MARSH WREN!

Brian Whipple sent the following alert today. I'm posting it because it very well might still be there tomorrow.

Marsh Wren is foraging in the reeds and shrubbery on the sourthen side of the western foot of the Gapstow Bridge (or Pond Bridge).

Marsh Wren - Cewntral Park 10/17/2007
Photo by DAVID SPEISER - www.Lilibirds.com

THIS MORNING-April 22

Louisiana Waterthrush -- photo by LLOYD SPITALNIK-- www.lloydspitalnikphotos.com

A beautiful morning in the Ramble in Central Park for my Wednesday morning AMNH bird walk group. It was quieter than expected given the predicted winds, but perhaps we are all just anxious for a big wave of birds after this winter. We found about 40 species on the two hours, 7 – 9 am. Highlights below.

Wood Duck (pair on the Lake)

Double-crested Cormorant (I don’t normally include this species as a highlight, but we had once migrating flock of about 30 go over in a nice V formation.)

American Coot (still 1 on the Lake)

Chimney Swift (1 overhead)

Hairy Woodpecker (1)

Brown Creeper (1)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (scattered individuals, a few singing males)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (small numbers all over the Ramble)

Pine Warbler (1, Turtle Pond)

Prairie Warbler (1, male on the Point)

Palm Warbler (seemed to be everywhere)

Black-and-white Warbler (2)

Louisiana Waterthrush (1, stream north of Bank Rock Bridge)

Common Yellowthroat (1, Turtle Pond)

Field Sparrow (1, the Point)

Dark-eyed Junco (1, starting to get late for this species)

Joseph DiCostanzo

Great Gull Island Project - AMNH

The Migration Heats Up

Tom Fiore reports on Tuesday, 21 April, 2015

Central Park (Manhattan, N.Y. City) had a nice arrival - some of the birds may have actually filtered in on Monday, but clearly more showed up overnight. At least 11 species of warbler were noted in the park (and it's possible a few additionals were), although pride of place will still go to Prospect Park in Brooklyn with their ongoing Prothonotary and Yellow-throated Warblers as well as at least 10 other warbler spp. there...

Swamp Sparrow -- Central Park -- photo by Lloyd Spitalnik - 5/8/09

For Central, among 

the migrants noted this day were:

Green Heron
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Chimney Swift
Eastern Kingbird
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird

Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
[Myrtle] Yellow-rumped Warbler (building no's.)
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat

Scarlet Tanager (early)
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco

Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Rusty Blackbird
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch

The above list leaves out a lot of species, including some that have been around a while, & perhaps a few much more recent arrivals. Plenty of birders out & about and there will be more to seek, as this latest arrival generally, city & region-wide has brought a nice variety as well as some of the rarer species as mentioned in rapid posts. Also a good time to do local "patch" birding, of any smaller neighborhood parks or green-spaces, as a "goodie" could be hiding in plain view almost anywhere now, with not all too many leaves on the trees & shrubs, although that also is changing fairly rapidly after our 1 summer-strength very warm day.

good birding,

Tom Fiore

Manhattan

TODAY!

Michael Pollack sent in a report a few hours ago, via eBirdsNYC:
Belted Kingfisher in the Loch in Central Park

Belted Kingfisher -- Rockland County-- 1/13/10
photo by DAVID SPEISER - www.Lilibirds.com

Tom's three-day report

Palm Warbler - Central Park 4/12/2014 - photo by MURRAY HEAD

Tom Fiore's Central Park bird report:

 
Sat.-Sun.-Monday, 18 - 19 - & 20 April, 2015 (no rarities)

Central Park , Manhattan, N.Y. City 

Monday, partly a rain-out, but before the main rain of the day, a modest no. of migrants, esp. warblers, were in small flocks particularly around the edges of the Lake (& esp. on the Ramble side), with about half as many Pine (12+) as Myrtle/Yellow-rumped (25+), along with some Palm, and also as fly-overs in the mist, another 40+++ of warblers, of which the ones I could hear or make out were all, or almost all, Yellow-rumped as well. The larger arrival of that warbler species is imminent, and with them are likely to be an assortment of other migrants. I'd bet that a fair number of migrants were passing all morning and even into the p.m., with perhaps some just stopping in to feed & moving on again in the fog & drizzle. A rather soggy male Cooper's Hawk at the "oven" will be interesting if it is around many more days. There was a glossy breeding-plumaged calling male Rusty Blackbird at the Loch in the morning.   At least for a short while there was a modest concentration of swallows around (over) Turtle Pond, with just the 3 most-regular spp. in CP seen, Tree, N. Rough-winged, & Barn, totaling about 50 individuals in all (I looked here and along the lake edges again much later in the day, and was unable to find these numbers again). At the reservoir, very few swallows when I passed by; some ducks continued, such as N. Shovelers, Buffleheads and a couple of Ruddys, & at least 1 Wood Duck. The gull numbers which seemed good as the really heavy rain was starting were down to very few by later in the day. A single Spotted Sandpiper was the only shorebird I noted, along the Lake.

At Central Park on the weekend, the going seemed moderately slow for fresh migrants, yet I found a few that were new at least to me for the year - an Ovenbird, Saturday a.m. near the Mineral Springs pavilion (south of Falconer's Hill), & on Sunday at the Loch (a.k.a. the Ravine), a singing Yellow Warbler, (which also was likely the same at the Meer, a bit earlier the same morning).   Of other warbler species I found, the no's. were not all that great other than perhaps for ["yellow"] Palm Warbler, & to a lesser extent, Pine Warbler. A good no. of E. Towhees have been in the past few days & there seemed a fresh influx of sparrows as well as Dark-eyed Junco by the weekend. Also new, at least to me, a couple of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks on both days at the Great Hill which has somewhat regularly been a good spot to find them in the early part of the season, yet I did not come up with them at all later either day. Also still present were Louisiana Waterthrush, a couple of Black-and-white Warblers, & on Sat. at least, a male Common Yellowthroat at The Pool (near W. 103 St.)  I failed to find a loon on the reservoir as of Sunday, while I did see 1 Common Loon there Sat. a.m. 

Early Birders walks

Palm warbler -- photo by Marie Winn

Carol Abraham reports on the Early Birders' walk in the North Woods yesterday morning:
[and below, list of birds seen on yesterdays walk and the walk before:

Hi All,
On a beautiful WARM morning at the North End of the Park, led by Ellen and Barrie, we spotted 29 species of birds,  other fauna (raccoon and chipmunk), butterflies (cabbage white and mourning cloak) as well as flora (Lesser Celandine, Trout Lily, Trillium-not sure which one).   oh….and lots of birders too!

And here is what the Early Birders saw:


                               4/16                4/18

Canada Goose	x
Wood Duck		x
Mallard	x	x
Bufflehead		x
DC Cormorant	x	x
Great Egret
BC Night Heron	x
Red-Tailed Hawk		x
American Coot	x
Herring Gull	x	x
Rock Pigeon	x	x
Mourning Dove	x	x
RB Woodpecker	x	x
YB Sapsucker	x	x
Downy Woodpecker	x	x
Northern Flicker	x	x
Blue Jay	x	x
Tree Swallow		x
BC Chickadee	x
Tufted Titmouse	x
WB Nuthatch	x	x
Brown Creeper	x
RC Kinglet	x	x
Hermit Thrush	x	x
Amer. Robin	x	x
European Starling	x	x
Yellow-rumped Warbler	x	x
Pine Warbler	x
Palm Warbler	x
Eastern Towhee	x
Chipping Sparrow	x
Song Sparrow	x
Swamp Sparrow	x
White-throated Sparrow	x	x
Dark-eyed Junco	x	x
Northern Cardinal	x	x
Red-winged Blackbird	x	x
Rusty Blackbird		x
Common Grackle	x	x
House Finch	x
Amer. Goldfinch	x	x
House Sparrow	x	x
	36 species	29 species
		CP North End
		Raccoon
		Chipmunk
		Cabbage White
		Mourning Cloak