Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Throwback to the Big Weekend

This post is a throwback to my "Big Weekend" that I did exactly 1 month ago. During May 14th-15th, I saw 81 species, including Common Nighthawk, 3 Olive-Sided Flycatchers, 2 Yellow-Billed Cuckoos, and more! The full list is down below. Species highlighted in red were only seen on the 14th, and those highlighted in blue were only seen on the 15th. Those not highlighted were seen on both days.

Canada Goose
Wood Duck (1 at Pool)
Gadwall
Mallard
Bufflehead (late bird on Reservoir)
Ruddy Duck (2 late birds on Reservoir both days)
Double-Crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Green Heron (flyover at Blockhouse)
Black-Crowned Night Heron (At Upper Lobe)
Red-Tailed Hawk (3)
Spotted Sandpiper (Wagner Cove and Reservoir)
Ring-Billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-Backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-Billed Cuckoo (1 at Maintenance Meadow, 1 at Azalea Pond)
Common Nighthawk (Roosting at Great)
Chimney Swift
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Olive-Sided Flycatcher (Summit Rock and Azalea Pond on Sat., North Woods on Sun.)
Eastern Wood-Pewee (heard Sat., seen Sun.)
Least Flycatcher (Bow Bridge and Turtle Pond)
Eastern Kingbrrd
Warbling Vireo
Red-Eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Northern Rough-Winged Swallow (Many at Reservoir)
Tree Swallow (At Reservoir)
Barn Swallow
Black-Capped Chickadee
White-Breasted Nuthatch
House Wren (2 on Sun.)
Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher (Uncommon, but seen at Summit Rock Sun.)
Veery
Gray-Cheeked Thrush (Singing at Blockhouse Sun.)
Swainson’s Thrush
Hermit Thrush (late, but birds seen both days)
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird (Sat.)
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Black-and-White Warbler
Mourning Warbler (Male at Oak Bridge)
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler (toughie, but a few seen both days)
Northern Paula
Magnolia Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-Sided Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-Throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-Rumped Warbler (Uncommon, but a few seen both days)
Black-Throated Green Warbler
Canada Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
Chipping Sparrow (2 near Sparrow Rock)
Field Sparrow (not very common, bird at Summit Rock Sat. and Turtle Pond Sun.)
White-Throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow (Tupelo Meadow, barely missed on Sun.)
Lincoln’s Sparrow (Tanner’s Spring and Oak Bridge)
Eastern Towhee
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-Breasted Grosbeak (Azalea Pond)
Indigo Bunting
Red-Winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-Headed Cowbird (2)
Baltimore Oriole
House Finch
House Sparrow

Friday, June 10, 2016

Central Park Bird Report 6/10

Species seen from 5/28-6/10:

Gadwall (few)*
Great Blue Heron*
Great Egret*
Snowy Egret (mostly flyovers)
Black-Crowned Night Heron*
Turkey Vulture (flyovers)*
Black and Yellow-Billed Cuckoos* (few)
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird (few)
Olive-Sided Flycatcher (few in May)
Eastern Wood-Pewee (several)*
Acadian Flycatcher (few)
Willow/Alder Flycatcher (several)*
Great Crested Flycatcher (few)
Eastern Kingbird (several, nesting)*
Northern Rough-Winged Swallow*
Barn Swallow (nesting)*
House Wren
Gray-Cheeked Thrush (few)*
Swainson's Thrush (several)*
Wood Thrush (few)*
Brown Thrasher (one at Gill Source, 5/31)*
Cedar Waxwing (many)*
Northern Parula (several)*
Yellow Warbler (several)*
Magnolia Warbler (several)*
Black-Throated Green Warbler (few)
Blackpoll Warbler (several)*
Hooded Warbler (one at north end, 6/8)
American Redstart (several)*
Black-and-White Warbler (one seen early June)
Ovenbird (few)
Northern Waterthrush (few)
Mourning Warbler (several)*
Common Yellowthroat (several)*
Canada Warbler (few, one seen on 6/8 at Turtle Pond)*
Eastern Towhee (one at Evodia Field)*
White-Throated Sparrow (few)*

EXTRALIMITAL: Yellow-Crowned Night Heron nesting on Governor's Island

Friday, June 3, 2016

May in Review and June Targets

May was a great month. I started it off with few additions, but got a lifer, which were 3 SEASIDE SPARROWS by 55th street and the West Side Highway. When fallout hit on the 8th, I got many migrants a bit later than normal, but it also gave me rarities, which were AMERICAN BITTERN (Oven), YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON (Point), and CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW (Mugger's Woods), along with Yellow-Billed Cuckoo (didn't see last year), which I would see more of that month. The next day, I got good looks at a Hooded Warbler, along with Wilson's and 16 other species of warbler. On what I would call the "big weekend" (May 14-15), I had many additions including 3 Olive-Sided Flycatchers (both days, self-found one), 2 Spotted Sandpipers (Sunday), Mourning Warbler (Sunday, self-found on the 28th), a definite (singing) Gray-Cheeked Thrush (Sunday), and a sleeping Common Nighthawk at the Great Hill (Sunday). In the second half of the month, I had several Bay-Breasted and Blackburnian Warblers. On the 18th, I successfully refound a singing Tennessee Warbler at Belvedere Castle (I don't know how I did it!) and the following day I saw a CERULEAN WARBLER at the Humming Tombstone. My last addition was long overdue, a Turkey Vulture flying high over the Polish Statue on the 29th. Meanwhile, June seems like it has almost no potential. The only place where I might find stuff is Governor's Island (Common Tern, Killder, Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, and even there, a few of its targets have already been seen by me (Laughing Gull, Fish Crow). Also, never rule out the potential for a rarity!