Central Park Oct 23rd

Central Park was notable for a good push of late fall migrants: lots of Hermit Thrushes, Song Sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warblers with quite a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Gray Catbirds. The diversity was low - something that had something to do with me staying put in the Maintenance Field for a couple of hours watching the flocks of sparrows working their way through. The warbler count was fleshed out by a lone Magnolia (my new late date, and pushing it's luck) and one Palm Warbler. The usual late fall additions of Purple Finch and American Goldfinch were absent, presumably because of good crops in the north this fall and the consequent lack of an invasion year.

Cooper's Hawk
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-headed Vireo
Brown Creeper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
Gray Catbird
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco

Brigantine and Tuckerton Oct 16th

(Catching up with old neglected sightings)

I went to Tuckerton and Brigantine NWR on a windy but sunny Sunday morning to pursue reported Ammodramus sparrows, with little success, but ended up with my first Cape May Warbler for NJ (other omissions that you might consider surprising include Bay-breasted, Wilson's and Tennessee).

At Tuckerton the brisk wind had the passerines seeking cover, so it was a bad day for sparrows and I was a little early for a high tide to push the sparrows out of the saltmarsh. Instead I contented myself with multiple flyover shorebird flocks: Black-bellied Plover, Red Knot, Sanderling, Dunlin, Semipalmated/Western Sandpipers (uncertain which). A sheltered spot along Great Bay Blvd yielded one or perhaps two Cape May Warblers but it was mainly Yellow-rumped Warblers in that flock. Northern Flicker along that road, somewhat out of habitat also provided the impression of migration. There was also a brief glimpse of a fat hummingbird. I'm calling it Ruby-throated by default, not least of all because fall migrant hummingbirds are often loaded with fat prior to migration and look bigger - but I really can't rule out Selasphorus hummingbird (Rufous/Allen's) for which the date and the location would also be possible.

Further down the road at Brigantine NWR there were some shorebird flocks, largely the same composition but without the Knot, and quite a few waterfowl. For some strange reason I had left the scope at home so I lacked things like Wigeon and Gadwall but the other usual suspects: Am. Black Duck, Mallard, Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, abundant Northern Pintail. There was also a small flock of Snow Geese - far short of the population that usually winters here so apparently a vanguard. Unlike Brant Geese, which tend to do the whole migration in one flight, non-stop, Snow Geese stage at multiple points as they "drift" south.

There was a lot of raptor activity at Brig, including at least two Bald Eagles, a few Northern Harriers and one or two Peregrines which were enthusiastically harassing anything small in sight (so I assume they were hungry). There were also noteworthy flocks of two other species: Forster's Terns present in quite high numbers, and also good numbers of Double-crested Cormorant, apparently mostly immatures.

Snow Goose
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
Black-bellied Plover
Red Knot
Sanderling
Western or Semipalmated Sandpiper
Dunlin
Dowitcher sp.
Forster's Tern
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Northern Flicker
Tree Swallow
Cape May Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Song Sparrow
Boat-tailed Grackle

Central Park Oct 5th

Trying to leverage a "spare" morning w/o meetings and some pro-migration weather I went into Central Park on Weds morning and found moderate but not spectacular migration. Warbler numbers were not epic, but there was a decent amount of sparrow movement including three Lincoln's Sparrows. Some time spent at the Maintenance Field didn't yield the Chat, but I did have a fly-over Common Nighthawk which is somewhat of a novelty. The Eastern Wood-Pewee I saw in Strawberry Fields is getting late-ish but my late dates are 10/18/03, 10/16/05 - however for most years this would be my late date for Pewee.

There was a small flock of Golden-crowned Kinglets in Strawberry Fields, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Hermit Thrush elsewhere - more in tune with late fall migration. I also saw two flocks of migrating Canada Geese that headed over the city to NJ, and three migrating Turkey Vultures.

Double-crested Cormorant
Turkey Vulture (3, seen well to south)
Gadwall
Red-tailed Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
Chimney Swift
Common Nighthawk (Maint. Field)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee (Strawberry Fields)
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush (multiple)
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Palm Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Field Sparrow (Oven)
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow (Maint. Field, Azalea Pond)
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Baltimore Oriole (Maint. Field)

Central Park Oct 2nd

A repeat performance on Sunday morning showed signs of much slow migration. In particular the surface winds had shifted toward the east, and I only had 3 warbler sp. in Strawberry Fields when I started there an hour later than Saturday. The flight of Blue Jays was replaced by a small one of Northern Flickers and the hawk flight was minimal in the contrary winds.

The Maintenance Field was again the best place, with the continuing Chat and other warblers bringing it up to a total of 12 sp although in lower numbers than Saturday and there was also a visit by a Yellow-billed Cuckoo - I've actually seen more Black-billed than Yellow-billed this year.

Sharp-shinned Hawk
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Chimney Swift
Empidonax Flycatcher sp. (Yellow-bellied?)
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Tree Swallow
Carolina Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Palm Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-breasted Chat
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting

Central Park Oct 1st

With favorable conditions for migration I made it to Central Park via the absurdly early 0612 train out of Princeton Jct and was rewarded by a pretty decent movement of warblers in Strawberry Fields where I racked up 9 species in the space of half an hour. There was an obvious good movement of Blue Jays with me seeing over a hundred in various flocks during the day.

Most other areas were quiet, but the Maintenance Field held a Yellow-breasted Chat that was mostly skulking, and also was a good observation point for a decent hawk migration - mostly Sharp-shinned Hawk (10+) but also several Cooper's Hawk, American Kestrel, Osprey, Peregrine and one likely Merlin. Gadwall and Solitary Sandpiper were on Turtle Pond.

The Chat was the first one of the year for me (and likely the last).

A lack of Kinglets and Sapsuckers made me think that there was a decent amount of fall migration still to come, even if it was October 1st.

Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Gadwall
Osprey
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Solitary Sandpiper
Chimney Swift
Northern Flicker
Empidonax sp (Acadian-ish and Yellow-bellied-ish)
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
House Wren
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
Cedar Waxwing
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Palm Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-breasted Chat
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting