Cape May Warbler

Photo by Lloyd Spitalnik


As I set out for the park early early this morning I vowed to leave by 8:30 and get to my desk at 9. My desk was piled with unfinished work. Deadlines. But as the spring migration reaches its peak it becomes increasingly difficult to stop birding. There's always another incredible bird just around the corner.

Today my resolve was unusually firm. After two-and-a-half hours of great birding I finally said goodby to my birding companions and headed out. A miracle: I had only breaken my vow by half an hour.

I was nearing the 72nd Street exit of the park when my cell-phone rang, or rather chirped. [My ring tone is called Crickets. You'd be surprised at what a stir it creates in a NYC bus.] It was my friend Alice. I had said goodby to her fifteen minutes earlier at the Point.. Now she sounded excited. Where are you? she asked, There's a Cape May Warbler at Belvedere.

Well, I had to go back, didn't I? A Cape May warbler is an event in the Central Park birding community. Doesn't show up that often. And it's a spectacularly beautiful bird. So that's how I happened to be there just as Lloyd shot this spectacularly beautiful picture. And that's why, once again, I didn't get to work this morning by 9 a.m. as I had vowed. It was well after noon by the time I managed to get out from under the spell of songbirds.

P.S. Check out Lloyd's new website. You'll find the same Cape May warbler there, and many many other fabulous birds. Here's a link:
Http://www.Lloyd22.com