Registrar: Mary Beth Kooper Report Narrative by: Anne Lazarus Participants: 16 Weather: 71 – 79°F, Gentle N – SW winds Bird Species: 50 + 4 other taxa
Neither rain nor any weather possibility or high East Pond levels could stop us. We thank our amazing leader, Keith, for finding so many exciting birds for us. We appreciate it all. The skippers skipped away very quickly, and only one Pearl Crescent was cooperative. We also saw Green Darners and one Black Saddlebags.
Species Lists
Birds Canada Goose Mute Swan Blue-winged Teal Gadwall Mallard American Black Duck Green-winged Teal Ruddy Duck duck sp. Mourning Dove Killdeer Semipalmated Plover Short-billed Dowitcher Spotted Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs Greater Yellowlegs Stilt Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper peep sp. Laughing Gull Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Black Skimmer Least Tern Forster’s Tern Double-crested Cormorant Yellow-crowned Night Heron Black-crowned Night Heron Little Blue Heron Snowy Egret Great Egret Great Blue Heron Glossy Ibis Osprey Peregrine Falcon Empidonax sp. Tree Swallow Barn Swallow swallow sp. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Carolina Wren European Starling Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird American Robin House Sparrow Song Sparrow Red-winged Blackbird Boat-tailed Grackle Yellow Warbler Northern Cardinal
Insects Black Saddlebags Cabbage White Green Darner Monarch Butterfly Pearl Crescent Spotted Lanternfly
Registrar: Debbie Mullins Participants: 12 Weather: Partly cloudy, southerly winds at 5-10 mph, mid 70`s F Bird Species: 34
Twelve birders spent a delightful morning at Cupsogue Beach County Park with Eileen Schwinn, an expert Suffolk County birder who has logged many hours at this location. We started the day with a scan of the saltmarsh from the parking lot. Both Saltmarsh and Seaside Sparrows were seen, as well as a Willow Flycatcher taking advantage of a large hatch-out. We then did a brief sea watch from the platform leading out to the beach; it yielded a few shearwaters, likely Greater or Corey’s, but they were too distant to identify with certainty. On the roadway out to the bay, a Merlin was observed, along with several passerines.
We arrived at the bay about two hours before dead low tide and found an abundance of terns, gulls, and shorebirds on the sandbars and mud flats. Hundreds of Common Terns and about a dozen Royal Terns were present, in addition to a good variety of shorebirds. We were delighted to see a Marbled Godwit foraging on the edge of Spoil Island, and a Pectoral Sandpiper was spotted near the area favored by the Royal Terns. Aware of an approaching storm, we wrapped up around noon and enjoyed lunch together at the snack bar before departing.
Species Lists
Birds Mute Swan American Oystercatcher Black-bellied Plover Semipalmated Plover Piping Plover Marbled Godwit Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Willet Laughing Gull Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Least Tern Common Tern Royal Tern Common Loon shearwater sp. Double-crested Cormorant Great Egret Snowy Egret Yellow-crowned Night Heron Glossy Ibis Merlin Willow Flycatcher Tree Swallow Barn Swallow Northern Mockingbird Seaside Sparrow Saltmarsh Sparrow Song Sparrow
Registrar: Richard Davis Participants: 19 Weather: 78–82 F. Mostly sunny, N winds 5 mph. Bird Species: 16
Nineteen Linnaeans and botany enthusiasts gathered on a warm sunny morning to wander in available tree shade and light breezes around the Pool and briefly into the Ravine of northern Central Park. Many participants commented on the broad knowledge and enthusiasm of walk leader Regina Alvarez, whose experience in Central Park and in teaching is an excellent combination for transmitting information about the plant life of the Park and the way it has been managed over the years.
She started by lending magnifying loupes to participants, explaining that a jeweler’s loupe at 10x would be best for field study. She demonstrated how to use them by bringing the loupe quite close to the face and resting it against the cheek to hold it near the eye. The object to study must be very near the bottom of the glass.
Our first stop was at a hawthorne tree with quite a bit of cedar-apple rust, which exhibited as small, ball-shaped, reddish clumps with short hairs or tentacles, but is actually a fungus.
She pointed out which plants are native, which non-native, and which invasive. For example, we quickly encountered pokeweed, which is native and produces berries that birds love but are highly toxic to humans. (You can make ink with them.) In contrast, porcelain berry, a non-native invasive from temperate Asia in the grape family, should always be quickly removed from gardens and other habitats, as it will overwhelm and destroy native plant life.
The pokeweed and deadly nightshade sparked a discussion about foraging and the risks to an inexperienced forager. In general, foraging is not advisable in an ecosystem like that of Central Park, which would suffer greatly if thousands of visitors took up the practice.
Virginia knotweed (native) also known as touch-me-not, offered an amusing opportunity to demonstrate seed dispersal, with the seeds popping off and flying to quite a distance. Birds are also fans.
A young black cherry tree’s bark (native) exhibited prominent horizontal lenticels, or striations, that allow for gas exchange—that is, for the plant to breathe. As the plant grows older, as seen lower on the trunk, it develops what looks like burnt potato chip skin. The berry of this tree is beloved by birds and used for the black cherry flavor of soft drinks.
We observed a tulip tree (native) that demonstrated an ability to self prune, with lower shaded branches falling off as the tree grows, leaving a faint mark on the trunk that eventually fades. It is one of our tallest trees, and its long, straight trunk is made of a soft wood that is great for telephone poles, beams, and dugout canoes.
A large oak tree (native) near the birdbath area of the Pool was a fine example of a keystone species—that is, one that many other species depend on thanks to the enormous number of insects they host.
Burdock (non-native) was an example of a biennial, an individual plant with a lifespan of just two years.
The spice bush is a native wetland shrub that offers a fruit high in lipids to birds; it is a form of metabolic energy for migrating birds that is preferable to fruits loaded with sugar. The leaves produce a compound, the spice scent or flavor, that is a predator defense mechanism.
We came upon mugwort, also not native, which was probably brought over by colonists as a medicinal plant. Mugwort, among other plants, produces compounds to deter insects; this can create a detectable odor, which wanes by late summer, after plant reproduction has occurred. Mugwort is an invasive species, taking over open sunny areas.
In the Ravine we spotted some native hydrangea being visited by a native bee. Regina explained that native wild bees are critical for “buzz pollination,” a form of pollination that domesticated bees (honeybees) cannot perform, in which the bee vibrates to dislodge pollen. Plants in the tomato (nightshade) family require this type of pollination to reproduce.
We encountered poison ivy (native), reaching onto the path on a wooden bridge in the Ravine. Regina explained that the Park has a policy of managing rather than eradicating this plant, which produces berries popular with 60 species of birds, as well as the urushiol oil that stimulates an allergic reaction in approximately half the people who come in contact with it.
Species Lists
Birds Mallard Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Chimney Swift Northern Flicker Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay European Starling Gray Catbird American Robin House Sparrow American Goldfinch Common Grackle Northern Waterthrush Black-and-white Warbler Northern Cardinal
Plants
Trees—Native Black Locust Honey Locust Hackberry American Sycamore Black Cherry Tulip Tree Tupelo Tree (Black Gum) American Sweetgum Tree Bald Cypress Sassafras Oak Tree Red Oak Black Walnut Red Maple Red Buckeye Pin Oak Hornbeam Sweetbay Magnolia Hickory (species) Serviceberry or Shad Bush Eastern Redbud
Trees—Hybrid London Plane
Trees—Non-Native Weeping Willow White Mulberry Ginkgo
Shrubs, Vines and Flowers—Native Sweet Pepperbush Purple Flowering Raspberry Pokeweed Hackberry Blackberry Jewelweed Poison Ivy Woodland Sunflower Wolffia (Watermeal) Duckweed Virginia Knotweed American Plantain White Baneberry (Doll’s Eyes) Spicebush Wild Bergamot (Beebalm) Native rose Arrowwood viburnum White Wood Aster White Snakeroot Green-headed Coneflower Purple Coneflower Staghorn Sumac Cardinal Flower Blue Lobelia Joe-Pye Weed Black Raspberry Witch Hazel Elderberry Lizard’s Tail
Shrubs, Vines and Flowers—Non-native European Plantain Mugwort Wineberry Porcelain Berry Japanese Knotweed Bittersweet Nightshade Devil’s Walkingstick Burdock Weed
Registrar: Mary Beth Kooper Participants: 17 Weather: 78 – 82°F, gentle breeze, wind SE – NE Bird Species: 51
We had a wonderful day of birding on Staten Island. Our leader, life-long Staten Islander Howie Fisher, started our day off at Conference House Park, where the highlight was a White-eyed Vireo. From there we went to nearby Joline Avenue Beach, where we had the days most spectacular birds; Caspian and Royal Terns and seven Brown Pelicans! Our next stop was to see the annually nesting Purple Martins which are always a treat to see. Our last stop as a full group was to Wolfe’s Pond Park, where we were hoping to see the Neotropic Cormorant that had been around recently, but we had no luck with that bird. A few participants made one last stop, at Oakwood Beach, and we were treated to seeing a Little Blue Heron and a Marsh Wren.
Species List
Bird Species Canada Goose Mute Swan Mallard Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) Mourning Dove Chimney Swift American Oystercatcher Killdeer Laughing Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Black Skimmer Caspian Tern Common Tern Royal Tern Double-crested Cormorant Brown Pelican Black-crowned Night Heron Little Blue Heron Snowy Egret Great Egret Great Blue Heron Turkey Vulture Osprey Bald Eagle Red-bellied Woodpecker Downey Woodpecker Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) Eastern Kingbird White-eyed Vireo Blue Jay Fish Crow Tree Swallow Purple Martin Barn Swallow White-breasted Nuthatch House Wren Marsh Wren Carolina Wren European Starling Gray Catbird American Robin House Sparrow American Goldfinch Song Sparrow Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Common Yellowthroat Yellow Warbler Northern Cardinal Indigo Bunting
Registrar: Anne Lazarus Participants: 17 Weather: Sunny, mid-70s with winds to the north at 3.7 mph Bird Species: 34
On this beautiful late spring morning in Van Cortlandt Park, over one thousand acres of nature and park space in the Bronx, the group saw a nice variety of birds, bugs, and several other animal species, including two types of snakes and an Eastern cottontail. The participants were excited to see the Silvery Checkerspot, one of twelve different butterflies and moths seen on the trip. Ken Chaya, naturalist and the day’s walk leader, also pointed out various interesting beetles, grasshoppers, and other bugs that could easily be overlooked. The bird highlights of the walk were a Scarlet Tanager, a Green Heron, and a perching Eastern Kingbird, which provided a nice photo op for the nature photographers in the group. It was also exciting for the group to see a nest of hungry baby barn swallows being fed, a nice reminder that as spring migration closes, the peak of nesting season for many local bird species is here.
Species List Birds Canada Goose Wood Duck Mallard Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Chimney Swifts Green Heron Black-crowned Night Heron Red-bellied Woodpecker Northern Flicker Eastern Wood-Pewee Eastern Kingbird Warbling Vireo Blue Jay Tree Swallow Rough-winged Swallow Barn Swallow White-breasted Nuthatch House Wren Wood Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird European Starling Cedar Waxwing House Sparrow American Goldfinch Song Sparrow Baltimore Oriole Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Yellow Warbler Scarlet Tanager Northern Cardinal Lepidoptera – Butterflies and Moths Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) Cabbage White-multiple (Pieris rapae) Red-banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops) Banded Hairstreak (Satyrium calamus) Summer Azure (Celastrina ladon) Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis) Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) Least Skipper (Ancyloxypha numitor) Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) Dun Skipper (Euphyes vestris) Orange-patched Smoky Moth (Phyromorpha dimidiata) Four-dotted Agonopterix Moth (Agonopterix robiniella) Odonata – Dragonflies and Damselflies Eastern Forktail (Ischnura verticalis) Fragile Forktail (Ischnura posita) Variable Dancer (Argia fumipennis) Whitetail Skimmer (Plathemis lydia) Click Beetle (Subtribe Dendrometrina) Coleoptera – Beetles Rose Curculio (Merhynchites bicolor) Horned Passalus aka Bess Beetle (Odontotaenius disjunctus) Leaf Beetle (Paria sp.) Lily Leaf Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) Asian Ladybird Beetle Larva and Pupa Case (Harmonia axyridis) Hymenoptera – Bees, Wasps, and Ants Bumble Bee Mimic Robber Fly (Laphria thoracica) Bicolored Striped Sweat Bee (Agapostemon virescens) Square-headed Wasp (Cerceris sp.) Yellow Mud-dauber Wasp (Sceliphron caementarium) Chestnut Carpenter Ant (Camponotus castaneus) Diptera – Flies Robber Fly (Atomosia puella) Long-legged Fly (Condylostylus patibulatus) Sepsis Fly (Nempoda nitidula) Narrow-headed Marsh Fly (Heliophilus fasciatus) Stilt-legged Fly (Rainieria antennaepes) Hemiptera – True Bugs Green Stink Bug (Chinavia hilaris) Leafhopper (Pagaronia minor) Four-lined Plant Bug (Poecilocapsus lineatus) Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) Orthoptera – Grasshoppers, Kadydids, and Crickets Short-horned Grasshopper (Acridoidea Family) Kadydid (Tettigoniidae Family) North American Spur-throated Grasshopper (Melanoplus sp.) Fork-tailed Bush Kadydid nymph (Scudderia furcata) Neuroptera Red-lipped Green Lacewing nymph (Chrysoperla rufilabris) Other Invertebrates Eastern Harvestman (Leiobunum vittatum)
Registrar: Mary Beth Kooper Participants: 17 Weather: Clear sky, smoke, haze, 56 – 69°F, Light N – S breeze Bird Species: 37
Species Lists
Birds Canada Goose King Eider Surf Scoter Black Scoter Mourning Dove American Oystercatcher Piping Plover Killdeer Sanderling Willet Laughing Gull Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Least Tern Gull-billed Tern Black Tern White-winged Tern Roseate Tern Common Tern Arctic Tern Black Skimmer Wilson’s Storm-Petrel Northern Gannet Double-crested Cormorant Osprey Barn Swallow European Starling Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird American Robin House Sparrow Song Sparrow Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Boat-tailed Grackle Northern Cardinal
Registrar: Debbie Mullins Participants: 22 Weather: 56–68 degrees F, clear, winds ENE at 15 mph Bird Species: 34
With spring migration winding down, the number of species we saw today was the lowest for any Tuesday walk of the season. They included only one warbler, but it was exciting to see nesting Wood Thrushes and Eastern Kingbirds as well as our resident Great Horned Owl, Geraldine. Many thanks to Kevin, who led all the spring migration walks this season and to all our other volunteer leaders.
Species List
Birds Canada Goose Gadwall Mallard Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) Mourning Dove Chimney Swift Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Double-crested Cormorant Black-crowned Night-Heron Red-tailed Hawk Great Horned Owl Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Warbling Vireo Blue Jay European Starling Gray Catbird Wood Thrush American Robin Cedar Waxwing House Sparrow House Finch White-throated Sparrow Baltimore Oriole Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Blackpoll Warbler Scarlet Tanager Northern Cardinal
The final walk of the season took place on a sunny and mild morning. Birds of several species, including a Baltimore Oriole, were quietly building nests, while Warbling Vireos laid claim to territories with their songs. Among the highlights were a surprise flyover by an Osprey, an Eastern Kingbird at Turtle Pond, and Wood Thrushes in the Ramble. At the Point, a Blackpoll sang out, perhaps the last warbler of the season to leave.
Species List
Birds Canada Goose Gadwall Mallard Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Chimney Swift Herring Gull Double-crested Cormorant Osprey Red-tailed Hawk Downy Woodpecker Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Warbling Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Carolina Wren European Starling Gray Catbird Wood Thrush American Robin Cedar Waxwing House Sparrow Baltimore Oriole Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Blackpoll Warbler Northern Cardinal
