First Birdwatch of 2015

Today I went birdwatching in Cal Schurz Park for about an hour to try to get some new species for the year. A surprise was an overwintering Hermit Thrush. Here is my list of new species, which brings my tally up to 11. I will certainly see all of them within the next few months

On the way there
Rock Pigeon
White-Throated Sparrow

When I was there
Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker
Great Black-Backed Gull
White-Breasted Nuthatch
Mourning Dove
HERMIT THRUSH
Canada Goose (Seen just within the county borders near Roosevelt Island)

2014 Recap

This year in birding has been really interesting. There have been many rarities, misses, and surprises. My species total for New York County alone is 135. Here is an overview of what I did in birding this year.

Winter 2014
Best birds were 4 different Long-Eared Owls, and the Baltimore Oriole pair at the feeders. This winter was a struggle for many birds there.

March
The month started off with an early Pine Warbler at the feeders and a Red-Breasted Merganser on the Reservoir. Not long after, I saw my first Woodcocks and a singing Rusty Blackbird. I also saw a Red-Necked Grebe on the 22nd.

April
Many migrants finally started to trickle in, such as kinglets, Winter Wren, and Palm Warbler. On a weekend in mid-April, I saw Red-Shouldered Hawk, Glossy Ibis, and Eastern Bluebird. I then went to the Bahamas for a week before coming back at the end of the month. That's when I saw a Broad-Winged Hawk, as well as my first White-Eyed Vireo and Prairie Warblers of the year.

May
The birds were really starting to diversify. I saw all the normal birds that should be arriving the first time I was there. A week later, birds were everywhere. That's when I saw Summer Tanager. both species of cuckoo. White-Crowned Sparrow and Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron, along with 16 species of warbler. As the month drew to a close, I got Mourning Warbler and Yellow-Bellied Flycatcher.

June
The month was really bland...except for the 21st. That day the birding group I was in ran into a Red-Headed Woodpecker! We we all so surprised. We also spent lots of time observing nesting Peregrine Falcons on 62nd Street. On the 26th, I went to camp in Pennsylvania.

July & August
 I saw about 40 species when I returned from camp in mid -July, including Green Heron, Great Crested Flycatcher, and Pileated Woodpecker. The park was pretty empty of migrants. In late-August I made a quick stop by Jamaica Bay and saw some shorebirds, the highlight being a Little Blue Heron.

September
The month didn't have much migrants at first, but had a decent amount at the end. I saw some raptors, including Osprey and Bald Eagle, but nothing much other than that.

October
In early-October, I saw a Tennesee Warbler in Strawberry Fields, as well as some other stuff. I also saw Purple Finches and Pine Siskins. Sparrows were abundant as usual.

November
Not much seen other than the Purple Finches and a Hairy Woodpecker. At the end of the month, I successfully chased the Cassin's Kingbird at Floyd Bennet Field.

December
The Christmas Bird Count was a really fun day. Other than that, all I really saw apart from the norm were a few Ruby-Crowned Kinglets and the Ring-Necked Ducks. After two failed attempts on the 28th and 29th, I finally saw the first state record of Couch's Kingbird in the West Village on the last day of 2014.

Highlights
Long-Eared Owl (2 pairs at seperate times. Central Park near boathouse)
Eastern Bluebird (2 occasions, first at Tupelo Field, then at the Great Lawn)
Summer Tanager (Near Belvedere Castle)
Both cuckoos in a single day (2 YB, 1 BB)
Yellow-Crowned Night Heron (Azalea Pond)
Red-Necked Grebe (Reservoir)
Cassin's Kingbird (2nd State Record! Floyd Bennet Field)
Ring Necked Duck (3 at the Reservoir)
Couch's Kingbird (1st State Record! West Village)

Misses
Worm-Eating Warbler (Missed twice in a day, both a just a few minutes)
Hooded Warbler (Should've seen at some point but missed)
Lincoln's Sparrow (One missed by a few minutes)
Red-Breasted Nuthatch (3 attempts in an invasion year)

Couch's Kingbird to Close 2014!!!

Today I went to the West Village to try to find a rare Couch's Kingbird that has been hanging around there for about a month, only first reported about a week ago. This bird from Texas and Mexico would be a first state record. I have previously looked for it twice with no success (I did get to meet the director of A Birder's Guide to Everything, though). When I got to the spot that the bird was being seen on W 11 st and W 4 st (the West Village is confusing) I came across a few people looking at the bird. I got great views of it. Just a few minutes later it flew away and came back a few minutes later. After over 20 minutes of waiting it was reported at Abbington Square, where it was actively flycatching on Bank St. About 5 minutes later, it flew down Bank St and around the corner onto Greenwich St, where it went out of sight. I soon refound the bird on my own at Washington and Jane St, the original site of the bird's discovery. The bird was not reported there for the last few days, so this was quite a surprise. The paparazzi and I then chased it to Abbington Square and then W 4 st. After a few minutes there it went back to the spot at Bank St, where it stayed for at least a half hour. It often hung out on fire escapes (or terraces at Washington and Jane) and hunted for insects there. Despite the cold weather, the insects seem to still be somewhat active, as the bird caught several of them. I also saw it using a technique in which it would glean the windowsills for insects, with some success. The bird also ate berries from a small tree for about a minute before resuming hunting. Shortly after noon, I left the kingbird to get lunch. What a great way to end the year!

Bird of the Week #11

This week's bird of the week is Bufflehead!

Buffleheads are small ducks. Males have a head that's black in the front and white in the back, black wings, and a white belly. Females are all brown with a white cheek patch and belly. They prefer to live in lakes as well as saltwater bays and estuaries. They dive underwater to find food such as insect larvae and small fish.

Bufflehead breed in Canada and Alaska and winter over much of the United States and Mexico. In New York City, they can be regularly found from October through April. One of the best places to find them is the Central Park Reservoir, where flocks sometimes congregate.

Christmas Birdwalk

I went on a birdwalk in Central Park on Christmas Day. At the Point, we found a few Wood Ducks, Black Ducks and a Hooded Merganser resting on some logs. We then went to the feeders, where we found 3 species of woodpecker (Downy, Red-Bellied, Sapsucker) that visited the same feeder as well as a few House Finches. Nearby we found a Carolina Wren and a Fox Sparrow. When we went to Turtle Pond, we found a few Buffleheads and a pair of Hooded Mergansers there. After that, we went to Triplets Bridge to see if anything might be bathing there. We were surprised to find a very late RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET foraging for insects there. Quite a few were seen on the Christmas Bird Count just a week and a half prior, so it seems likely there could be a lingering bird or two. At the Reservoir we saw the usual waterfowl, the highlight being a single Gadwall there. After that, I saw a Red-Tailed Hawk as I went to lunch.

Species: 35

Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Red-Tailed Hawk
American Coot
Ring-Billed Gull
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Black-Capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-Breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
RUBY CROWNED KINGLET (1, Triplets Bridge)
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Fox Sparrow
White-Throated Sparrow
Dark-Eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Throwback Thursday #3: Barnacle in Canada (Geese)

On December 23rd, 2012, I went to Van Cortland Park with my dad to chase a Barnacle Goose there. This rare vagrant lives in Greenland and Scotland, but occasionally a bird may stray into the Northeast. This bird was reported consistently over the past month. When we got there we saw thousands of geese on the ball fields. Much closer to us, there was a flock of about 50 geese and 2 birders. At first it was hard to pick out the Barnacle Goose from the Canadas because they never kept their heads up. I then tried to look at the bodies to see if I could find one that looked different. This made it very easy to find the goose. It was much smaller than the other geese, so much that some people had mistaken a rare Cackling Goose there for the Barnacle. I also noticed it being chased around by the larger subspecies (they vary a lot in size) of Canada Goose. This chase was a success.

Central Park CBC Results

I was a participant in the 115th Central Park Christmas Bird Count on December 14th. My sector was the Ramble Sector, in which there were more than 30 other people. It includes all of Central Park between 72nd and 79th st. We saw about 35 species in our sector. I was not able to see Winter Wren, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Mockingbird, and Pine Siskin. Here are the highlights of the count. There were about 55 species seen in the park that day. The biggest miss of the day was Pied-Billed Grebe.

Highlights/Surprises

Ring-Necked Duck ( 4 continuing birds at the Reservoir)
Great Blue Heron (1 flyover first seen at the north end landing at Turtle Pond. Not seen every year)
Red-Breasted Nuthatch (1 late migrant at the Great Lawn)
Winter Wren (1 in the Ramble seen by a person outside the group)
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet (Several seen, including 3 in the Ramble. Not seen every year)
Hermit Thrush (Several, including one seen in Strawberry Fields)
Purple Finch (Rare, 1 late migrant seen at the north end)
Pine Siskin (Rare, 1 in the Ramble seen outside of the group and 1 at the north end)