Prospect Park 9/16--Black-throated Green Warbler

We  had to be in Brooklyn for a couple of days so I took the opportunity to head over to Prospect Park, hoping to find some warblers.  I've been getting Peter's tweets all along while I've been in Whiting and while I've had plenty of good birding in my own backyard, it's always a case of the grass is greener.

I hadn't been to the park since before Hurricane Irene blew through and knocked down enough trees to make a decent forest. At one point I was walking along Lookout Hill when I stopped, looked around, and couldn't quite place where I was for a minute because so many of the trees around the steps leading down to the Maryland Monument were no longer there. Over on the peninsula there were so many trees blocking the "thumb" that it looks like it will take a hundred chainsaws to clean it up. 

As to warblers, I wasn't disappointed--9 species, including my FOY Black-throated Green Warbler (how did I miss that one up 'til now?) But the best and most surprising bird was the compliment to last week's Black-billed Cuckoo--a Yellow-billed Cuckoo on the side path of Lookout Hill.  I  was walking along when two birders (Jessie & Erin) waved me over to show me the bird, which was out in the open on the ground. I've never had better looks at a cuckoo--it was very calm and stayed in sight almost the entire 15 or so minutes we hung around that spot (which was also where we saw the Black-throated Green).  Usually cuckoos skulk around or stay very still high up in a tree--this one was so cooperative that I expected it to start signing autographs.

American Redstarts seem to be the most common warbler in the park--my count of 8 is conservative--hard to tell when they're fluttering around like falling leaves whether you're seeing the same one 2 or 3 times or different ones. Over on the peninsula I saw a Wilson's Warbler with it's black cap still fairly dark and a Blackpoll Warbler flitting about high in a tree. There was a couple of drab warblers I had to let go unidentified--looking at another birder's report today, I wonder if one of them might have been a Tennessee? 

It was good to be back in the park. I might be biased because of my familiarity with the place, but I think that acre for acre, it's one of the best birding spots on the East Coast.

We're back in Whiting now--all our common backyard birds were in attendance at the feeders this afternoon plus 2 Black-and-White Warblers. 

Prospect Park 
30 species
Canada Goose  55
Mute Swan  8
Mallard  60
Herring Gull  2
Rock Pigeon  6
Mourning Dove  4
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  1    Lookout Hill
Chimney Swift  10
Belted Kingfisher  1    Peninsula
Northern Flicker  2    Lookout Hill
Red-eyed Vireo  2
Blue Jay  4
Tufted Titmouse  1
Veery  1
American Robin  5
Gray Catbird  8
European Starling  1
Black-and-white Warbler  4
Common Yellowthroat  1    Lake
American Redstart  8
Northern Parula  1    Lake
Chestnut-sided Warbler  1    Lookout Hill
Blackpoll Warbler  1    Peninsula shelter
Pine Warbler  2    Lake
Black-throated Green Warbler  1    Lookout Hill
Wilson's Warbler  1    Peninsula shelter
Northern Cardinal  2
Red-winged Blackbird  1    Lake phragmites
American Goldfinch  1    Lily Pond
House Sparrow  70