I went out into Central Park Saturday morning hoping that the good winds and thunderstorms from the night before might spur a late fall push of migrants. When I got to the park, there were decent amounts of birds, but it seemed that almost every time I turned up a warbler, it turned out to be a different species. When I went to Tupelo Meaodw and checked out a few Palm Warblers, a very yellow warbler came into view. When I saw the white tail feathers on the bird, I realized that this was a late female HOODED WARBLER! I kept finding more warbler species in the Ramble, getting the list up to 9 species, the most in many days. After picking it clean, I went up to the path leading to the Pinetum and ran into a small group of birders. I talked with them for a minute, and just as I left, one of them yelled "Raven!". I rushed over to them to see that there was indeed a Common Raven soaring high overhead. It was quickly joined by two others, and then an amazing thing happened. A Red-Tailed Hawk appeared and was trying to drive off the ravens! After a few dives at the ravens, they left. What an interesting experience to see how the local birds are reacting to this newly colonized species. I also added 2 Black-Throated Blue Warblers to make 10 warbler species. I headed up to the Pinetum and added Yellow-Rumped Warblers. Now I had 11 species. A report comes in of Yellow and Wilson's Warblers at the east side of Turtle Pond near the Polish Statue. Could I make 13? I went to the spot and ran into another birder who was there for the same reason. After a minute, we found the Yellow Warbler high in a tree. Then, we spotted an odd, streaky, yellowish warbler. It couldn't be a Magnolia or a Prairie. That's when it dawned on me. It was a Cape May Warbler! The bird gave decent looks and the other birder got photographs that clearly identified the bird. What a great migration day!
Species List:
CAPE MAY WARBLER
HOODED WARBLER
Yellow Warbler (late)
American Redstart
Black-and-White Warbler
Northern Parula
Black-Throated Blue Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Pine Warbler
Palm Warbler
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Ovenbird
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
Blue-Headed Vireo
Eastern Phoebe
Scarlet Tanager (Polish Statue)
Cedar Waxwing
Belted Kingfisher (Turtle Pond)
COMMON RAVEN (3)
Brown Thrasher
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Winter Wren
Chipping Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Chimney Swift
Red-Tailed Hawk
Northern Shoveler
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