2016 highlights

I had a great year, with a record 164 species for me this year in the county. Here are my top 10 birds of 2016.

10. Great Horned Owl: A lingering bird from last year, giving good looks around Evodia Field until early February.
9. Snow Geese: This pair of birds was at the Reservoir in mid January, and offered great looks at this rare species to see not in flight in the county.
8. Yellow-Throated Warbler: A rarity I have never seen in Central Park, I got good looks at this bird on April 14th and 15th near Maintenance Meadow after much waiting
7. Virginia Rail: A very hard to find migrant, I waited at a stakeout at the Swampy Pin Oak for almost an hour before the bird appeared, offering great views.
6. Philadelphia Vireo: This was the last regular Central Park migrant I needed on my life list. I chased quite a few reports in September before I found one in Maintenance Meadow on September 17th.
5. Western Tanager: A rare vagrant from the western United States, I saw this bird on Thanksgiving in City Hall Park, which gave identifiable, but less than ideal views.
4. Yellow-Breasted Chats: A nemesis bird I had missed in 2014 and 2015, I thought I could get one this year, but kept missing them in the spring and fall. On October 30th, I finally got one staked out at Sparrow Rock, but only got a brief look. However, during the next couple of days, I got amazing looks at this hard-to-find warbler. I also had another cooperative chat in City Hall Park while taking breaks from the Western Tanager.
3. Clay-Colored Sparrow: Me, Ryan, and a few others were searching for a Vesper Sparrow on September 25th at the north end of Central Park, when someone yelled "Clay-Colored Sparrow". We rushed up the hill and were treated to great views of this rarity for about 15 minutes before the bird disappeared and wasn't refound. We also did not find the Vesper Sparrow.
2. Swainson's Warbler: Me and Ryan joked about this species being the bird that we would TOTALLY find around every corner. When we heard one was at Strawberry Fields on April 28th, we were dumbfounded when our prediction was correct. Dozens of birders, including us, were treated to looks at it foraging under a bush just a few feet away!
1. Connecticut Warbler: I assumed this bird would be found at some point in September, but not by me. On September 6th, I was scanning a flock of warblers by the Pilgrim Statue near East 72 street, when I flushed this bird, and was surprised to find the park's first of the season of what would turn out to be very productive for this species. I lost the bird after several minutes, but others who heard about it refound the warbler about an hour and a half later. For finding this rare, skulky migrant being cooperative in a place nobody would expect, this takes the title of my best bird of the year!

Also notable was finding 3 Common Nighthawks (in flight) and Mourning Warblers, as well as the insane fallout of May 8th and the fantastic big days then and May 14th, May 15th, and September 25th.

Tomorrow morning, I will continue the tradition of racking up as much of a year (and day) list as you can to start out the year with a bang!