Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Central Park 9/4--Philadelphia Vireo, American Redstart, Canada Warbler

Finally, finally, finally a couple of new warblers and a relatively rare vireo. I had to make a supply run into Manhattan today for Shari and while the city was muggy and the sky overcast, I didn't just want to be a messenger so even though I really wasn't much in the mood, I took the subway up to Central Park and I'm glad I did.

A good strategy for birding, especially in a popular spot like CP is to look for other birders. Wandering through the Ramble (where I am almost immediately lost, always) I saw a group of birders looking intently into some trees on the side of the Maintenance Meadow. I moseyed on over just in time for someone to pick out a Brown Thrasher in some underbrush. Turning to look into the trees I mentioned that there were a couple of Veerys in there. "Oh there's lots of Veerys in there," someone replied, "and Red-eyed Vireos and a Swainson's Thrush." I never saw the Swainson's, but the vireos popped out a moment or two later. Then a Yellow-breasted Chat; that was an unexpected treat. Another vireo, but plainer, no eye stripe, all yellow on the breast and vent--Philadelphia Vireo, usually a hard one to find in NYC. Another bird flew out of the trees into some trees behind us. At first we thought it was the vireo; instead it turned out to be an American Redstart, either a juvenile or a female. My first redstart of the year, which seems very improbable. A pewee was at the top of a tree and Great Crested Flycatcher made a stunning appearance. Just as I thought things were petering out, a Canada Warbler emerged from the leaves and sat on a bare branch for a couple of seconds. A Merlin flew overhead. That was one hell of a productive spot, plus I got to meet Anders, whose posts I follow on ebirdnyc--I still subscribe to that list even though we live in NJ; I like to know what's going on in the city.

So 19 birds for the day including 3 FOY. It put me in a better frame of mind than if I had just slogged in and out of the city. I was even able to hang onto a wisp of the good mood while I drove 60 miles home from Metropark in a pounding rainstorm.

Today's list:
Mallard  8    Turtle Pond
Rock Pigeon  4
Mourning Dove  1
Merlin  1    f/o Maintenance Meadow
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1    Maintenance Meadow
Great Crested Flycatcher  1    Maintenance Meadow
Philadelphia Vireo  1    Maintenance Meadow
Red-eyed Vireo  3    Maintenance Meadow
Blue Jay  1    Heard
Veery  4    Maintenance Meadow
American Robin  10
Gray Catbird  8
Northern Mockingbird  1    Maintenance Meadow
Brown Thrasher  1    Maintenance Meadow
European Starling  25
American Redstart  2    Maintenance Meadow
Canada Warbler  1    Maintenance Meadow
Yellow-breasted Chat  1    Maintenance Meadow
House Sparrow  20

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