April Summary

By far the best month of year in terms of variety and quality. It's migration, so if you can't find a lot of birds you ain't looking.  Of course, the highlights this month were the warblers--14 species in all and some of them hard to find like Prothonotary, Yellow-throated and Blue-winged Warblers.

Some shorebirds are back, like Willet and Solitary Sandpiper (there are lots more reported but we didn't spend a lot of time around water this month), and we managed to sneak in Harlequin Duck at the beginning of the month, lucky to see a couple of this winter species still hanging around in April.

Anticipation for May is high. We'll miss the peak of migration in the next couple of weeks, but only because we'll be in California looking for lifers there--Shari really wants to see a Black Oystercatcher and there are lots of birds with the word "California" in their common name that we're looking forward to seeing. Then, toward the end of the month I hope we'll be able to get to down to Cape May as well as Brigantine and start finding the shorebirds and waders we haven't seen so far.

April 2011
Counties birded:
New York: Kings, Queens, Richmond
New Jersey: Atlantic, Bergen, Ocean
# of species: 114

Species	First Sighting
Snow Goose	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Brant	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier Two
Canada Goose	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Mute Swan	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Wood Duck	Prospect Park
Gadwall	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
American Wigeon	Marine Park--Southwest
American Black Duck	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Mallard	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier Four
Blue-winged Teal	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Northern Shoveler	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Green-winged Teal	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Greater Scaup	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
Lesser Scaup	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
Harlequin Duck	Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Long-tailed Duck	Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Bufflehead	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier Four
Hooded Merganser	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Red-breasted Merganser	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier Four
Ruddy Duck	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Wild Turkey	South Beach Psychiatric Center
Common Loon	Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Pied-billed Grebe	Marine Park--Southwest
Horned Grebe	Great Kills Park
Northern Gannet	Mount Loretto Unique Area
Double-crested Cormorant	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Great Blue Heron	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Great Egret	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Snowy Egret	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Little Blue Heron	Marine Park--Southwest
Black-crowned Night-Heron	Prospect Park
Glossy Ibis	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
Turkey Vulture	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Osprey	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Sharp-shinned Hawk	Prospect Park
Red-tailed Hawk	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Merlin	Mount Loretto Unique Area
Peregrine Falcon	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
American Coot	Prospect Park
Killdeer	Goethals Pond
American Oystercatcher	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Solitary Sandpiper	Mount Loretto Unique Area
Greater Yellowlegs	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
Willet	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
Laughing Gull	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier Four
Ring-billed Gull	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
Herring Gull	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Great Black-backed Gull	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Common Tern	Marine Park--Southwest
Rock Pigeon	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier Four
Mourning Dove	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	Prospect Park
Chimney Swift	Prospect Park
Belted Kingfisher	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Red-bellied Woodpecker	Prospect Park
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	Mount Loretto Unique Area
Downy Woodpecker	Prospect Park
Northern Flicker	Prospect Park
Eastern Phoebe	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
White-eyed Vireo	Prospect Park
Blue-headed Vireo	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
Blue Jay	Prospect Park
American Crow	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Fish Crow	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	Prospect Park
Tree Swallow	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Barn Swallow	Prospect Park
Black-capped Chickadee	Prospect Park
Tufted Titmouse	Prospect Park
Red-breasted Nuthatch	Prospect Park
White-breasted Nuthatch	Prospect Park
Brown Creeper	Prospect Park
Carolina Wren	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
House Wren	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	Prospect Park
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	Prospect Park
Hermit Thrush	Prospect Park
American Robin	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Gray Catbird	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
Northern Mockingbird	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
Brown Thrasher	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
European Starling	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
Blue-winged Warbler	Prospect Park
Northern Parula	Prospect Park
Yellow Warbler	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
Black-throated Blue Warbler	Prospect Park
Yellow-rumped Warbler	Prospect Park
Blackburnian Warbler	Prospect Park
Yellow-throated Warbler	Prospect Park
Pine Warbler	Prospect Park
Prairie Warbler	Prospect Park
Palm Warbler	Prospect Park
Black-and-white Warbler	Prospect Park
Prothonotary Warbler	Prospect Park
Northern Waterthrush	Prospect Park
Common Yellowthroat	Prospect Park
Eastern Towhee	Prospect Park
Chipping Sparrow	Prospect Park
Field Sparrow	Prospect Park
Savannah Sparrow	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Song Sparrow	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Swamp Sparrow	Prospect Park
White-throated Sparrow	Prospect Park
Dark-eyed Junco	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Scarlet Tanager	Prospect Park
Northern Cardinal	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
Red-winged Blackbird	Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Eastern Meadowlark	Prospect Park
Common Grackle	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One
Boat-tailed Grackle	Great Kills Park
Brown-headed Cowbird	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
Baltimore Oriole	Prospect Park
American Goldfinch	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge--West Pond
House Sparrow	Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One