Saturday, April 30, 2011

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


Friday, April 29, 2011

Prospect Park 4/29--YBCU, BLBW, SCTA

As I was entering the park this morning, Peter put out a tweet that warbler activity on Lookout Hill was "decent" including Tennessee and Cape May Warbler, so I headed in that direction. I wasn't even there when another tweet came in about a Black-billed Cuckoo on the path above the Wellhouse, west of the Maryland Monument. Directionally challenged as I am in the park, it took me a few minutes to figure out which part of the path was west and after a cursory look I gave up and continued up to Lookout, where, by the time I got there, the action had died down to yellow-rumps and a couple of pines, with towhees and catbirds jumping on and off the path.

I ran into Peter and Keir there and soon Rob B came along. Three great birders and with Peter obviously being a bird magnet today I tagged along with them. And that strategy worked: Blackburnian Warbler, Yellow-billed Cuckoo (a rarity this time of year), and Scarlet Tanager (female) all along Center Drive.

Keir peeled off after the tanager and the three of us continued north but activity died down after around 10. It's funny how hot spots can overnight turn into not spots: not a blessed bird at the compost pile. (And then later, turn back into a hot spot--the Prothonotary Warbler was reported there again, mid afternoon!) The Rose Garden, Vale, and Nelly's Lawn had Chipping Sparrows (6 picking at one dandelion), Northern Parulas, and a Baltimore Oriole.

Later on, by my lonesome on the Peninsula there were a couple of more warblers (yellow-rumps, as usual, were everywhere) and a couple of species of swallows, though even they seemed sparse compared to the last few times I've been there.

The lake was empty save for 6 cormorants and a few ducks, gulls, and those aquatic pigeons known as swans.

A decent day--there were something like 22 species of warbler reported by all the birders (and there were a lot of them in the park today). In sports, you can't win 'em all. In birding, you can't see 'em all, to my teeth-gnashing frustration.
Number of species:    40
Canada Goose    6
Mute Swan    4
Mallard    15
Double-crested Cormorant    6
Red-tailed Hawk    2
Herring Gull    10
Rock Pigeon    2
Mourning Dove    3
Yellow-billed Cuckoo    1    Left side Nethemead bridge above path
Red-bellied Woodpecker    4
Downy Woodpecker    1
Northern Flicker    1    Center Drive
Blue Jay    2
Tree Swallow    2    Peninsula
Barn Swallow    7    Lake
Black-capped Chickadee    3
Tufted Titmouse    1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    1    Peninsula
Hermit Thrush    1    Midwood
American Robin
    75
Gray Catbird    7
European Starling    75
Northern Parula    4
Yellow Warbler    3
Yellow-rumped Warbler
    30
Blackburnian Warbler    1    Center Drive horse trail inside woods
Pine Warbler    3
Palm Warbler    1    Center Drive
Black-and-white Warbler    1    Peninsula
Eastern Towhee
    5
Chipping Sparrow    7    Nelly's Lawn & Peninsula
Song Sparrow
    2    Peninsula
White-throated Sparrow    25
Scarlet Tanager    1    Center Drive (female)
Northern Cardinal
    10
Red-winged Blackbird    25
Common Grackle    15
Brown-headed Cowbird    4    Center Drive & Wellhouse Drive
Baltimore Oriole    1    Vale
House Sparrow
    5

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Prospect Park 4/26--Prothonotary Warbler

Shari & I went to the park late this afternoon, hoping to find the Worm-eating Warbler
Scene: A saloon in Deadeye, North Dakota.
Cowboy 1 (Slamming beer down on bar)to Cowboy 2: Why you Worm-eating Warbler!
Cowboy 2: Smile when you say that.
(Gunfight ensues)
reported there.

We didn't find it in the Vale of Cashmere, but there were lots of other birds including our FOY Baltimore Oriole and Northern Parula. A new site in the park is a compost/mulch pile north of the zoo. Compost attracts bugs. Bugs attract warblers. We walked over there and the place was jumping with warblers, including a brilliant Prothonotary Warbler, which was fairly tame, allowing very close, "naked eye" looks.  Not a lifer, but almost as good.
Photo: Shari Zirlin
29 species, mostly from the Vale and the compost pile.
Mallard    4
Red-tailed Hawk    2
Rock Pigeon    3
Mourning Dove    4
Red-bellied Woodpecker    1
Downy Woodpecker    1
Northern Flicker    2
Blue Jay    1
Black-capped Chickadee    1
Red-breasted Nuthatch    1
American Robin    50
Gray Catbird    2
European Starling    25
Northern Parula    2
Yellow Warbler    1
Black-throated Blue Warbler    3
Yellow-rumped Warbler    5
Palm Warbler    6
Black-and-white Warbler    2
Prothonotary Warbler    1
Common Yellowthroat    2
Eastern Towhee    1
Swamp Sparrow    1
White-throated Sparrow    15
Northern Cardinal    2
Red-winged Blackbird    5
Baltimore Oriole    1
American Goldfinch    1
House Sparrow    25