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.
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