CP Christmas Bird Count 2015!

Sunday was the 116th Central Park Christmas Bird Count. I was in the Ramble group just like the year before. Just before we left, I found the Reservoir's only RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET of the day. Then we were off, and headed to Triplet's Bridge to see if we could find a Black-and-White Warbler that was seen there. The place was barren, so we headed to Strawberry Fields, where we had a GRAY CATBIRD, as well as a few Hermit Thrushes (missed) and a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker. In the Ramble, we were only finding the common species. Many expected species were missed, including Dark-Eyed Junco, Northern Flicker, Herring Gull, and Fox Sparrow. The GREAT HORNED OWL was in its usual spot at the feeders, making it only the second time one has been seen on the count. Near the end of the count, we decided to make a detour to try to find an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER found by another group just south of the MET Museum. We unfortunately couldn't find it. We then went to the Arsenal near the zoo where we tallied up all the birds seen. The biggest surprise was finding out that besides the Orange-Crowned, two other warbler species were seen, which were a BLACK-AND-WHITE (first ever for the count!) just south of Strawberry Fields, and a WILSON'S in the North Woods. Other than Orange-Crowned, warblers are extremely rare on the count, meaning two species was a big surprise, probably because its been so warm. After the tally, me and Ryan went to try to look for the Black-and-White Warbler, which we missed. We then headed to look for the Orange-Crowned Warbler a second time, seeing a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet along the way at Belvedere Castle. When we got there, we found people looking at the bird! Year bird #158! This was likely the last year bird I'll see this year, since hardly anything rare shows up in the county now. The warbler was a miss in fall, but rarely appears in early winter. It was feeding out in the open with another Ruby-Crowned Kinglet and gave great views before disappearing high up in a tree. Heading south to see the owl again, I saw the crowd watching the owl. I was then surprised to see another Ruby-Crowned Kinglet taking food from the feeders, something I have never seen one do. Anyway, the count still recorded a fair amount of species, with over 50 seen throughout the park. Here are some of the highlights

BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER (Count first!)
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER
WILSON'S WARBLER
3 Brown Thrashers (North part of park)
2 Gray Catbirds
About a dozen Hermit Thrushes
Several Cedar Waxwings
4 Ruby-Crowned Kinglets (a few more likely in the park)
3 Fox Sparrows (Seen by separate observer in the Ramble)
11 Song Sparrows
BELTED KINGFISHER (Surprise! Presumably seen near Turtle Pond)
1 Hairy Woodpecker (North End)
1 GREAT HORNED OWL (Second time on the count)
1 Pied-Billed Grebe (Reservoir)
1 RING-NECKED DUCK (Third year in a row with this rarity on the count)

Additionally, someone reported a Common Yellowthroat the day before the count.