April in Review

April can be a month of extremes. In some years, it takes right up until the last few days for the first wave of the "May" migrants to show up (Yellow Warbler, Indigo Bunting, etc). In others, like this one, they start around Earth Day. The southwest winds around that time helped push many birds in, and when the wind shifted mainly to the south, many birds stayed in the park for days. Anyway, I added an amazing 47 species to my year list this month. My first additions were on the 1st, which were Great Egret, Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher (maybe a bit early), Swamp Sparrow, and Field Sparrow. On the 2nd, I added two birds missed the previous day, which were Chipping Sparrow and Palm Warbler. No new birds until the 10th, where I successfully chased the first Louisiana Waterthrush of the season and added Brown Thrashers and a Northern Rough-Winged Swallow to the list. The next day, I added an early Black-and-White Warbler as well as a Yellow-Rumped Warbler. On the 14th, Maintenance Meadow was the place to be, where me and many other birders added a White-Eyed Vireo and YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER to their year lists. On the 19th, I added Purple Finch (bad year for them), and Savannah Sparrow (brief park irruption). On the 21st, I added Chimney Swift, Northern Waterthrush, and Blue-Headed Vireo. By this point, I had 87 species on the year list. Earth Day is where things really started to pick up. It started with a House Wren, and I heard Prairie Warblers singing. Then I went to the Point, where I added a Yellow and Worm-Eating Warbler. The 23rd was even better, when I added an early Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, Yellow-Throated Vireo, Common Yellowthroat (heard), Northern Parula, Black-Throated Green Warbler (heard), Green Heron, and Barn Swallow. On the 25th, I added Belted Kingfisher (Turtle Pond), Blue-Winged Warbler (#100!), an early Veery, a Black-Throated Blue Warbler, and an early Cape May Warbler. On the 26th, I added Ovenbird and Rose-Breasted Grosbeak (at the feeders!) before being interrupted by a passing storm. Once it was over, I added Wood Thrush, Chestnut-Sided Warbler, Baltimore Oriole, and Warbling Vireo. On the 27th I added a Nashville Warbler and Orchard Oriole. On the 28th, the rarest bird so far this year showed up. A SWAINSON'S WARBLER was at Strawberry Fields, and I was able to add it to my year/life list along with many others. On the 29th, I went on a school field trip to Liberty Island, and was able to add Fish Crow and Laughing Gull to the list, while in Central Park, I added a young Indigo Bunting. And on the 30th, I added my final bird of the month, which was a flyover Eastern Kingbird.