Central Park Oct 6th

My first Purple Finches of the year - last winter was not an invasion year - were in Strawberry Fields, although I missed the Pine Siskins by 15 minutes.  Both were female-type but at least one was probably immature male since it started singing.  There were also my first Golden-crowned Kinglets in fall migration.

Despite a somewhat northerly wind the warbler numbers were unexceptional all day.  There was a hint of a raptor flight, with two Cooper's Hawks, a Merlin and an ambiguous falcon (Merlin/Peregrine) over the Maintenance Field.  But otherwise the day's biggest migrant numbers were unquestionably Cedar Waxwings.  Flocks of mainly juveniles (many molting into a facsimile of adult plumage) were all over the park all day feeding on pokeweed and crab apples.

My best bird turned out to be an immature Black-billed Cuckoo, which popped up in the Upper Lobe while I was listening to another Purple Finch making the 'pik' call on the other side of the water.  This was followed by a Gray-cheeked Thrush - one of my rather more unlikely misses this year since they are regular in the park.  This particular Gray-cheeked gave no hint of candidate Bicknell's and had a nice cold olive-brown tone to it.

Otherwise birding was not high volume.  In the afternoon I ventured out to Duke Farms (Somerset area in NJ) in the mid afternoon and found the parking lot brimming with walkers and cyclists.  Between overcast and a fairly strong breeze the bird activity was relatively low, but I did have a Peregrine (likely a migrant headed down-river after coming off the Watchung Ridge), a family of American Kestrels, Palm Warblers and Savannah Sparrow.  This looks not a bad bet for early winter birding because much of the weedy field habitat is intact - over in Griggstown Preserve they've mowed 90% of the habitat down to the stubble in another example of how not to manage habitat for fall migrants, so there's little reason to revisit it.

Cooper's Hawk                          
Black-billed Cuckoo                    
Chimney Swift                          
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker               
Northern Flicker                       
Merlin                                 
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Phoebe                         
Black-capped Chickadee                 
Red-breasted Nuthatch                  
White-breasted Nuthatch                
Golden-crowned Kinglet                 
Ruby-crowned Kinglet                   
Gray-cheeked Thrush                    
Hermit Thrush                          
Gray Catbird                           
Brown Thrasher                         
Cedar Waxwing                          
Common Yellowthroat                    
American Redstart                      
Northern Parula                        
Magnolia Warbler                       
Blackpoll Warbler                      
Black-throated Blue Warbler            
Swamp Sparrow                          
White-throated Sparrow                 
Dark-eyed Junco
Scarlet Tanager                       
Northern Cardinal                      
Rose-breasted Grosbeak                 
Purple Finch                           
American Goldfinch                     

Central Park Sept 29th and 30th

As the month drew to a close a north wind lured me into the park for both days on the weekend.  It's not a bad point to take stock of what appears to be a slightly later fall migration - in particular I've seen very few Ruby-crowned Kinglets so far and no Golden-crowned despite the date and it has been a month with no really cool days to push birds south.  There has been a switch over to a mix with later species: Blue-headed Vireo being seen on Sat and Eastern Phoebe's being around for a while.  There were quite a few Palm Warblers on Saturday, Eastern Towhees have become easier to find, and there was clearly some sparrow movement on Saturday - many of them had moved on by Sunday.  A few Black-capped Chickadees were seen early on Sunday - you would think this was a species that would do rather better in the park than it actually does, and sightings of them get pretty sparse before the population gets filled out during the invasion years.  Tufted Titmice seemed more numerous than usual, which made me suspect they'd been migrating as well.

Heavy overcast made things a little tough going on Saturday, which was apparently the better migration day but still quite patchy - Sunday it appeared that most of the migrants had left.  Saturday was also accompanied by the sound-testing that preceded the mammoth free concert scheduled for the Great Lawn at 5pm and led me to exit the park sooner rather than later.  On Saturday interesting birds were reported from various locations: Summer Tanager, Grasshopper Sparrow and we had a Marsh Wren in the Maintenance Field.  Marsh Wren is probably about as rare in the park as Connecticut Warbler but has none of the cache of the latter since Marsh Wren breeds all over the place coastally.  It did play the Connecticut trick of vanishing after the initial sighting.  Sunday was sunnier but also quieter from the migration perspective but a female-type Hooded Warbler was a nice bonus.  The last two weeks of the month are fairly typical for Hooded Warbler migration but this is starting to get close to my latest-ever fall Hooded date (Oct 3rd 2000)

Sat:

Cooper's Hawk                          
Chimney Swift                          
Ruby-throated Hummingbird              
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker               
Hairy Woodpecker                       
Northern Flicker                       
Eastern Wood-Pewee                     
Eastern Phoebe                         
Blue-headed Vireo                      
Red-eyed Vireo                         
Blue Jay                               
Red-breasted Nuthatch                  
Marsh Wren                             
Swainson's Thrush                      
Wood Thrush                            
Gray Catbird                           
Brown Thrasher                         
Cedar Waxwing                          
Ovenbird                               
Black-and-white Warbler                
Common Yellowthroat                    
American Redstart                      
Northern Parula                        
Blackpoll Warbler                      
Black-throated Blue Warbler            
Palm Warbler                           
Black-throated Green Warbler           
Eastern Towhee                         
Song Sparrow                           
Swamp Sparrow                          
White-throated Sparrow                 
Scarlet Tanager                        
Rose-breasted Grosbeak                 
Indigo Bunting                         
Common Grackle                         
American Goldfinch                     

Sun:

Ruby-throated Hummingbird              
Belted Kingfisher                      
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker               
Downy Woodpecker                       
Northern Flicker                       
Eastern Wood-Pewee                     
Eastern Phoebe                         
Red-eyed Vireo                         
Black-capped Chickadee                 
Red-breasted Nuthatch                  
House Wren                             
Carolina Wren                          
Swainson's Thrush                      
Wood Thrush                            
American Robin                         
Gray Catbird                           
Brown Thrasher                         
Cedar Waxwing                          
Black-and-white Warbler                
Hooded Warbler                         
American Redstart                      
Northern Parula                        
Magnolia Warbler                       
Blackpoll Warbler                      
Black-throated Blue Warbler            
Palm Warbler                           
Yellow-rumped Warbler                  
Eastern Towhee                         
White-throated Sparrow                 
Scarlet Tanager                       
Rose-breasted Grosbeak                 

Central Park Sept 22nd and 23rd

Modest migration through the park on Sat and Sun provided some nice species although less than epic numbers.  Red-breasted Nuthatches continued to move, the first White-throated Sparrows cropped up in low numbers.  Hummingbirds seen both days but only a light raptor movement.  A male Hooded Warbler was seen both days but the star of the weekend was unquestionably an immature Connecticut Warbler that was seen around the Tupelo tree and provided elusive but repeated views as it walked quickly through the undergrowth.  Walking, of course, being one of the diagnostic things.  The eye ring was prominent but not huge and broken at the rear of the eye - not at all unusual for a first fall bird.  This was my first one for the year and not an easy bird to find initially - I'd also missed the previous sightings of Connecticut in what appears to have been a decent fall for them.


Sat:
Cooper's Hawk                          
Chimney Swift                          
Ruby-throated Hummingbird              
Belted Kingfisher                      
Northern Flicker                       
Eastern Wood-Pewee                     
Least Flycatcher                       
Eastern Phoebe                         
Red-eyed Vireo                         
Red-breasted Nuthatch                  
Veery                                  
Swainson's Thrush                      
Wood Thrush                            
American Robin                         
Gray Catbird                           
Brown Thrasher                         
Cedar Waxwing                          
Ovenbird                               
Black-and-white Warbler                
Nashville Warbler                      
Common Yellowthroat                    
Hooded Warbler                         
American Redstart                      
Northern Parula                        
Magnolia Warbler                       
Blackpoll Warbler                      
Black-throated Blue Warbler            
White-throated Sparrow                 
Scarlet Tanager                        
Rose-breasted Grosbeak                 
Indigo Bunting                         
Baltimore Oriole                      

Sun:
Osprey                                 
Mourning Dove                          
Yellow-billed Cuckoo                   
Chimney Swift                          
Ruby-throated Hummingbird              
Northern Flicker                       
Eastern Wood-Pewee                     
Least Flycatcher                       
Great Crested Flycatcher               
Red-eyed Vireo                         
Red-breasted Nuthatch                  
White-breasted Nuthatch                
House Wren                             
Veery                                  
Swainson's Thrush                      
Gray Catbird                           
Brown Thrasher                         
Ovenbird                               
Black-and-white Warbler                
Connecticut Warbler                    
Common Yellowthroat                    
Hooded Warbler                         
American Redstart                      
Northern Parula                        
Magnolia Warbler                       
Blackpoll Warbler                      
Black-throated Blue Warbler            
Palm Warbler                           
White-throated Sparrow                 
Scarlet Tanager                        
Rose-breasted Grosbeak                 
Indigo Bunting                         
American Goldfinch                     

Chimney Rock Hawk Watch - Sept 15th

After a morning in CPK I went to Chimney Rock in the afternoon, and was surprised at a full parking lot and a lot of people at the designated hawk watch area.  This might have had much to do with the good raptor migration weather with a cool wind out of the north at the time.  Chimney Rock lies on the Watchung Ridge, the most easterly ridge before you drop into the NJ coastal plain.  It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of the raptors that pass through Manhattan connect with this ridge in the vicinity of the Montclair Hawk Watch further to the north east.  Hawks here have to traverse a bit of flat terrain before they hit the next ridge, somewhere in or around the Sourlands (Neshanic, Wertzville area).

In the three hours I was there I had multiple Bald Eagles, about 100 Broad-winged Hawks, American Kestrel, Merlin and Peregrine and Red-tailed Hawk.  Half the Broad-winged came by in a single kettle spiralling in the updraft.  The Red-tailed was probably local, and the Turkey and Black Vultures certainly were.  Sharp-shinned and one or two Cooper's came by, and one particularly large Accipiter that I wondered about being a Goshawk (but the hint of red on the underparts indicated just a large female Cooper's).  Nearly all the hawks were pretty high, although later in the day (~5pm) some of them passed by a little lower.

A nice paved path from the parking lot would make this not a bad place to look for actual migrating Goshawk later in the season.

Central Park Sept 15th and 16th

The front passed too late in the night to make Saturday a good migration day and so birding was extremely patchy.  Strawberry Fields was extremely slow, the Ramble a little better, but excitement came in the form of an Eastern Whip-poor-will found in the Ramble.  This is the first one I've seen in CPK in quite a few years (spring 2004 was the last), and also the first one in fall.  Based on pointed tail feathers it appeared to be an immature bird.  While watching the nightjar other good birds of the day were Cape May Warblers (possible ad. female and imm. male) and a Least Flycatcher.  The final icing was the ongoing American Bittern at Turtle Pond - I almost missed it until it flew across the pond to the island just as I turned to leave.  This is only my second Bittern in the park (last: in April 2004).  Other migrants included Eastern Wood-Pewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, Scarlet Tanager and only three other species of warbler (American Redstart, Black-and-white Warbler, Common Yellowthroat).

As of Monday morning the Whip-poor-will reappeared in the same tree - I'm pretty confident that this is the first time anyone's refound a bird like that in the same roosting spot in the park.


On Sunday migrant volume was better, although still not spectacular and the initial stop at Strawberry Fields included my first Red-breasted Nuthatch for the year - a bird that had been tormenting me.  There was also a start of a change-over in warbler species: Black-throated Green, Blackpoll and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet being evidence of that.  Swainson's Thrushes were numerous but Cedar Waxwings were putting up the best migrant numbers in the park with multiple flocks moving through places like the Maintenance Field while I was there.  A decent raptor flight occurred in the morning with multiple Broad-winged Hawks and an Osprey.  I also had my first White-throated Sparrows of fall.  The American Bittern remained at Turtle Pond, this time giving good views while hunting on the north side of the island.  Despite its persistence here it's a pretty rare bird in Central Park, actually a rarer sighting than the Connecticut Warbler that evaded me in the Ramble later that morning.

9/11 in Central Park

Those of us that were birding Central Park on 9/11/01 are never going to forget that experience, nor what followed.  There's a tendency to mark the anniversary by doing the same thing again - looking for fall migrants in the Ramble.  However the motivation for birding today was more weather-driven than anniversary-driven.

9/11/01 was the "first good migration day of fall" with the wind out of the north, which blew the ash from the WTC site away from the park until the wind changed two days later.  That wind carried quite a decent number of migrants with it.  9/11/12 also had a north-west wind and cool overnight temperatures but the results were not as dramatic bird-wise or in any other way.

The biggest movement of migrants today were the multiple flocks of Cedar Waxwings moving around the park.  Actual warblers were a little more scarce and I came up with a mere handful of them: Northern Parula; Magnolia Warbler; Black-throated Blue Warbler; Black-and-white Warbler; American Redstart; Canada Warbler; Common Yellowthroat.  Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos were around, and the Warblings were still singing, as they have been over the last few trips to CPK.  The best birds that I saw today were Broad-winged Hawks - a heavily marked immature over the Lake, adults and lightly marked immatures over the Ramble and one pale immature sitting in plain view in the Ramble until it finally flew out mid-morning.  Most or all of these birds had clearly roosted in the park overnight because they were seen at low altitude.  I've never seen one actually roosting in the park before.  The hummingbird movement continued with at least one and probably more through the Maintenance Field - the Central Park Conservancy have numerous Cardinal Flower plantings within the Ramble which are often used as a food source by hummingbirds.  I continue to miss Red-breasted Nuthatches despite hearing them in two locations in the park - I might have seen the ones near Azalea Pond but they did not stick around and fell silent.

Nevertheless a slightly lackluster migration day given the north wind overnight.

What follows is the list from 9/11/01.  I keep my sightings stored in HTML format and this is part of my Sightings2001 file.

Northern Flicker
Red-eyed, Philadelphia Vireo   
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Veery, Swainson's, Wood Thrush
Cedar Waxwing
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Northern Parula
Nashville, Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Blackpoll, Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush
Wilson's Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Baltimore Oriole

Central Park Sept 9th

Sandwiched inbetween Saturday's and Sunday's trips to Sandy Hook I went to Central Park on Sunday morning.  On average migration was quite modest - the front had taken its time to come through the previous evening and the north winds developed too late. 

Strawberry Fields was comatose apart from a single Ovenbird, or would have been if the humming throng of the impending disease-a-thon had not been gathering at 72nd Street. 

The Ramble was a little more active, mostly around Azalea Pond and Maintenance Field.  Somewhat oddly both Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos were heard singing.  At Azalea there was a cooperative adult male Hooded Warbler and Redstarts and my sole Wood Thrush for the day.  At Maintenance - where I ultimately spent most of my time waiting for the chat (it didn't appear) - warblers included Northern Parula, Magnolia Warbler, Canada Warbler, Common Yellowthroat.  Eastern Wood-Pewee was also here (heard in several locations) along with a Great Crested Flycatcher.  Best bird of all was a Yellow-billed Cuckoo which flew in, gave brief views, and dropped down in the dense foliage now on the edge of the Maintenance Field.  While I didn't get into double digits for warbler species I did manage a good diversity and also saw at least four Ruby-throated Hummingbirds during the day.

The last interesting bird, as I was headed out for the subway, was a Hairy Woodpecker - these are fairly scarce in the park but it's not clear if this constitutes a migrant or not.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Hairy Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Great Crested Flycatcher
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
Brown Thrasher
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Canada Warbler

Sandy Hook, Sept 8th and 9th

While I did not chase the Elegant Tern at Sandy Hook the previous weekend - when it was found - I decided to check it out a week later despite a somewhat dubious weather forecast for the Saturday.  A birder friend came along on Saturday and did fairly well with two life birds.  On the way out to the False Hook at Sandy Hook we took the wrong trail and ended up meandering down false trails south of the large salt pond.  While being snacked on by mosquitos we did fairly well with warblers: Common Yellowthroat, Wilson's Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler.  Also Cedar Waxwing and Baltimore Oriole  - this was a pretty good selection considering the wind was from the south and it did not epitomize a good fall migration day.  Locating the correct trail and walking to the the beach we encountered a small flock of Palm Warblers - absolutely not what I'd consider typical for early September.

Birders told us that the Elegant Tern was seen earlier (we were they early, but not at dawn) but ultimately we were not successful finding it.  Instead there were a lot of Common Terns, and Amy's first lifer was a Black Tern coming down the beach to join the Commons at the cut.  Sanderlings, Semipalmated Plovers and Piping Plovers were on the beach and adjoining mudflat.  In a fairly stiff breeze most of the Common/Black Terns and numerous Black Skimmers were in a small group in the roped off (shorebird nesting) area, and most of the birders there that morning had gathered to concentrate on that flock.  It also gave a good view of the storm clouds marching up the NJ shore towards us.  While failing to find an Elegant a nice bonus was three Buff-breasted Sandpipers feeding amongst the dunes - this was Amy's second lifer and a year bird for me.

Eventually an interesting larger tern did turn up back at the cut - I could pick it out in the air but this was reported as a Sandwich Tern by birders closer to the scene (also a year bird for me).  As the storm clouds rolled in and we headed back towards the parking lot a Marbled Godwit flew down the beach and was literally the last bird we saw on the beach as the deluge opened up.  Although we got totally soaked on the walk back to the car we did dodge the bullet on that weather system: twisters were reported from Queens and Breezy Point got hit - that's pretty close to Sandy Hook and that would have been the same storm system that hit us.


On Sunday I went back to Sandy Hook after birding Central Park.  The weather was bright and sunny and not too warm, and although there were more people (mostly fishermen, some beachgoers) it was still possible to watch a decent flock of Common and Black Terns and Black Skimmers.  After a little while the Elegant Tern put in an appearance and gave diagnostic views.  Later on it vanished before returning later in the day before sunset when I was able to get decent photographs of it.  Both days gave me pretty much my best views of Black Tern, also, so it was a pretty good birding day if a little exhausting by the time I got home.

Labor Day weekend: Central Park and Brigantine

Saturday, at an obnoxious 92 degrees, kept me around the house doing yard work.

On Sunday I trekked into Central Park on a day with at best modest migration prospects.  I was lured in by the reports of Red Crossbills the previous two days - a very rare bird for the park in what might be a major irruption year for them.  The Crossbills bad obviously left, despite some time spent searching Hemlocks for them.  Migration was also less than spectacular, with very low numbers of migrants with the exception of one small active patch near the Gill: this yielded Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Worm-eating, Yellow and Northern Waterthrush.  That was my first Worm-eating Warbler in the park this year - I'd seen or heard others at Sterling Forest and Belleplain SP but as with Cape May Warbler I had struck out on it during spring migration.

On Labor Day itself I went down to Brig again and had a better birding day there than the previous weekend despite some pretty overcast weather.  Three Bobolinks at the start of the one-way section of the wildlife drive.  A Lark Sparrow (my first in NJ and fairly rare in the East) made itself obvious by lurking around the drive itself where the bulky side and white-tipped tail feathers drew my attention.  Several other birders drove right past it and flushed it from the driveway, so it wasn't apparently obvious to everyone.  Double-crested Cormorant numbers were quite high - already on the move with some flocks in the air, there were also a lot of them staging in the area and big flocks were feeding on fish schools along with similarly high numbers of Forster's Terns.  Since it was windy I did unusually poorly with passerines, i.e. no Seaside Sparrows, and the two Ammodramus sparrows that I did see where a nice bonus - Saltmarsh (Sharp-tailed) Sparrows.  While not the first time I've seen them there, they are not an every-trip bird.  Shorebirds were in modest numbers with the typical selection augmented by Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot (one adult, one juvenile) and three Pectoral Sandpipers.  There were also some interesting terns - a flock on a sandbar with shorebirds had many Royals and a few Caspians.  Later on I saw juvenile Caspians still begging from their parents.  And best of all a juvenile Gull-billed Tern was still being fed by parents that had already started their pre-basic molt and losing their black caps.  A Wild Turkey in the forested area capped off the trip and I did fairly well at avoiding the worst of the Labor Day traffic on the way back home.