A slice of spring at Princeton Institute Woods

An overcast day with north-westerlies led me to cancel a prospective trip into Central Park and stay locally, birding Princeton's Institute Woods. Activity levels were relatively low, but there were some signs of spring: singing male Pine Warbler; male Eastern Towhee; singing Eastern Phoebe; male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker; a pair of Wood Ducks. The Tree Swallows have moved into the pond in small numbers after it was refilled this week - the pump that maintains it was broken for a while and it had almost totally dried out. Some frogs have survived, but it remains to be seen if it can reach the traditionally deafening levels of frog singing that you can encounter on warm spring evenings.

Princeton, May 1st

Despite heavy overcast and some drizzle, I stopped off at Rogers Refuge/Institute Woods before work. There was certainly some migration, although not starting numbers. The best birds were a male Blackburnian Warbler and several Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (one male was singing), and Warbling Vireo was new for the year although a predictable find.

Warbling Vireo
Tree Swallow
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Gray Catbird
Northern Parula
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Baltimore Oriole
Purple Finch

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