Central Park 9/25 (Cuckoos, Tennessee)

Quite a slow start in Strawberry Fields, where I learnt that early in the morning a Mississippi Kite had been seen overhead by Peter Post. However migrant activity was extremely patchy in the initial overcast of the day. Wandering into the Ramble I got a #cpkbirds tweet about a Yellow-billed Cuckoo at the Upper Lobe and went over to check it out. The lone willow tree was quite active with multiple Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Gray Catbirds, a few Swainson's Thrushes, Pewee and Phoebe. There were also one or two warblers including the lone Northern Waterthrush for the day. Being there for a while I saw a cuckoo fly down the Upper Lobe and assumed it was the Yellow-billed. However some time later a Black-billed Cuckoo flew into the willow, and gave quite a few people good looks especially when it was out on a sunny rock on the other side of the lobe.

From the Upper Lobe I went to the Maintenance Field which also was moderately active. After a few minutes I found another Black-billed Cuckoo - this must have been quite a good Cuckoo day since Yellow-billed were also reported from these same areas earlier. Here I also picked up migrating raptors: Osprey and Sharp-shinned Hawk, although that activity was slow. A few Monarch Butterflies were migrating. While here I "heard" of a third hand report of Tennessee and Connecticut Warblers in some vaguely defined area "near Tupelo". I elected to stay and do a little hawk watching since it had been a long while since I had seen a kettle of Broad-winged. At one point there were two Eastern Phoebes and at least two Eastern Wood-Pewee's flycatching here.

This was a bit of a mistake - there was a Connecticut near Tupelo giving excellent looks, and by the time I got there it had gone. Although I did see: Tennessee and Nashville Warblers and several other warblers (Ovenbird, C. Yellowthroat, Black-throated Blue, Magnolia, Restart). They all particularly liked the insect-laden asters as the sun warmed them up.

Shame about the Connecticut since it's rare to get good views. However it's also been a long while since I had eye level looks at Tennessee in fall in the park, so that's the consolation prize.

(On the way home I stopped at the Allentown NJ sod farms and finally picked up American Golden Plover for the year).

Osprey
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Black-billed Cuckoo (Maint. Field, Upper Lobe)
Chimney Swift
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee (multiple)
Eastern Phoebe (multiple)
Winter Wren (Upper Lobe)
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Palm Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Canada Warbler
White-throated Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (many)
Indigo Bunting

Ewing/Backyard 9/24

Migrants:
Northern Parula (2+)
Magnolia Warbler (2)
American Redstart
BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER
Chipping Sparrow (multiple)

and the local boys:
Carolina Wren
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Downy Woodpecker

Considering that I hardly ever see Blackburnian in fall, this was a good find and a new yard bird.
Once again the mixed species flock is a reliable locator of migrants. This is also an early date for fall migrant Chipping Sparrows, although none of them stayed in my yard.

Central Park 9/17

After what was reported to be a fairly good migration on Friday, Saturday was quite slow. A few warblers in a few pockets, the most interesting of which was a Pine Warbler. Raptors didn't put in much of a show either: 3 Ospreys and an Accipter sp as well as three local Red-tailed Hawks.

Osprey
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Pine Warbler
American Redstart
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager

Although what was by far the most interesting bird was actually an unidentified one. A small active vireo in the Maintenance Field rang internal alarm bells on the grounds of "potential Philadelphia". This has a troubling overlap with immature Warbling in fall, and this individual was too far away and not giving easy looks. What was evident was that it was almost warbler-esque in activity and looked a little small. However the definitive ID points for Philadelphia were absent - it was not yellow from throat to breast and it didn't have an evident dark mark between eye and bill. I decided "Warbling" at the time based also on a single buzz call, but most vireos sound the same and in retrospect I'd be tempted to call it a Philadelphia Vireo but frustrated at not being sure about it. Quite a few other Philadelphias from other locations make me especially curious about this bird.

Mixed species flock in Ewing 9/17

And by Ewing I mean in my yard in NJ. I was tinkering with the aging Honda's splash guard and heard a mixed flock moving through.

The local boys were:
Downy Woodpecker
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Chickadee

However they were accompanied by a rather nice selection of migrants:
Northern Flicker (multiple)
Gray Catbird
Red-eyed Vireo
American Redstart
Northern Parula (multiple)
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Common Yellowthroat

and the finale was a high altitude Osprey coasting over the yard headed for the Delaware River. The Osprey and three of the warblers were yard birds. The species list also compares pretty well to my Central Park sightings list from earlier in the day. I also heard a Song Sparrow sound off, which may or may not be a migrant - most summer breeders leave my yard before fall migration, which is why Gray Catbird is included on the migrant list.

NYC Checklist Updates

The checklist that I've been maintaining at
http://www.philjeffrey.net/NYC_unofficial_list.html
has been updated to reflect the amazing fallout as a result of Hurricane Irene. What was added was:

Cory's Shearwater (Bronx)
Great Shearwater (East River, Brooklyn)
Audubon's Shearwater (Bronx)
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (Bronx)
White-tailed Tropicbird (Manhattan)
Sooty Tern (several)
Bridled Tern (Staten Island, Brooklyn)

although of course this list could conceivably get modified by virtue of NYSARC rulings.

Other noteworthies such as Leach's Storm-Petrel were already on the list, although remarkable finds in themselves.

Given the conditions I personally didn't see any of these birds - while they were being recorded off Brooklyn and Manhattan (and a similar lot off Cape May) the conditions were simply too hazardous to consider driving that far with high winds and potential flooding. Instead I picked up inland Laughing Gulls (three juveniles over Mercer County Park). The pelagics cleared out fast - I got down to Cape May the following morning but there was pretty much nothing out on the ocean, although Bill Boyle did point out a fly-by Sandwich Tern along the beach which turned out to be a new NJ bird for me.

Central Park 9/10 and 9/11

A fairly slow migration day on 9/10 saw me in Central Park for my first fall birding trip to NYC. The number of warblers were fairly low for a northerly wind and I found:

Osprey
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Canada Warbler
Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Noteworthy were the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (first of year for me) and EIGHT Osprey making their way south.

On 9/11 I returned to Central Park without expectation of finding much. However I was living in Manhattan on 9/11/01 and birding Central Park that morning - an experience best related elsewhere, if at all - and this visit was more about symbolism than anything else. As expected it was much quieter even than Saturday. I added Northern Parula (3) and Yellow Warbler to the previous day's warbler totals but left the park fairly early for brunch rather than keep staring at trees full of American Robins and not much else. Of note were two White-throated Sparrows, one of which was singing. There was no hawk movement to speak of on Sunday.