhaps on breeding colonies elsewhere. Other birds included Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Indigo Bunting, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Kingbird, Common Yellowthroat and Swamp Sparrow. I attempted a wander down the boardwalk trail to look for other passerines but was literally bombarded by biting insects within the first 50 yards (the greenheads grew more enthusiastic as it got hotter through the morning) so I gave up on that. Not a bad trip, 2 hours each way from Princeton and some relatively cheap gas found at Carney's Point on the NJ side, but ultimately the first failed chase after ten successful ones got me from 599-609.

Can't get them all.

Fledgelings, Princeton

The European Starlings and American Robins had their first fledgelings in mid May, the Common Grackles appeared to have starting fledging shortly after that, but this week's new birds of the season were Chipping Sparrows that seem to be popping up all over Princeton University campus in their highly streaked juvenile plumage and begging for food noisily. Over at my apartment complex the Brown Cowbirds are still in evidence but I'm thankful that I haven't run into any juveniles of that species yet.

Delaware Water Gap, June 7th

In a slightly insane move I ignored the prospects of getting fried in 90+ degree heat and drove to the Delaware Water Gap NRA on Sunday to look for breeding warblers.

Van Ness Rd, near Layton, has been in recent years a pretty reliable spot for Golden-winged Warbler, including a male that sings a "Blue-winged" song, albeit with somewhat of a flourish. Visually the bird looks like a pure Golden-winged. However I was reading a paper from 1997 by Frank Gill (Evolution, Vol. 51, No. 2, pp. 519-525) that indicated that gene flow from Blue-winged to Golden-winged was strictly one way and that Blue-winged supplanted Golden-winged within 50 years. The cheery title was "Local Cytonuclear Extinction of the Golden-Winged Warbler".

If that wasn't rough enough on Golden-winged, the habitat along Van Ness Rd has been going through rapid succession, possibly aided and abetted by non-native species like multiflora rose. So, as you might have guess, there were no Golden-winged Warblers this year along Van Ness Rd, although that same weekend a "Lawrence's" Warbler (Golden-winged X Blue-winged) was reported singing a few miles to the north. There were plenty of Blue-winged Warblers, along with Chestnut-sided, Yellow, Prairie Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Scarlet Tanager and Eastern Towhee. Still a good place but the best area for Golden-winged is now Sterling Forest over the border in NY where they still hang on.

After finishing up at Van Ness I took a run into Stokes State Forest over the other side of Rt. 206. I stopped at the bridge over the Flatbrook River (Crigger Rd). At this parking lot, where the road becomes one-way, it was less productive than usual. I had heard Blackburnian Warbler and Least Flycatcher on the way up Grau Rd, but they weren't here where I'd seen them in previous years (in 2007 I watched a Blackburnian male bathe at the water standpipe here). However following the trail down the Flatbrook from the bridge I did hear Blackburnian and Black-throated Green in the dense pines, along with the usual Acadian Flycatcher and as a bonus a single tame Hermit Thrush. Based on the range map from the Birds of North America Online this would be the southerly limit of breeding for Hermit Thrush in the more coastal areas around here.

Going back along Crigger Rd towards High Point State Park, and after shedding two noisy Harleys that were tailing me, it wasn't all that difficult to find Cerulean Warbler singing along the road. Their favorite spot seems to shift from year to year. Also here was Yellow-throated Vireo. After turning right (east) onto Deckertown Pike I cut north along Sawmill Rd into High Point State Park. Here again, Least Flycatcher, Cerulean Warbler and Yellow-throated Vireo were audible along the road. There was abundant American Redstarts on these higher elevations, and Ovenbirds were heard throughout.

Because the temperature was rising rapidly into the 90's I didn't chase every single bird song or go chasing after northern NJ highland specialties like Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, so I retreated out of High Point and Stokes SF back to Rt. 206 and returned home.

Heislerville WMA, May 29th 2008

In another part of Heislerville WMA I spent Thursday morning admiring the collection of shorebirds and Laughing Gulls gathered to feed off Horseshoe Crab eggs. There were a good number of Red Knots, second only in number to the abundant Semipalmated Sandpipers. Laughing Gulls and Ruddy Turnstones were also numerous, there were several Sanderlings (less than I had anticipated) and a few Short-billed Dowitchers. And precisely one Willet.

What there weren't many of, however, were Horseshoe Crabs, and I saw several dead ones and about 10 live ones. Of course it's past full moon, and despite the presumably warming water it is not optimal spawning conditions. Who knows if they will wait for the next full moon (mid-late June) or will finish spawning sooner ?

Further away from the shore I found my first-of-season Willow Flycatcher, and the Seaside Sparrows and Marsh Wrens were numerous in the salt marsh. The water level in the impoundment at Heislerville had dropped considerably since as recently as last Monday, making it less than ideal for photography. I watched shorebirds trickling into the impoundment as the tide rose, but I decided to try and beat traffic and left the area at 3:30pm. I did not find the Curlew Sandpiper(s) but the light was harsh and the birds were in the center of the impoundment rather than pushed further towards the edges.

Links:
Tide predictor for Delaware Bay
Moon phase predictor

Heislerville WMA, May 26th

I made an afternoon run to Heislerville WMA in southern NJ to take photos of shorebirds. High tide was ~2pm so by the time I got down there it was 3 hours past high, with a few birds exiting the impoundment that had been drawn down for them. But many remained - mostly Semipalmated Sandpipers but also Dunlin, Semipalmated Plover, a few Short-billed Dowitchers. And a Curlew Sandpiper. As in 2007, a brightly-plumaged male Curlew Sandpiper was present on the north side of the impoundment, and not particularly shy either.

Despite being the Monday afternoon of Memorial Day, traffic was not too horrendous either.

Shorebird list:

Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Willet (East Point Road)
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot (East Point Road)
Sanderling (East Point Road)
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Dunlin
Curlew Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher

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)

Central Park, May 24th 2008

On what may prove to be my last Central Park visit for spring, birding at Tanner's Spring started out very slow, but the hot spot of the recent days - the bridle path along the south side of the Reservoir - was still productive. There were multiple Blackburnian Warbler males and at least on Bay-breasted Warbler along with a decent selection of other warblers.

Elsewhere Turtle Pond was quiet, as was most of the Ramble apart from the tail end of a termite hatch-out that we caught at the Oven. Cedar Waxwings, a Scarlet Tanager and a small number of warblers were happily fly-catching the slow moving flying termites. Other reports indicated that termite hatch-outs occurred at the Lower Lobe (Wagner Cove) and Upper Lobe at more-or-less the same time. This corresponds to what I've empirically observed about termite hatch-outs - that they always seem to occur around late morning. At one point it almost looked as if a Green Heron flew in to check out the hatch.

A visit to the Lower Lobe before exiting the park turned up Northern Waterthrush and multiple Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers. 14 warbler species in total.

Migrant list:
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
Cedar Waxwing
Northern Parula
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Canada Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Lincoln's Sparrow

Spring migration - Central Park - May 14th, 15th 2008

Originally planning to skip the park on May 14th, an excited post on eBirdsNYC induced me to hop on the train and come in for the afternoon. A late start meant a limited warbler list on what may have been the biggest day of the season. Migration unpredictability was emphasized by the overnight wind being from the ESE. The best bird of the day was unquestionably a Chuck-will's-widow - only the second one I've seen - roosting on the point. Like last year's bird this one was an adult female.

Other than that there was a decent trickle of warblers in Tanner's Spring on the 14th:

Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat

but I only managed a paltry 11 species.

On the 15th absolute numbers were down, but I had perhaps my best birding day with Tennessee and multiple Cape May Warblers, plus one Blackburnian. Activity at Tanner's Spring was far slower, enlivened by Canada Warbler and White-eyed Vireo but compromised by over-use of flash by the gaggle of photographers there. A nice addition was a Black-billed Cuckoo near Tanner's Spring, my first cuckoo of the season. Other firsts were a Least Flycatcher and my first Scarlet Tanagers in the park this year.

Migrant list:

Wood Duck
Black-billed Cuckoo
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Barn Swallow
House Wren
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
Tennessee 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
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Canada Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Field Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Spring migration - Central Park - May 13th 2008

Migration ramp-up continues even in the absence of favorable winds, not least of all shorebird migration with Spotted, Solitary and Least Sandipipers all found at the Lake's Lower Lobe (aka Wagner Cove). Least Sandpiper is pretty uncommon in the park, but certainly not unprecedented. While the warbler list wasn't spectacular I still found 14 species, including a Prairie Warbler at Strawberry Fields. Other notables were Indigo Bunting and Yellow-throated Vireo - both singing males. Late in the day a somewhat unusual immature Broad-winged Hawk was hunting near Tanner's Spring, moving through the woodland with notably greater speed than the local Red-tails.

Migrant list:
Broad-winged Hawk
Spotted Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Great Crested Flycatcher
Yellow-throated Vireo
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Wood Thrush
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Swamp Sparrow
Indigo Bunting

Out of area - Wood Sandpiper in Delaware, May 11th

Normally found in the Aleutians, a Wood Sandpiper was found in Delaware on May 5th and was cooperative enough to stick around for at least a week. I've seen this species in Britain a fair number of times since it used to migrate through my local patch as a kid, but not yet on this side of the pond. This was apparently the third record for the north-east (1907, 1990 in Rye NY and this bird). Well worth the drive down to the Broadkill Beach impoundments at Prime Hook NWR south of Dover DE. Big numbers of Least Sandpipers along with other shorebird species, with Blue Grosbeak and Eastern Meadowlark singing from the wires.

The weather wasn't quite as pretty with increasing overcast and quite a bit of wind. I dropped by Bombay Hook NWR on the way back north (near Smyrna, DE) and found quite a few shorebirds along the entrance round although precious few in the rather full impoundments on the reserve proper.

Getting closer to home I stopped at Heislerville WMA in southern NJ and found the impoundment there also rather full from the recent rains - shorebirds were roosting in tight-packed groups at the edge of the impoundment. The species there were mostly Semipalmated Sandpipers.

Dickcissel - May 10th 2008 - Central Park

Along with a nice list of migrants - Cape Mays singing at Bow Bridge, Wilson's Warbler at the Lower Lobe - came news of a very exciting find. Leslie Beebe et al had discovered an adult male Dickcissel at Falconer's Hill. Dickcissels turn up in fall each year, particularly on Long Island, but spring Dickcissels are much rarer, especially in Central Park. This particular male was a little spooky but eventually everyone got decent looks at it, and it attracted a lot of attention.

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.

Cerulean Warbler - Central Park - May 4th

Well, not actually in Central Park - the Cerulean was on 89th Street near the park, attracting quite a lot of attention between excited birders and bemused passers-by. Hopefully groups of binocular-toting strangers didn't freak out the locals too much.

I was in Central Park for another day's birding, and while numbers may have been marginally lower than the previous day the diversity was right up there - I found my highest total for seen/heard warblers so far this spring, but still just shy of the iconic 20 with a nice total of 18. Other nice birds were a late Junco, a heard-only White-eyed Vireo, three Rusty Blackbirds with a Louisiana Waterthrush in the Gill, and a singing Blackburnian Warbler just as I was leaving at Shakespeare's Garden.

There's still a mix of early/mid-spring birds, although today I did see my first Magnolia Warbler. However Blue-headed Vireos and Louisiana Waterthrushes are more characteristic of late April. Migration might lag a little, but it's about to play catch-up.

But back to the Cerulean. Doug Futuyma apparently found this bird while going to his car, and then word of it spread rapidly through the park. I saw it around 1:30pm and took a few photos: see the Cerulean Warbler link off my home page or the Cerulean Warbler page at my gallery. My previous best neighborhood bird was a Yellow-throated Warbler I once found along E65th Street in 2005 - a species that's a pretty good find in NYC but it was during a year in which several were found in Central Park. I think the Cerulean trumps it.

Migrant list:
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Blue-winged Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Chipping Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Baltimore Oriole
Purple Finch

Spring migration - Central Park - May 3rd

Since May 2nd apparently spawned a dropout while I cooled my heels at work in Princeton, I went into Central Park for the morning of Saturday. Migrants were numerous and I reached my highest warbler species of the spring: 16

Migrant list:
Solitary Sandpiper
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Northern Flicker
Great Crested Flycatcher
Blue-headed Vireo
Barn Swallow
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
Cedar Waxwing
Blue-winged Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Worm-eating Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Baltimore Oriole

Pale Male and Lola - nest failure (again)

It's May, and by now the Red-tailed Hawk watchers are usually eagerly anticipating the mid-May fledging of this year's juveniles. Instead we have a New York Times piece on the failure of the classical Central Park Red-tailed Hawk nest for the fourth year in succession. It's difficult to say where the problem lies here - the nest disturbance in the winter of 2004/5, or the fact that Pale Male is now 17 or 18 years old - at the upper limit of wild Red-tailed Hawk life-expectancy. The current female (Lola) is considerably younger.

Marie Winn's page is usually the best place to go for information on that pair of hawks, if you're interested in more.

Spring migration - Princeton - May 2nd

Overnight rain combined with a southerly wind raised the prospects of migrant dropouts, and before I even got into Princeton there'd already been mention of them in a couple of places in NJ. The road towards the water facility at the Institute Woods had a couple of trees with many warblers in them - most of them Yellow-rumped Warblers. Quite a few singing species including multiple Black-throated Green Warblers and Blue-winged Warblers. I heard and tracked down a Blackburnian Warbler, which together with Black-throated Blue Warbler were new birds for the year. Overall, however, diversity wasn't that high although I did make it to 10 warbler species in about 1/4 of the time it took me the previous day.

Twenty minutes later, by 10am, these same trees were empty and the flock had moved on.

Migrant list:
Warbling Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Gray Catbird
Blue-winged Warbler (multiple)
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Baltimore Oriole
Purple Finch

Spring migration - Central Park - May 1st

After winter trips to Florida (Feb) and Texas (April 10-18th) I had spring migration almost backwards, seeing all sorts of migrant warblers/orioles/tanagers before they ever turn up in the New York area. But after recovering from the TX trip I made it into the park on April 26th (Louisiana Waterthrush was a nice find) and on May 1st.

I usually think of the first "big" day in the park as May 5th, but apart from a slow start on the west side - where a male Purple Finch was singing - there were decent numbers of warblers in the Ramble. I managed to see 10 species which is acceptable, but not epic, in spring when I'm carrying the camera. The warblers were mostly the usual suspects - best birds for the day were the Purple Finch, Eastern Kingbird, and an exceptionally drab Pine Warbler which was rather gray except for a little green on the crown.

Migrant list:

Chimney Swift
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
Gray Catbird
Cedar Waxwing
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Pine Warbler
Palm Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Eastern Towhee
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Baltimore Oriole
Purple Finch

Out of area - Texas trip - April 10th-18th

Just made it back from a very productive trip to Texas. Starting off in San Antonio the route led through the hill country, down to the Rio Grande Valley where I spent most of the time, then back up to the coastal bend before flying out of San Antonio.

Here's the trip report for this April 2008 Texas trip (under edit) .

Experiencing a remarkable string of luck, I found life birds on each of the first five days: Black-capped Vireo, White-throated Robin, Red-billed Pigeon, Hook-billed Kite, White-collared Seedeater, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Groove-billed Ani and Aplomado Falcon.

I'm sure the mosquito bites will go away eventually.

Sapsucker-assisted vagrancy

In the late half of this winter we've seen two noteworthy NYC vagrants - the Union Square Scott's Oriole and the Central Park Western Tanager - help their survival prospects by taking advantage of a less conventional food source of plant sap. Both the Oriole and Tanager have been seen drinking from sapsucker holes. Both of these sites happened to be on Viburnam bushes - an exotic hardy evergreen shrub that is present on both of these city parks. Later in the winter the Scott's Oriole was re-found in Thompkins Square Park doing exactly the same thing - drinking sap from Sapsucker holes in Viburnam.

Last winter an almost-overwintering Cape May Warbler in Riverside Park in Manhattan was seen drinking sap from Sapsucker holes, although these were probably from more native trees than Viburnam shrubs. Exploitation of sapsucker holes by Cape Mays is not an uncommon thing to observe in the Pinetum region of Central Park in late fall or early winter.

Shai Mitra, via the NYSBirds-L list made the observation that the numbers of overwintering Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers have been greater in recent years. Unfortunately I can't locate a reference for that observation. The BNA account for this species illustrates that it has a wide wintering range, with NYC being at the extreme north-eastern edge of it. It remains to be seen what influence non-native plants have on this range, because the Sapsucker doesn't appear to be all that picky over which plant to use. So a lot of unanswered questions. Certainly vagrants aren't obliged to exploit Sapsuckers - the 2006/7 Western Tanager in NJ was eating Juniper berries - but perhaps it indicates that the vagrants or out-of-seasonal rarities that we observe are the ones that are most resourceful in exploiting local food sources. Memorably the Scott's Oriole may have chosen to hang around the small corner of Union Square Park because the fruit offerings at the Ghandi statue offered it a supply of palatable food - it's a nectar drinker during the summer but eats fruit on the wintering grounds in Mexico.

Scott's Oriole in Union Square Park (NYC)

I went into NYC early on Monday morning to track down the first winter Scott's Oriole that was being seen in Union Square Park, of all places. True to form the bird was seen quite easily - perching over my head in a tree pre-sunrise and returning to the small garden in the southwest corner of the park a couple of times to pose in the sunlight. This is potentially a first NY State record for this species. More pictures with text here and a fuller collection on my gallery page for this species.

Catskills boreal invasives (NY)

A brief foray into the southern edge of the Catskills in search of winter boreals netted some excellent looks at Pine Grosbeak in Grahamsville but unfortunately the civilized start time led to us missing feeder birds like Common Redpoll. The day was frigid (low 20's at most) with a brisk wind. So a visit to Shawangunk NWR near Wallkill in Ulster County was especially invigorating while scanning the fields for Short-eared Owl. While developing the early stages of frostbite we did see 4 Rough-legged Hawks including one dark morph and one that looked more intermediate than pale morph. That and several Northern Harriers dominated the field and we did not manage to wait out full darkness before retreating to the car to thaw out.