Murray replies

In an earlier post today I hazarded a guess that the mystery bird in MURRAY HEAD's photo report was a Baltimore Oriole taking a bath. A few minutes ago Murray replied:

Marie, that is absolutely correct!

The Azalea Pond... was most inviting...
and that is where I photographed him.

Murray

photo of Baltimore Oriole  taken in 2008 by DAVID SPEISER  www.lilibirds.com

More to The Point (All except one)

TODAY! Flash - Just in! Phil Jeffrey writes [ at 2:38 pm] on ebirdsnyc: Prothonotary Warbler @ Point and along Riviera.

Prothonotary Warbler in Central Park- 4-9-09

photo by LLOYD SPITALNIK -www.lloydspitalnikphotos.com

Meanwhile, yesterday was a BIG BIG birdwatching day! MURRAY HEAD just sent in his photo-record of some treasures he captured on film at The Point. He writes:

 More to The Point (All except one) Lots of color, black, white and a Legion of Birders and...

a Wilson's Warbler.

MArie asks: What was his exception? I'm guessing it was a Baltimore Oriole after his bath.

 Black-and-white Warbler

 Common Yellowthroat

Yellow Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

 Wilson's Warbler

Baltimore Oriole [after bathing?]

that's more like it plus PS about Fifth Avenue nest

Warbling Vireo [below] drawings via animals.nationalgeographic.com

Joe DiCostanzo writes a cheerful note this morning via eBirdsNYC:

To paraphrase Mark Twain: The reports of the death of Spring migration have been greatly exaggerated. Though everything is relative; a morning that in another Spring that might have seemed just reasonable, this year seems like a gift from heaven.

It was overcast, damp and at times downright wet for my American Museum of Natural History bird walk this morning,[Thursday May 9, 2013] but at least there were some birds to be seen, including 14 warblers. Highlights below:

Green Heron (flyover the Maintenance Meadow)
Chimnet Swift (a few over the Lake early)
Blue-headed Vireo (Azalea Pond)
Warbling Vireo (various places including the usual one at Hernshead)
Red-eyed Vireo (several)
Northern Parula (various places in the Ramble, singing)
Yellow Warbler (Hernshead and elsewhere)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (singing high in an oak sw of the Humming Tombstone)
Magnolia Warbler (se of the Tupelo)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (various places in the Ramble)
Yelow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler (Azalea Pond and se of the Tupelo)
Palm Warbler (east of the Azalea Pond)
Blackpoll Warbler (heard west of Azalea Pond)
Black-and-white Warbler (scattered through Ramble)
American Redstart (Azalea Pond and elsewhere)
Ovenbird (calling all from many spots in Ramble)
Northern Waterthrush (Upper Lobe and Azalea Pond)
Common Yellowthroat (Maintenace Meadow and Azalea Pond)
Scarlet Tanager (female at Azalea Pond)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (male se of Tupelo)
Baltimore Oriole (various places)

I also heard from others about Veery, Yellow-throated Vireo (The Point), and Prairie Warbler.

Joe DiCostanzo
www.greatgullisland.org

PS ...there are 3 [count 'em, three] fuzzy white babies in the nest on Fifth Ave. & 74th Street. Congratulation, Pale Male and Octavia, [as PM's latest mate has been dubbed.]

Chris finds good birds this morning, though volume is "still pathetic"

photo of Hooded Warbler taken on May 3, 2008 by LLOYD SPITALNIK http://www.lloydspitalnikphotos.com


Chris Cooper reports (via ebirdsNYC):

Despite overcast skies, in 3 hours (5:50-8:50 AM):

WORM-EATING WARBLER (1--actively feeding in tall oak at NE corner of Mugger's Woods, opposite Sunbather's Rock [the big rock overlooking the Azalea Pond]; not singing)
HOODED WARBLER (1--putting on a show at the Azalea Pond)
Yellow Warbler (2)
Black-and-White Warbler (3)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (5)
Northern Parula (2)
American Redstart (1 imm male at Azalea Pond, thanks to John Schemilt)
Ovenbird (1, heard only)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (3)
Blue-headed Vireo (1, heard only)
Warbling Vireo (2)
American Kestrel (1 male, Hernshead)

ALSO REPORTED: Pine Warbler (by John Schemilt)

Volume is still pathetic for the first week of May--one struggles to see a Yellow-rump, when we should be scraping them off our eyeballs--but at least variety improved slightly, approaching the double-digit warbler barrier. The Azalea Pond area continued to be the most productive; or as another birder wryly put it to me the other day, "This is where the magic lives."