We had a great group of 10 birders total for our trip to Prospect Park with Tom Stephenson. We birded for about 7 hours and saw 64 species, 19 warblers. The highlight was the Mourning warbler and the Wilson’s and we saw so many Bay Breasted, we got flagged on eBird.
Species Lists Birds Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Green Heron Turkey Vulture Canada Goose Mute Swan Wood Duck Mallard Osprey Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper’s Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Spotted Sandpiper Herring Gull Rock Dove Mourning Dove Yellow-billed Cuckoo Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Eastern Wood-Pewee Eastern Phoebe White-eyed Vireo Blue-headed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay Carolina Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet Veery Swainson’s Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird European Starling Cedar Waxwing Nashville Warbler Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler Cape May Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Prairie Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Mourning Warbler Common Yellowthroat Wilson’s Warbler Scarlet Tanager Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Common Grackle American Goldfinch House Sparrow
Barrier islands can experience magical days during migration season, and it’s a gift to birders that even slower days on Fire Island in early fall are excellent. For this year’s Watch Hill walk, led by the American Museum of Natural History’s Paul Sweet, the winds weren’t quite right to deliver anything exceptional or hugely unexpected; nevertheless, an excellent day of birding was had by all.
On the Watch Hill walk, arguably the two headline birds are usually the two Ammospiza sparrows, Saltmarsh and Seaside, as both species breed in the marsh just a few minutes from the ferry dock. This year, neither the Saltmarsh nor the Seaside was active and showy; however, everyone got at least brief looks at them. Though we didn’t find an abundance of warblers in the more wooded areas of Watch Hill, some handsome Baltimore Orioles picked up the slack with the sheer entertainment value of their posturing. As is usually the case in mid-September, a healthy number of migrating monarch butterflies were on the island, and we saw a smattering of Royal and Forster’s Terns foraging offshore, plus a (small) raft of Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the beach. There was also some nice raptor diversity, with 10-plus Ospreys, a Bald Eagle and a handful of Merlins and Northern Harriers (including a gray ghost) passing through.
Species Lists
Birds Canada Goose Mute Swan Mallard American Black Duck Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Ruby-throated Hummingbird Laughing Gull Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Forster’s Tern Royal Tern Double-crested Cormorant Snowy Egret Great Egret Great Blue Heron Osprey Northern Harrier Bald Eagle Belted Kingfisher Northern Flicker Merlin Eastern Wood-Pewee Least Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe American Crow Fish Crow Black-capped Chickadee European Starling Gray Catbird Brown Thrasher Northern Mockingbird Cedar Waxwing House Sparrow American Goldfinch Seaside Sparrow Saltmarsh Sparrow Eastern Towhee Baltimore Oriole Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Black-and-white Warbler Common Yellowthroat American Redstart Cape May Warbler Magnolia Warbler Yellow Warbler Palm Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler
Registrar: Gillian Henry Participants: 15 Weather: 63 F, clear and sunny with northwest winds Bird Species: 50
It was a beautiful September morning when at 8 am we met our leader, Rob Jett, to begin an eventful walk through Green-Wood Cemetery in search of fall migrants. The day was incredibly birdy, and we saw 15 warbler species, including a Connecticut and a very cooperative Hooded Warbler! There were also many great views of flying hawks and, of course, the famous Monk Parakeets were seen and heard tending their huge colonial stick nest above the main entrance to the cemetery. Altogether, we had 50 species and a delightful day of fall birding!
Species Lists
Birds Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) Mourning Dove Chimney Swift Laughing Gull Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Double-crested Cormorant Little Blue Heron Osprey Broad-winged Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker American Kestrel Peregrine Falcon Monk Parakeet Eastern Wood-Pewee Eastern Phoebe Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Common Raven Blue-gray Gnatcatcher European Starling Gray Catbird Brown Thrasher Northern Mockingbird Veery Swainson’s Thrush American Robin Cedar Waxwing House Finch American Goldfinch Ovenbird Black-and-white Warbler Connecticut Warbler Common Yellowthroat Hooded Warbler American Redstart Northern Parula Magnolia Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Palm Warbler Prairie Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Rose-breasted Grosbeak Mammals Groundhog
Registrar: Mary Beth Kooper Participants: 9 Weather: 59 – 65°F, N moderate winds Bird Species: 53
Species List
Birds:
Canada Goose
American Black Duck
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Mourning Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Killdeer
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Black-crowned Night Heron
Great Blue Heron
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Merlin
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
House Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Song Sparrow
Baltimore Oriole
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Although the birding was slow and the sky started off gray, many intrepid birders stayed with the leaders until the afternoon. They ended up with a nice list and traveled all the way to the north end of Central Park. Species Lists
Birds Canada Goose Gadwall Mallard Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) Mourning Dove Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Double-crested Cormorant Black-crowned Night-Heron Cooper’s Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Northern Flicker American Kestrel Eastern Wood-Pewee Great Crested Flycatcher Epidonax sp. Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow House Wren Carolina Wren European Starling Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Veery Swainson’s Thrush Wood Thrush American Robin House Sparrow Chipping Sparrow (h) White-throated Sparrow Baltimore Oriole Common Grackle Northern Waterthrush Black-and-white Warbler Tennessee Warbler Common Yellowthroat American Redstart Northern Parula Magnolia Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Scarlet Tanager (h) Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak
A group of 18 birders arrived at our meeting place hoping to get a morning’s worth of birding in before the forecasted rain started.
Highlights of the walk were a Scarlet Tanager and a few warblers, including Chestnut-sided Warbler, Northern Parula and an Ovenbird.
We ended the walk a little before noon, just as the rain was starting to come down steadily.
Species Lists
Birds Gadwall Mallard Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) Mourning Dove Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird Double-crested Cormorant Cooper’s Hawk Northern Flicker Warbling Vireo Blue Jay American Crow crow sp. Carolina Wren European Starling Gray Catbird Veery American Robin House Sparrow House Finch American Goldfinch Common Grackle Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Black-and-white Warbler Common Yellowthroat American Redstart Northern Parula Chestnut-sided Warbler Palm Warbler new world warbler sp. Scarlet Tanager Northern Cardinal
Registrars: Susan Joseph and Mary Beth Kooper Participants: 35 Weather: 75 – 83°F, Light breeze N – SW Bird Species: 35
This September, we went on a walk led by Kevin Sisco and Carine Mitchell from the Linnaean Society of New York in Central Park. This walk was a huge success and a great way to start the fall migration season.
Central Park was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux and completed in 1858. Olmstead and Vaux are famous for designing other natural spaces around NYC, including Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. It should be noted that many people were displaced to build Central Park, including the predominantly black residents of Seneca Village, a settlement that provided an escape from the racism they faced in other parts of Manhattan.
Today, despite welcoming 42 million people each year, Central Park is a haven for birds, especially migrating songbirds during the spring and fall. Warblers, sparrows, tanagers, thrushes, flycatchers, and more are funneled into the park because it is one of the only habitats in the vast urban landscape of New York where they can rest on their long journeys. This creates a unique opportunity for birders, who can see their favorite migratory birds in high concentrations.
It wasn’t long before we spotted our first migratory bird of the walk: a Black-and-white Warbler foraging near the Park’s entrance. The Black-and-white Warbler is one of the more common migrants in NYC, but they’re still really fun to watch as they creep along the trunks and branches of trees looking for insects.
Eventually, we headed towards the Ramble. This area of the park is full of deep forests and winding paths. When you’re walking through it, it’s easy to forget you’re in one of the biggest cities in the world. With its dense undergrowth and abundant streams and ponds, the Ramble is the perfect habitat for migrating songbirds. We spotted a lot of these fall visitors on the walk: Common Yellowthroat, more Black-and-white warblers, American Redstart, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, a Great Crested Flycatcher, a Northern Parula, and a Baltimore Oriole. We also saw two species of vireo (Warbling and Red-eyed), which resemble warblers but with hooked, less delicate beaks. We were lucky enough to spot three species of thrush: Veery, Swainson’s, and the Wood Thrush.
Another highlight of the walk was seeing a flock of about ten Chimney Swifts flying above. These birds, which spend most of their lives flying, are common in New York during the summer and always fun to watch. We caught them just before they headed off on their long migration to the Amazon Rainforest.
We of course saw the usual year-round residents of the park: Carolina Wren, American Robin, Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Mourning Dove, Mallard, and more. There was even some non-avian wildlife. We saw not one but two raccoons on this walk and a sloth (not a real sloth, a sloth keychain hanging in a tree).
This walk, which took place during the busy start of the school year, was the perfect reminder that even when you have a lot going on, taking a break to go outside and look for birds is always worth it. Thank you to Kevin and Carine from the Linnaean Society for leading this incredible walk, and everyone else who helped make it possible!
Canada Goose Mallard Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) Mourning Dove Chimney Swift Herring Gull Double-crested Cormorant Red-tailed Hawk Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Eastern Wood-Pewee Great Crested Flycatcher Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay Carolina Wren European Starling Gray Catbird Veery Swainson’s Thrush Wood Thrush American Robin House Sparrow House Finch Baltimore Oriole Brown-headed Cowbird Common Grackle Northern Waterthrush Black-and-white Warbler Common Yellowthroat American Redstart Northern Parula Black-throated Blue Warbler Northern Cardinal
NYS Young Birders Candid @ 2023 Susan JosephNYS Young Birders Group @ 2023 Susan Joseph
Birds are savvy creatures, built for survival. Birders, maybe less so, but still aware of basic needs and of what constitutes unnecessarily reckless behavior. These empty platitudes are relevant to my explanation of why the 2023 Linnaean Society of New York trip to Rockefeller State Park Preserve and its near neighbor, Croton Point Park, was a little challenging, with fewer birds than expected appearing on our checklist. It was very hot, humid, and sunny from the time we met at RSPP, just a little past dawn, and although we were aware of many birds—warblers flitting from branch to branch, other migrants moving from one tree to another—actually seeing them was challenging. Most of them could be heard or “sensed,” but stayed hidden within the cooler inner recesses of the foliage. (For the photographers among us, getting any usable shots was mostly a fool’s errand.)
Thankfully, with the very capable Anne Swaim at the helm and the collective birding skill of the group, we ear-birded and defied the practical challenges of tracking down birds to assemble a very respectable list at Rockefeller. We logged 10 species of warbler, with standouts being Prairie and Tennessee. Other highlights included Yellow-throated Vireo, Pileated Woodpecker (always a treat for NYC residents) and Least Flycatcher. Interestingly, there were no sightings of raptors such as Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk or Bald Eagle—which we knew were present—but we saw both Merlin and Broad-winged Hawk.
After wrapping up at Rockefeller, we drove the 20-odd minutes to Croton, where we had lunch (in the shade) before embarking on a brief jaunt around the parts of the park that were not overly exposed. We added Belted Kingfisher and a handful of Turkey Vultures, Ospreys and Double-Crested Cormorants to our haul for the day before eschewing the hill (where American Kestrel, Northern Harrier, and a handful of sparrow species were no doubt waiting for us) and opting instead to escape sunburn/heat exhaustion and call it a day. We had fun!
Species Canada Goose Mourning Dove Ruby-throated Hummingbird Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Turkey Vulture Osprey Broad-winged Hawk Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker Northern Flicker Merlin Eastern Wood-Pewee Least Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Great Crested Flycatcher Yellow-throated Vireo Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Black-capped Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Blue-gray Gnatcatcher House Wren Carolina Wren European Starling Gray Catbird Eastern Bluebird American Robin Cedar Waxwing House Sparrow American Goldfinch Song Sparrow Eastern Towhee Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Common Grackle Black-and-white Warbler Tennessee Warbler American Redstart Cape May Warbler Northern Parula Bay-breasted Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Prairie Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Scarlet Tanager Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak
