On Tuesday morning, I went to Central Park hoping for some warblers, since I had nothing to do that day. Before I even got into the Ramble, I spotted a small flock of warblers at the Pilgrim Statue (near the East 72nd Street entrance). As I positioned myself around the flock to pick out the birds (which were mostly redstarts and one parula.), I flushed a warbler from the huge patch of short shrubs below the grove of trees. At first I thought it was a Common Yellowthroat. After all, this seemed like habitat one would like. But then I glanced over where the bird landed and I saw it walking on the ground! This suggested it might be a rare Connecticut Warbler. I knew I must get better looks at it! However, this bird was very skulky, as Connecticuts typically are. After a few minutes of strategic flushing and brief looks, I saw all the field marks of this grey and yellow bird, I was finally able to deduce that I had found Central Park's first CONNECTICUT WARBLER (#153) of the season in a place no one would expect! I soon lost the bird and after a few minutes trying to refind it, I decided to head into the park looking for more warblers and alerting people of the Connecticut. The Ramble did not have a lot of birds (but did have a continuing Hooded Warbler at the Swampy Pin Oak), so I headed to the Pinetum, where I had warblers earlier, particularly on the eastern side (nobody goes there). I started on the western side, which had barely anything, save for an early BROWN CREEPER found by 2 other birders. I then went to the eastern side, where the optimal scenario played out. I found several species of warbler, including Cape Mays and Blackpoll, and also found other passerines such as empids and Scarlet Tanager. Back to the Connecticut, about an hour and a half after I lost the bird, birders who got word of my sighting refound the Connecticut Warbler in the same patch of shrubs where I saw it. On the way out of the park, I decided to visit the site one more time to try and get better views of the bird. Fortunately, the warbler gave great views, at times being in the open. A great day today, with multiple rarities for this time of year, and a good amount of birds.
On a side note, I added Osprey (#152) to my year list on Monday, with a bird seen flying northbound low over the Reservoir for a few minutes.
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