CENTRAL PARK BIRDING
New York City Day Trip

Leaders: Luke Tiller & Catherine Hamilton            
Report taken from: Luke Tiller's Blog - http://underclearskies.com/   
Link to this article on the blog>>   Scroll down for Trip List

Black-and-White Warbler. Photo by Walt Duncan

Saturday, May 8, 2010
Highlights: 25 species of warbler, plus other goodies!

Saturday saw me heading off to Central Park for the almost annual Sunrise Birding trip to Central Park. I have to say I love birding Central Park. It is the place that really introduced me to how great spring migration could be and it also fits in with my enjoyment of finding birds in the most unlikely of urban and suburban confines. I have posted before about how to approach birding Central Park on the blog (here). There are a few options but mainly I like to work the west side of the park and the Ramble areas. The forecast for Saturday (scattered thunderstorms and winds later in the day) was not wholly promising and I tinkered with delaying the trip, however a glimmer of hope appeared in the shape of a light southerly wind the night before the walk after a few days of northerly winds which. It was this that I hoped might bring a fresh influx of new birds in New York City.

We picked up the majority of the group at Grand Central Station off of the early Metro North train and then awaited others who decide to meet us at the park itself. Ably assisting on the day as co-leader was Catherine ‘birdspot’ Hamilton – crack NYC birder and someone who knows the ins and outs of the parks ramble like the back of her hand. These are two key skills, as although I have visited the park a number of times, there is still the propensity to get turned around whilst wandering the warren that is the Park's Ramble area.

As we stepped into the park I quickly realized that the gamble was going to pay off. The first few trees that we encountered at the 81 st Street entrance, although not as loaded as they had been on a previous visit on April 30th, were obviously hopping with recently arrived birds. A stop at a productive clump of trees quickly garnered us views of at least a half dozen warbler species, as Yellow Warbler, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blues, Parula’s and Black-and-Whites jostled for position in the feeding scrum. Other highlights included a first ‘Traills’ type flycatcher of the year – if you put a gun to my head I’d have gone for Willow (almost no eye-ring) – luckily though no-one was.

We then swung past a few of the parks hot-spots. The Upper Lobe produced a nice Swainson’s Thrush, and a fairly uncooperative Lincoln’s Sparrow, as well as another mix of more common warblers. We were soon at the Belvedere Castle to pick up a few more warblers but managed to miss out on a Cape May that seemed only to return to the locust tree there whenever we weren’t in sight. After sitting out the only heavy burst of rain under the pagoda at the castle (which annoyingly seemed to drive off or at least shut up the only Tennessee I heard on the day), we were soon picking up more goodies including both male and female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Baltimore Orioles.

With a tip to try the point next up, we soon had our only Canada Warbler of the day amongst the usual throng of Magnolias, BT Blues and Parulas. Another treat was getting to see the Common Moorhen that was resting up in the park after having been discovered wandering on Broadway the day before – doesn’t everyone have a NYC story like that. As we wandered away from the point I spotted a Bay-breasted Warbler scuttling through the canopy and people got long although somewhat distant views of the bird. Blackpolls seemed to be everywhere again – reflecting a somewhat early seeming movement for them this year – but at least one male showed particularly well here. Amongst the ever present Ovenbirds we picked up a singing Chestnut-sided Warbler in the area around Captains/Commanders Bench (anyone know the real name – I’ve seen both used recently!)

After spending a little time at the Boat House having a well earned lunch break we were back on the trail of our feathered friends adding a few nice species both to the trip list, including Blackburnian Warbler, and to many people’s year lists. By about 2:30pm most of the group had had their fill and with the wind finally picking up decisively we decided to call it a day after we had shown the group the famous Tanners Spring (number one photography site in the park). A couple of us ventured to the north end to look for a Kentucky that had been reported but almost thankfully it was a no show as I would have hated to have seen it without the whole group. A really nice day in the park with a really fun group of Sunrise Birding regulars and a few new people to my walks – I went home tired but satisfied with another great days birding in Central Park under my belt.

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TRIP LIST (67 Species):

Canada Goose, Mallard, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Egret, COMMON MOORHEN, Red-tailed Hawk, Spotted Sandpiper, Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Northern Flicker, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Willow Flycatcher, Great-crested Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Barn Swallow, Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, House Wren, Carolina Wren, American Robin, Wood Thrush, Veery, SWAINSON’S THRUSH, Gray Catbird, European Starling, Nashville Warbler, Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler,  Black and White Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER, Black-throated Green Warbler, BAY-BREASTED WARBLER, Blackpoll Warbler, CANADA WARBLER, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Scarlet Tanager, Eastern Towhee, LINCOLN’S SPARROW, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Baltimore Oriole, House Finch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow

Luke Tiller, Tour Leader
Sunrise Birding, LLC

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