Registrar: Debbie Mullins
Participants: 9
Weather: 50-60 F, partly cloudy, northerly winds at 4 mph
Bird Species: 65
Due to recent severe storms, many of the trails at Doodletown, one of our favorite locations and a reliable location for spotting Cerulean Warblers, had to be closed for repairs. Richard kindly offered to lead a migration walk on Staten Island instead. Clove Lakes Park turned out to be a fantastic substitute for Doodletown, and we saw an amazing 65 species, including a Cerulean Warbler and, for at least one participant, a likely Bicknell’s Thrush.
We started at the southern end of the park and walked north along a beautiful wooded stream. The first birds we saw were a Spotted Sandpiper, a Least Sandpiper, and a Killdeer foraging on a mudflat at the south end of Clove Lake. As we continued walking north we were surrounded by bird song and were able to see most of the birds we were hearing. Thanks to some good “ear birding” and Merlin, we got brief looks at a continuously singing Cerulean Warbler, the target bird at Doodletown. Altogether, we saw 19 species of warblers and an amazing collection of other migrants, as well. Although we had originally planned to go to Snug Harbor in the afternoon, we all agreed that Clove Lakes Park was too good to leave, and we continued to spot additional species right up until we departed at mid-afternoon.
Species List
Canada Goose
Mallard
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Double-crested Cormorant
Black-crowned Night Heron
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Great Crested Flycatcher
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
crow sp.
Barn Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
House Wren
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Veery
Bicknell’s Thrush
Swainson’s Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Black-and-white Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Cerulean Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Canada Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
