Registrar: Susan Joseph
Trip Report: Arabella Pajoohi, age 10
Participants: 21
Weather: Mostly sunny, 66F, 7mph S winds
Bird Species: 36
Members of the New York State Young Birders Club met at the 72nd Street/Central Park West entrance to Central Park on a bright and unusually warm sunny morning that felt more like a summer day than mid-October. We couldn’t have asked for a better birding morning! Our trip leaders were Kevin Sisco and Janet Wooten, and our partner club was The Linnaean Society of New York.
We first ventured to Strawberry Fields, where, to our delight, we were greeted by quite a bit of morning bird activity. In some shrubs and smaller trees we spotted various sparrows, a Golden-crowned Kinglet, and some starlings. We also saw two Eastern Towhees flitting around in some young sumac trees. At the other side of the field, we soon noticed Blue Jays, sparrows, finches, and some activity higher up in the trees. Within a few minutes, more birds made their presence known to us, and with our binoculars and cameras at the ready, we were well into the double digits with multiple species. After spending some time watching cardinals, we crossed the West Drive, navigating among the morning joggers and cyclists, and made our way north to the Lake and Hernshead, a large rock outcropping by the Lake. As we made our way there, we spotted a Gray Catbird hopping around in a bush. At Hernshead, we climbed onto the rocks and spent a few minutes relishing the autumn sunshine before making our way down to the lake shore. We encountered some Canada Geese close to the shore and captured some close-up photos of the geese also enjoying the morning sun. Although Canada Geese may be common, it’s always a delight to see these beautiful larger waterfowl!!!!
We then walked around to the northwest corner of the Lake and stopped on the Oak Bridge to admire the amazing lake view and gaze at the starlings. After crossing the bridge, we entered the Central Park Ramble, a 37-acre heavily wooded area that is a famous spot for birders. We were not disappointed! A Red-tailed Hawk posed for many photos while watching us closely. We soon learned that this Red-tailed Hawk might be related to Pale Male, another Red-Tailed Hawk who has resided in or near Central Park since the 1990s. We also spotted two male Black-throated Blue Warblers who were moving from behind one tree to the next, and from one log to another, in their search for bugs. Unfortunately, we were not able to get good photos due to the warblers’ tendency to hop around and not stay in the same place for very long. We ventured over to Turtle Pond, where in addition to the many turtles swimming close to the pier and sunning themselves on rocks, we also saw some fish swimming close to the pier. At Turtle Pond we were treated to our first sighting of two Swamp Sparrows flitting about in the tussocks and clumps of reeds, along with a Belted Kingfisher.
We made our way around the pond up to the Belvedere Castle lookout, where, from up high, we spotted a large mother turtle and her two young sunning themselves on a rock while Blue Jays flew overhead. After some time soaking up the sun, we walked through the woods to Sparrow Rock and viewed Dark-eyed Juncos, some pigeons, White-throated Sparrows, and Chipping Sparrows. We also took a couple of minutes to break for a snack and water, and then made our way to the Arthur Ross Pinetum. To our delight, we saw yet another Red-tailed Hawk, a Palm Warbler, an Eastern Phoebe, and two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers—a fine way to end our birding adventure.
In sum, we saw 36 different species of birds with a total bird count of just over 175. What a great birding day with great company! What more could a young birder ask for?
Species Lists
Birds
Canada Goose
Mallard
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Herring Gull
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Brown Creeper
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Swainson’s Thrush
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
House Sparrow
House Finch
Chipping Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Common Grackle
Northern Parula
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Palm Warbler (Yellow)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
Indigo Bunting
Insects
Monarch Butterfly
Spicebush Swallowtail Caterpillar
