April So Far

This month of April has been a bit of a slow one. Most of the expected migrants started coming early on, but once the middle of the month arrived, it was almost like migration stopped. Very few new arrivals showed up, and many species from earlier in the month (Golden-Crowned Kinglet, Fox Sparrow) were still around. Around April 20th, many spring overshoots began to show up, starting with a few Summer Tanagers and a Blue Grosbeak that I stumbled upon. This month was also full of rarities, such as Wilson's Snipe, Seaside Sparrow, and Yellow-Crowned Night Heron. My year list (and photo year list) has been slowly increasing up until a few days ago, when many more species started to arrive. Migration is just starting to heat up now, and I'll write more about the last days of April very soon.

March Wrap Up

March was a very interesting month indeed, but was really slow most of the time. Worst of all is that many birders (including myself) failed to find any American Woodcock this year, a very dismal result compared to the bounty last March. In addition, some of the early spring migrants didn't arrive in small numbers until the end of the month. Phoebes, for example, usually arrive around March 15th, but didn't arrive this year until March 30th. In this extension of winter, I spent a week in Palm Beach County, Florida. While I didn't see as many species there as last time, I did add about 6 or 7 species to my state life list. I also got plenty of photos, and as a result, my current NY county year list and photo year list are actually the same right now at 70 species! Of course, with the arrival of many more migrant species later in the month of April, I doubt my photo year list will even come close.

Anyway, I would say March 30th was the only "good" day in March that I was out. I saw my first Palm Warbler, Ospreys, and Chipping Sparrows of the year. In addition, an American Bittern made an appearance in a tree at Tupelo Meadow. It was nice to have such great views of this cryptic species I had seen only once before in Central Park. Now it's April, and a whole host of new migrants will arrive. I'll provide more posts of my April adventures soon, as well as a selection of my photos from Florida.