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09 May Fw: Saturday's Prospect Park Birdathon which Benefits the Calverton Grasslands [Carl Starace ] 9 May (p.s.- Sandy Hook is in New Jersey) [Tom Fiore ] 9 May Swallow-tailed Kite likely to w. Long Island, 5/8 [Tom Fiore ] 9 May Central Park, NYC 5/8 [Tom Fiore ] 8 May NYC: Madison Square Park, Thu. 8-May-2008 incl. Ovenbird [Ben Cacace ] 08 May Dune Road (Suffolk Co.). & JBWR (Kings/Queens Co.) [Ken Feustel ] 08 May Connetquot River S.P. Prothonotary Warbler: YES [] 8 May Linnaean Society Meeting May 13 ["John Cairns" ] 8 May Central Park, NYC 5/7 [Tom Fiore ] 7 May two OTHER STATES' rarities, 5/7 [Tom Fiore ] 7 May Central Park, Tue. 6-May-2008 incl. Common Loon [Ben Cacace ] 7 May Forest Park, Queens [Robert Lewis ] 7 May SW Suffolk Birds ["Robert Grover" ] 7 May Summer Tanager/Prospect Park/Brooklyn [Shane Blodgett ] 7 May Lawrence's Warbler etc. Prospect Park, NYC 5/6 [fwd. from Rudy Badia] [Tom Fiore ] 6 May NYC: De Witt Clinton Park, Tue. 6-May-2008 incl. 3 warbler spp. [Ben Cacace ] 6 May Fwd: Central Park trip [Andrew Block ] 6 May Prothonotary Warbler at Connetquot River St. Pk. [Nicholas Laviola ] 6 May Inwood Hill Park 5/6- I'm still here! ["KENNETH ALLAIRE" ] 6 May Central Park Red-headed Woodpecker [] 6 May Syracuse RBA [Joseph Brin ] 6 May Chat, etc. Central Park, NYC 5/6 [Tom Fiore ] 6 May Jamaica Bay - Orange-crowned and Worm-eating warblers [David Klauber ] 06 May Birds today at Gardiner County Park (Suffolk Co.)) [] 6 May Prospect Park & Central Park, NYC 5/5 [including Brooklyn "Lawrence's" Warbler] [Tom Fiore ] 5 May Mine Rd., Highland Falls, Orange County [Curt McDermott ] 05 May Vesper Sparrow at Greenwood Cemetery ["Michael S. Zablocky" ] 5 May RFI: Meadowlands Birding [Ann Marie Pozzini ] 5 May Manhattan parks reports, NYC 5/4 [Tom Fiore ] 04 May Black Scoter at Bayard Cutting Arboretum (Suffolk Co.) [John Gluth ] 04 May Marine Nature Stuy Area, Oceansidde [Sy Schiff ] 04 May Re: North Shore Birds - May 4, 2008 [Susan Herbst ] 04 May Millbrook, Dutchess County [John Askildsen ] 4 May Rose-breasted grosbeaks [] 4 May Sullivan Sandhill [Renee Davis ] 04 May North Shore Birds - May 4, 2008 [Susan Herbst ] 4 May Re:George Washington Bridge Area [Peregrina Garcia ] 4 May George Washington Bridge Area [Peregrina Garcia ] 04 May Prospect Park May 4th [] 04 May Hooded Warbler at Target Rock [Jim Osterlund ] 04 May West End/Jones Beach(WE II) & Hempstead Lake State Park (HLSP) - Nassau Co. [Ken Feustel ] 4 May Cerulean Warbler, Manhattan, NYC 5/4 (to 3 p.m.+) [Tom Fiore ] 04 May Sullivan County ["vanhaas AT citlink.net" ] 4 May Kentucky warbler/ Lark Sparrow, Kings County [] 3 May 05/03, Prospect Park [Rob Jett ] 04 May Fw:Saturday at Hunters Garden & Manor of St. George,Brookhaven,Long Island [Carl Starace ] 4 May Central Park, NYC 5/3: 4th Hooded Warbler [Tom Fiore ] 04 May Avian Abundance at Alley Pond Park (Queens Co.) [John Gluth ] 04 May Late post - Thursday birds on Keuka Lake ["Mickey Scilingo" ] 04 May Late post - Thursday birds on Keuka Lake ["Mickey Scilingo" ] 3 May Central Park, NYC 5/3 [Tom Fiore ] 3 May 05/03, Prospect Park [Rob Jett ] Subject: Fw: Saturday's Prospect Park Birdathon which Benefits the Calverton Grasslands From: Carl Starace <castarace AT optonline.net> Date: Fri, 09 May 2008 14:55:23 -0400 ----- Original Message ----- From: Carl Starace To: NYSbirds-L AT cornell.edu Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 9:57 AM Subject: Saturday's Prospect Park Birdathon which Benefits the Calverton Grasslands Hello All, On the eve of the Brooklyn Bird Club's Saturday Birdathon at Prospect Park,[ 6am at Park Entrance in front of the Grand Army Plaza, Paul Keim,Leader], I want to remind everyone that all pledged proceeds will go to further the cause in preserving Calverton Grasslands at EpCal in eastern Suffolk County,Long Island.What is possibly the LARGEST SLATED MEGA- DEVELOPMENT ON THE ENTIRE EAST COAST does not belong on top of the LARGEST REMAINING GRASSLAND HABITAT IN THE METROPOLITAN AREA.Many of you have visited the Grassland these last several month's and seen what a magnificent habitat it truly is. I urge all birders to give pledges to this extremely important Preservation Effort.THE GROUP FOR THE EAST END [Google it] is spearheading the Preservation Effort.Thank you Peter and all your ace team for your efforts in this regard.My partner Sally Swain and I are adding our pledge.We would have joined you all but I am leading a Bird Hike for the National Park tomorrow at Fire Island.Have a Great one! Carl Starace, Eastern L.I. Audubon Subject: (p.s.- Sandy Hook is in New Jersey) From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2 AT earthlink.net> Date: Fri, 9 May 2008 05:52:24 -0400 re: the previous post, apologies for not adding - Sandy Hook is on New Jersey's northern shore, curling north towards New York City. Tom Fiore, Manhattan _________ Subject: Swallow-tailed Kite likely to w. Long Island, 5/8 From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2 AT earthlink.net> Date: Fri, 9 May 2008 05:39:11 -0400 Thursday, 8 May, 2008 - SWALLOW-TAILED KITE likely to western Long Island (Kings, Queens counties, NY) This message from the current hawk-counter at Sandy Hook's hawk/ migration watch. Sandy Hook is across the lower NY harbor from Kings (Brooklyn) & Queens counties of New York's Long Island. John van Dort is a highly experienced hawk-watcher & a fine all-round birder. When he lived in Brooklyn he would also visit the Central Park (Manhattan) hawk-watch and identify birds on the wing beyond visual limits that many of us mortals have! NB: there is a real possibility that this kite is still in a Long Island locality, from Brooklyn or Queens to somewhere east... or elsewhere in NY... please report a.s.a.p. if found! Tom Fiore, Manhattan - - - - --> On May 8, 2008, at 10:49 PM, John van Dort wrote: > Hi Tom, > > Saw your post on the New York Birding list, and remembered your > post last week about the Swallow-tailed Kite at Sandy Hook. I am > the hawk counter there and today I had another Swallow-tailed Kite > - and unlike last week's bird, this bird went straight to Coney > Island! I photographed it at the hawk watch at 11:30, and it must > have made landfall at Coney Island (or Breezy Point) maybe 10 > minutes later. > > I also had three Mississippi Kites (all three adults) which for all > I know might still be on the Hook. I first saw two birds at 2:10 PM > and a single bird at 3:25 PM. Then at 4:45 PM I saw all three birds > at the same time, though still not together (2+1). > > Also at Sandy Hook today - and seen several times from the hawk > watch platform throughout the day - was a White-winged Dove. ... > Cheers, > John <-- ________ Subject: Central Park, NYC 5/8 From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2 AT earthlink.net> Date: Fri, 9 May 2008 05:10:03 -0400 Although no one on this list is likely to jet off to look for this, a Greater Golden-Plover occurred on Newfoundland, a pretty rare species in North America; just a bit "likely" in that part of Canada... see http://www.refugenet.org/birding/junSBC06.html#TOC01 for a brief history on it, although the reference is not to the one currently being seen there. (closer to NY, Curlew Sandpipers in N.J.) - - - Thursday, 8 May 2008 - Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City The light rain beginning just about the time of sunrise brought down a great many migrating songbirds into the park early on. A search of Ramble areas where a certain warbler was reported on Wed. revealed none of the genus Oporornis to me on Thursday. At Summit Rock, the park's highest natural elevation above sea-level near W. 83 Street, species included 3 Cape May Warblers, 2 males enjoyed by 4 of us (Chris Cooper, Junko Suzuki, Betsy Barlow-Rogers, & I) plus a female Cape May that J.S. & I noticed in the same tree with the 2 males. As we all ogled those & other migrants, I also was aware of many songbirds, many of them likely warblers, vireos & other smaller spp., moving overhead & some or perhaps many "falling out" of the low, gray & showery cloud cover. In general the trend of that movement was northward but there was some flight in many directions at varying elevations from nearly tree-top to at least several hundred feet above ground. I later was to find 3 additional Cape May Warblers in the northern half of the park - one in oaks north of the reservoir, another at the oaks just south of the 96 St. Transverse Rd. & yet another in trees on the slope north of the Loch, all males. I also learned of at least 3 additional Cape Mays reported just south & east of the Ramble. As many as 9 reported altogether? Anyhow, clearly a very good day to see them here. Incidentally all of these Cape May were additionally seen by other birders later in the day, & roughly in the same places. In all, at least 25 warbler species were noted in a lot of trees looked at, & a few showers endured. Other typical early May migrants besides warblers abounded, but this time, a list of ... just warblers, May 8th: Blue-winged Warbler Tennessee Warbler Nashville Warbler Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler Cape May Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Prairie Warbler Palm Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler (north) Blackpoll Warbler Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart Worm-eating Warbler Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Common Yellowthroat Hooded Warbler (north) Wilson's Warbler Canada Warbler Good birding, Tom Fiore, Manhattan _________ Subject: NYC: Madison Square Park, Thu. 8-May-2008 incl. Ovenbird From: Ben Cacace <msmythii AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 20:45:47 -0700 (PDT) DATE: Thursday, 8 May 2008 (12:35p-1:20p) LOCATION: Manhattan - Madison Square Park REPORTED BY: Ben Cacace There was little activity in the trees. Most sightings were on the ground in the planted borders. • Location: between 23rd - 26th St. & Madison Ave. - 5th Ave. • Size: Approx. 5.6 acres. • Trees I could ID: Ginkos, oaks, American Elms, London Planes & Japanese Crabapples. • Wikimapia: http://tinyurl.com/5hfhpp ** Total species - 8 ** 'Fairly Common' usually seen; 3-12 per day in habitat [3 spp]: - Ovenbird - 2 in separate fenced in areas - Common Yellowthroat - 3 incl. 2 adult males & 1 female - Swamp Sparrow - 1 'Common' seen easily; more than 12 per day in habitat [5 spp]: - Rock Pigeon - 36+ - American Robin - 1 - Gray Catbird - 1 - European Starling - 15+ - House Sparrow - 6+ Abundance categories from 'The New York City Audubon Society Guide to Finding Birds in the Metropolitan Area' published 2001. Abundance season is 'Spring', March - May, and applies to all of New York City. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Subject: Dune Road (Suffolk Co.). & JBWR (Kings/Queens Co.) From: Ken Feustel <feustel AT optonline.net> Date: Thu, 08 May 2008 18:52:10 -0500 After searching unsuccessfully in the rain early this morning (7:30AM-8:30AM) for the Prothonotary Warbler at Connetquot River State Park (CRSP) fish hatchery we briefly stopped at the CRSP feeders where approx. twelve Pine Siskins are still present. We then proceeded out east to Dune Road. At Pike's Beach there was a Black Tern among thirty Common Terns. There were good shorebird numbers at Pike's but little variety, with the shorebird species dominated by Dunlin and Sanderling. Further east along Dune Road we had a nice look at a pair of Clapper Rails and our first of the season Least Terns. A flyby Tricolored Heron was notable. We observed twelve species of shorebirds but nothing unusual. At JBWR on Wednesday there were seventeen species of warblers including two (possibly three) Hooded Warblers in the North and South Gardens. A Gull-billed Tern flew over the West Pond and only my second of the year Indigo Bunting was at the photo blind. Birds at Hempstead Lake State Park were mostly the same as JBWR, with the only addition being Solitary Sandpiper. West End was quiet with the exception of a single Gull-billed Tern hawking insects over the parkway median. Ken Feustel Subject: Connetquot River S.P. Prothonotary Warbler: YES From: jgluth AT optonline.net Date: Thu, 08 May 2008 18:31:13 +0000 (GMT) I finally found the Prothonotary Warbler seen by Nick Laviola�Tuesday, but only after nearly an hour of carefully looking and listening all around the fish hatchery and vicinity. I first heard it's song carrying over the sound of rushing water, then got a couple of somewhat distant glimpses of it within the hatchery proper, as it moved threw the shrubs growing on a narrow, bulkheaded arm of land near where some camouflage netting covers the holding ponds. I later got another poor look at it as it sang from the upper branches of a Swamp Maple just beyond the southeast corner of the hatchery. In between it sang sporadically and moved around a lot, making it difficult to track down.Other migrants were in relatively short supply, with only 6 other warbler species seen or heard: N. Parula,Ovenbird, Black-throated Green, Yellow, Common Yellowthroat�and Pine. Also present were a 2-3 Great-Crested Flycatchers, a Gnatcatcher, N. Rough-winged, Tree, and Barn swallows, and multipleBlack-crowned Night-herons and Great Egrets looking for an easy meal of trout. A very vocal Green Heron calmly preened�in a tree near the footbridge that crosses the river just north of the hatchery. Subject: Linnaean Society Meeting May 13 From: "John Cairns" <jcairns AT nyc.rr.com> Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 11:13:42 -0400 THE LINNAEAN SOCIETY OF NEW YORK SPEAKERS PROGRAM Tuesday, May 13, 2008, 7:30 PM The American Museum of Natural History, Linder Auditorium Speaker: Mark Stoekle, Rockefeller University Subject: DNA Barcording for Identification of World Birds Mark Stoekle is an organizer of the All Birds Barcoding Initiative, which aims to collect DNA barcodes for all of our approximately 10,000 avian species. Dr. Stoekle will explain this process and its potential for advancing our understanding of birds. The meeting is open to the public, without charge. Please join us. Enter the Museum at West 77th Street. If you would like to meet Dr. Stoekle prior to the talk, join us at Pappardella's Restaurant, 75th Street and Columbus Avenue, at 6 PM. The reservation will be in the name of John. John Cairns, Vice President Subject: Central Park, NYC 5/7 From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2 AT earthlink.net> Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 05:00:37 -0400 Prefacing with a note on my report of a "possible" Bicknell's Thrush in Central Park yesterday... on mathematical odds alone it may have been far more likely a Gray-cheeked Thrush, perhaps of the Newfoundland race. In any case the best way to identify a Bicknell's Thrush on migration here (without capturing it!) is to have it sing or at least call clearly & to know those sounds very well. - - - Also, in Prospect Park Brooklyn, birders might want to check at Binnen Bridge area for a prototypically water-loving warbler species that may have been around there on Wednesday morning. OK, that's the PROTHONOTARY WARBLER seen at 8 a.m. at that location by Rudy Badia & Gabriel Willow, as reported at: http://journals.aol.com/prosbird/ peters-prospect-bird-sightings/ which also includes the report from Alex Wilson of Brooklyn of a male BLUE GROSBEAK seen on Prospect Park's "peninsula" (which is along Prospect Lake's west shore, & accessed from Wellhouse Drive or the west Lullwater path etc.) - A.W. mentions the sighting at the "brushy base" of the peninsula & the time: in afternoon. Add in the already-reported Summer Tanager at Prospect; that park gets the nod for May 7th, '08 as some rarity- attractor! In Central Park, a few observers got either fleeting or less-than- ideal views of what those few reported to be a non-vocal Kentucky Warbler... a species for which rumors can also fly far & fast in May migration here. That said, I know where I'll be searching at sunrise or so this Thursday a.m.- the Ramble's eastern parts, particularly the Point, adjacent "oven" area & on through "Evodia field" & points a bit north. Other rare-in-NY species were rumored, but any details didn't get reported. - - - Wednesday, 7 May, 2008 - Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City Good variety & fairly high numbers of some migrants, with Ovenbird and Scarlet Tanager just 2 examples of good #'s. Kristine Wallstrom joined me for much of the morning's birding mainly in the park's north end- I'd begun at 5:30 a.m., & much later went thru the Ramble & other "southern-half" of Central Park areas . Many areas of the park held a good variety; we found it best in the north end mainly due to an early start there... also noted (both Wed. & Tues.) was a significant early morning flight, with a very high number of migrants (visibly) continuing to fly north well after sunrise. Partial list of migrants May 7: Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird Least Flycatcher Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Blue-headed Vireo (2) Yellow-throated Vireo (several) Warbling Vireo (multiple) Red-eyed Vireo (20+++) Blue Jay (migrants moving lately) Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Barn Swallow Red-breasted Nuthatch (several) House Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet (multiple) Veery (fairly common) Gray-cheeked Thrush (1, North Woods) Swainson's Thrush (more have arrived) Hermit Thrush (far fewer than a week ago) Wood Thrush (fair numbers continuing) Gray Catbird Cedar Waxwing Blue-winged Warbler (multiple) Tennessee Warbler (singing a bit at 102 St. east-west drive) Nashville Warbler (several) Northern Parula (common) Yellow Warbler (multiple) Chestnut-sided Warbler (multiple) Magnolia Warbler (multiple, but not quite very common yet) Cape May Warbler (1 male, Great Hill, early a.m.- others reported in other areas) Black-throated Blue Warbler (males common; a few females) Yellow-rumped Warbler (multiple but fewer than a week ago) Black-throated Green Warbler (fairly common, more females) Blackburnian Warbler (2 or 3 males - others reported in other areas) Prairie Warbler (male, North Woods) Palm Warbler (1) Bay-breasted Warbler (singing male, Great Hill, early a.m.- & reported elsewhere) Blackpoll Warbler (2 or 3) Black-and-white Warbler (common, both sexes) American Redstart (not hard to find but not yet really common) Worm-eating Warbler (2, Blockhouse & Loch - & reported elsewhere) Ovenbird (almost abundant) Northern Waterthrush (many in all areas, some far from water) Common Yellowthroat (yes... common) Hooded Warbler (singing male, Loch, early a.m.) Wilson's Warbler (Loch - & reported elsewhere) Canada Warbler (several) Scarlet Tanager (20+ males through the park, very conservatively! Fewer females.) Eastern Towhee (few) Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Savannah Sparrow (several, N. end) Lincoln's Sparrow (just 1, seen well- but some more reported) Swamp Sparrow (multiple) White-throated Sparrow (plenty still going through) White-crowned Sparrow (2) Rose-breasted Grosbeak (multiple) Indigo Bunting (multiple, with some males singing) Purple Finch (adult male on ground, Loch, 10 a.m.) American Goldfinch (very common) Good birding, Tom Fiore, Manhattan _________ Subject: two OTHER STATES' rarities, 5/7 From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2 AT earthlink.net> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 20:47:19 -0400 A photographed WOOD SANDPIPER from nearby Delaware: http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/DEBD.html#1210200366 2 Mississippi Kites were reported from Massachusetts today: http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/MASS.html#1210186010 & also in Massachusetts was a "lingering" Purple Gallinule: http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/MASS.html#1210192667 - - - [some more normally-expected species to be reported from Central Park, especially once wild rumors can be quelled...] Tom Fiore, Manhattan _________ Subject: Central Park, Tue. 6-May-2008 incl. Common Loon From: Ben Cacace <msmythii AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 17:45:58 -0700 (PDT) DATE: Tuesday, 6 May 2008 (6:00p-7:45p) LOCATION: Central Park - reservoir REPORTED BY: Ben Cacace The highlight was watching a pair of Barn Swallows tending a nest. ** Total species - 23 ** 'Uncommon' seen in small numbers; 1-3 per day in habitat [1 spp]: - Common Loon - 1 on the reservoir 'Fairly Common' usually seen; 3-12 per day in habitat [5 spp]: - Gadwall - Pair (m/f) at the N edge of the reservoir - Downy Woodpecker - 1 male around the reservoir - Common Yellowthroat - 1 adult male just N of the reservoir - Eastern Towhee - 1 adult male just N of the reservoir - Baltimore Oriole - 1 adult male singing just N of the reservoir 'Common' seen easily; more than 12 per day in habitat [17 spp]: - Canada Goose - 3 at the reservoir - Mallard - 6+ on the reservoir - Double-crested Cormorant - 17+ at the reservoir - Black-crowned Night-Heron - 1 adult flyover at the reservoir - Ring-billed Gull - Herring Gull - Great Black-backed Gull - Rock Pigeon - 12+ - Mourning Dove - 1 - Barn Swallow - 2 nest building near the S end of the reservoir - American Robin - 6+ - European Starling - 6+ - Yellow-rumped Warbler - 2+ - American Redstart - 1 adult male just N of the reservoir - White-throated Sparrow - 1 singing - Common Grackle - 12+ - House Sparrow - 12+ Abundance categories from 'The New York City Audubon Society Guide to Finding Birds in the Metropolitan Area' published 2001. Abundance season is 'Spring', March - May, and applies to all of New York City. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Subject: Forest Park, Queens From: Robert Lewis <rfermat AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 17:25:19 -0700 (PDT) There was good birding this morning at Forest Park Queens, though not spectacular. I was there from about 10:00 - 11:30 and enjoyed: Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Blue Jay Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Blue-headed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Tufted Titmouse Ruby-crowned Kinglet Chickadee White-breasted Nuthatch Wood Thrush Swainson's Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird European Starling Northern Parula Magnolia Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler (many) Black-and-white Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Ovenbird (many) Common Yellowthroat Nashville Warbler (male and female) Yellow Warbler American Redstart Scarlet Tanager White-throated Sparrow Rose-breasted Grosbeak Northern Cardinal Baltimore Oriole House Sparrow and the most unexpected bird, Red-breasted Nuthatch It was nice to see a fair number of female warblers. Bob Lewis Sleepy Hollow NY ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Subject: SW Suffolk Birds From: "Robert Grover" <rgrover AT gpinet.com> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 08:20:18 -0400 Finally, SW Suffolk gets a piece of the action, albeit a modest piece. This morning at the Southards Pond trail in Babylon there was a decent array of birds. The nine warbler species included Magnolia, Common Yellowthroat, Parula, and Wilsons. Also present were Spotted Sandpiper and Chimney Swift. Bob Grover Subject: Summer Tanager/Prospect Park/Brooklyn From: Shane Blodgett <shaneblodgett AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 05:01:05 -0700 (PDT) At 6:40 this morning I found an adult male Summer Tanager in Prospect Park,Brooklyn, Kings County. It was between the Vale of Cashmere and the zoo. He was vocalizing the "tuck" part of his "tickitytuck" call. As I was leaving the area I heard his full song one time. I've pasted a link to a Google map here: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&ll=40.667358,-73.964767&spn=0\ .011491,0.028625&t=h&z=16&msid=109542609397740317766.00044ca28bedf39728190&iwloc\ =00044ca28f8e84e94dbad Subject: Lawrence's Warbler etc. Prospect Park, NYC 5/6 [fwd. from Rudy Badia] From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2 AT earthlink.net> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 04:30:38 -0400 All below from Rudy Badia: --> Tuesday, 6 May, 2008 - Prospect Park, Brooklyn NYC - LAWRENCE'S WARBLER continuing at Binnen Bridge. (Lawrence's Warbler is a hybrid resulting from Blue-winged x Golden-winged Warblers interbreeding.) Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe (Nethermead), Least Flycatcher, Willow Flycatcher (Ravine). & among the other warblers: Blackpoll Warbler (3 birds, two opposite Audubon Center, one singing at Ravine), Pine Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler (5), Worm-eating Warbler (Ravine), Nashville Warbler (Midwood trail), Hooded Warbler (Ravine), Blackburnian Warbler (3 birds: Binnen Bridge, Ravine & Midwood trail). Rudy Badia <-- - - - [submitted to nysbirds by Tom Fiore of Manhattan] __________________ Subject: NYC: De Witt Clinton Park, Tue. 6-May-2008 incl. 3 warbler spp. From: Ben Cacace <msmythii AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 21:46:34 -0700 (PDT) DATE: Tuesday, 6 May 2008 (12:20p-1:00p) LOCATION: Manhattan - De Witt Clinton Park, Hell's Kitchen REPORTED BY: Ben Cacace Definitely the toughest sounding neighborhood I've birded. For a birds eye view of De Witt Clinton Park (mouseover center square): http://tinyurl.com/5rc9ah Location: between 52nd - 54th St. and 11th - 12th Ave. From De Witt Clinton Park Conservancy: http://dewittpark.org/about.html ** Total species - 12 ** 'Uncommon' seen in small numbers; 1-3 per day in habitat [2 spp]: - Blue-headed Vireo - 1 in oaks - Magnolia Warbler - 1 adult male in oaks 'Fairly Common' usually seen; 3-12 per day in habitat [2 spp]: - Northern Parula - 1 adult male in oaks - Black-and-white Warbler - 1 adult male in oaks 'Common' seen easily; more than 12 per day in habitat [8 spp]: - Double-crested Cormorant - 1 flyover heading NNE - Rock Pigeon - 24+ - Barn Swallow - 2 circling above un-sodded ball fields - American Robin - 3+ - Gray Catbird - 1 - European Starling - 3+ - White-throated Sparrow - 2 - House Sparrow - 6+ Abundance categories from 'The New York City Audubon Society Guide to Finding Birds in the Metropolitan Area' published 2001. Abundance season is 'Spring', March - May, and applies to all of New York City. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Subject: Fwd: Central Park trip From: Andrew Block <troubleinshangrila1 AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 19:18:31 -0700 (PDT) Note: forwarded message attached. Andrew v. F. Block Wildlife Biologist 37 Tanglewylde Avenue Bronxville, Westchester County, New York 10708-3131 Phone: (914) 337-1229; Cell: (914) 886-5124; Fax: (914) 771-8036 "When the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be again..." - William Beebe, first NYZS Curator of Birds "Crikey! Have a look at that!" - Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter "Just like the white winged dove sings a song, sounds like she's singing whoo, baby...whoo...said whoo" - Stephanie L. Nicks --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.5/4/08 - Central Park, NYC, NY 10 Double-crested Cormorants 4 Canada Geese 6 Mallards 1 Cooper's Hawk 4 Herring Gulls 5 Mourning Doves several Rock Pigeons 3 Chimney Swifts 4 Red-bellied Woodpeckers 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 Downy Woodpecker 7 Northern Flickers 2 Great Crested Flycatchers 1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow several Blue Jays 1 White-breasted Nuthatch 3 House Wrens many Ruby-crowned Kinglets 2 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers 5 Veery 2+ Gray-checked Thrushes 4+ Hermit Thrushes 6+ Wood Thrushes many Gray Catbirds 2 Brown Thrashers several Cedar Waxwings 1 Philadelphia Vireo 3 Blue-winged Warblers several Northern Parulas 3 Yellow Warblers 2 Chestnut-sided Warblers 2 Magnolia Warblers 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler 7 Yellow-rumped Warblers 4 Black-throated Green Warblers 2 Prairie Warblers 3 Palm Warblers 5 Black-and-white Warblers 2 American Redstarts 1 Worm-eating Warbler 10+ Ovenbirds 2 Northern Waterthrushes 4 Common Yellowthroats many Northern Cardinals 7+ Rose-breasted Grosbeaks 2 Indigo Buntings many Eastern Towhees 50+ Chipping Sparrows 3 Swamp Sparrows many White-throated Sparrows 2 Red-winged Blackbirds 1 Rusty Blackbird several Common Grackles 1 Brown-headed Cowbird 2 Orchard Orioles many Baltimore Orioles many American Goldfinches several House Sparrows Also had 6 Red-eared Sliders. Andrew Andrew v. F. Block Wildlife Biologist 37 Tanglewylde Avenue Bronxville, Westchester County, New York 10708-3131 Phone: (914) 337-1229; Cell: (914) 886-5124; Fax: (914) 771-8036 "When the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be again..." - William Beebe, first NYZS Curator of Birds "Crikey! Have a look at that!" - Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter "Just like the white winged dove sings a song, sounds like she's singing whoo, baby...whoo...said whoo" - Stephanie L. Nicks --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. Subject: Prothonotary Warbler at Connetquot River St. Pk. From: Nicholas Laviola <nicholaslaviola AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 17:33:10 -0700 (PDT) There was a Prothonotary Warbler caroling his sweet southern song, this afternoon, in the blueberries and huckleberries on the edge of Deep Water Pond. A couple slippery Muskrats were swimming under him. This nook is just north of the hatchery. -Nicholas ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Subject: Inwood Hill Park 5/6- I'm still here! From: "KENNETH ALLAIRE" <kenallaire AT earthlink.net> Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 17:02:29 -0400 Fellow Birders; How nice of Tom Fiore to notice that I haven't posted in a while! Of late I have been concentrating heavily on the study of Panama's birds (see www.canopyreport.com for some of the fruits of my labors), which unfortunately means that I work like a dog while here in NYC, to pay for extended stays in Panama. I got home from work this morning, after a 20-hour day, at about 4:30 a.m., and, seeing Rudy Badia's report, was shamed into heading directly to Inwood Hill Park (at the northern tip of Manhattan). I arrived before dawn, and did indeed enjoy a rather lovely dawn chorus, not to mention a stunning sunrise in this heavily-wooded park. I only managed to stay out for a couple of hours before the demand for sleep became too great, but I managed to spot a respectable 15 species of warblers and a number of expected migrants of other sorts. My list was somewhat similar to (although shorter than) Rudy's with the notable exceptions of a male Cape May Warbler seen near the mea! dow and a male Hooded Warbler near the south end of the park. Had my senses not been somewhat dulled I would likely have found more, although I also suspect that I missed a good push of migrants last weekend. Inwood Hill Park is a notoriously slow starter in spring migration, and with the dry April this year trees have been slow to bud, and only a week ago there was almost nothing in the park besides Yellow-rumpeds. In the last decade or so the second week of May has yielded the highest species counts, so if you're thinking of taking the trip uptown this should be a good time. I routinely tally 20+ species of warblers working alone, and if more folks like Rudy join me I suspect the numbers would be higher (between us we had 21 warblers in the last 3 days). More long work days are ahead for me, but I have cleared out a bit of birding time, so I hope to see a few birders out in the wilds of upstate Manhattan! Peace, Ken Allaire New York, NY kenallaire AT earthlink.net www.kenallaire.com Subject: Central Park Red-headed Woodpecker From: JGIUNTA746 AT aol.com Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 16:28:10 EDT Date: May 6, 2008 Place: Central Park Reported By: Joe Giunta An adult Red-headed Woodpecker flew over the Bow Bridge and went into the area where the construction is being done. **************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001) Subject: Syracuse RBA From: Joseph Brin <brinjoseph AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 13:24:01 -0700 (PDT) RBA * New York * Syracuse * May 6, 2008 * NYSY 08.04.28 Hotline: Syracuse Rare bird Alert Dates(s):Apri28, 2008-May 6, 2008 to report by e-mail: brinjoseph AT yahoo.com covering upstate NY counties: Cayuga, Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge and MontezumaWetlands Complex (MWC) (just outside Cayuga County), Onondaga, Oswego, Lewis, Jefferson, Oneida, Herkimer, Madison & Cortland compiled:May 6, 5:00 p.m.. (EST) compiler: Joseph Brin Onondaga Audubon Homepage: www.onondagaaudubon.org #102 -Tuesday May 6, 2008 Greetings! This is the Syracuse Area Rare Bird Alert for the week of April 28, 2008 Highlights: AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER (Extralimital) At least 3 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS were reported on a beach in between Southwick Beach and El Dorado State Park on Lake Ontario on 5/4. The birds were not relocated. Not much in the way of rarities this week but migration is now the big story. New arrivals this week include: BRANT BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON SEMI-PALMATED PLOVER BLACK TERN RED-EYED VIREO BANK SWALLOW CLIFF SWALLOW VEERY SWAINSON�S THRUSH WOOD THRUSH GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER NORTHERN PARULA MAGNOLIA WARBLER BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER CERULEAN WARBLER AMERICAN REDSTART OVERBIRD GRASSHOPPER SPARROW LINCOLN�S SPARROW ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK BALTIMORE ORIOLE --end transcript -- Joseph Brin Region 5 Baldwinsville, N.Y. 13027 USA ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Subject: Chat, etc. Central Park, NYC 5/6 From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2 AT earthlink.net> Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 16:16:35 -0400 Tuesday, 6 May, 2008 - Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City A Yellow-breasted Chat was seen well, and heard singing, by 20+ observers at the south side of the Meer, the chat moving a bit further south up-slope (towards either the Wildflower Meadow or perhaps the "A.H. Green white marble bench" hill just east of that meadow). Also in the north end of Central Park this morning were 20+ additional species of warblers including Bay-breasted (1 or 2), Hooded (female), Worm-eating, Canada, etc. - & numerous other migrant species (although I thought overall migrant numbers were at least a bit less than in the most recent several days past...) For what it's worth there was a "gray-cheeked"-type thrush in the north woods near the Blockhouse with a somewhat rufous tail, not heard vocalizing at all & just skulking enough to avoid having me closely observe other characters that might have suggested Bicknell's (which I'd guess it was anyhow, & not a nominate Gray-cheeked... it was very definitely not any other species than one of the 2). Good birding, Tom Fiore, Manhattan _________ Subject: Jamaica Bay - Orange-crowned and Worm-eating warblers From: David Klauber <davehawkowl AT msn.com> Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 14:50:15 -0400 We birded Alley Pond Park in Queens from about 7 to 10, and it was not very eventful, except for a Blackburnian Warbler. Upon arriving at Jamaica Bay around 11 AM Bobby Rosetti and I had singing Worm-eating and Orange-crowned Warblers by the entrance to the South Garden a bit north of the visitor center. They were not present at 1:30 when we left. Otherwise there were singing warblers of the commoner species - Parula, BT Blue, Nashville, with a silent Wilson's Warbler seen at the North Garden. Some waterfowl are still present at the West Pond - 2 Snow Geese, Scaup, a Canvasback, and Shoveler along with the Ruddy Ducks and a couple of Gadwall. _________________________________________________________________ Make Windows Vista more reliable and secure with Windows Vista Service Pack 1. http://www.windowsvista.com/SP1?WT.mc_id=hotmailvistasp1banner Subject: Birds today at Gardiner County Park (Suffolk Co.)) From: jgluth AT optonline.net Date: Tue, 06 May 2008 18:38:03 +0000 (GMT) There was a lot of bird activity late this morning (10:00-11:30) at Gardiner�C.P., despite the fact thatneotropical�passerines�still on their way north were virtually absent.In the marshes along the Great South Bay I saw two counter-singing Seaside Sparrows as well as a few Saltmarsh�Sharp-tailed Sparrows (both personal FOYs). Other marsh/beach highlights included Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated�Plover (FOY), Willet, Marsh Wren, Savannah Sparrow and Forster's�Tern.The woods and fields to the north were overrun with territorial Yellow Warblers�and Catbirds, and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers�were much in evidence as well. The only other warblers�seen or heard were a few Yellow-rumps and 2 N. Parulas. Wood Thrushes, White-eyed Vireos�and a Baltimore Oriole were present but heard only. 42 species total, pretty good for only 1-1/2 hours. Subject: Prospect Park & Central Park, NYC 5/5 [including Brooklyn "Lawrence's" Warbler] From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2 AT earthlink.net> Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 06:30:10 -0400 Monday, 5 May, 2008 - Prospect Park, Brooklyn; & Central Park, Manhattan (both in New York City) In addition to my own sightings from Central Park in Manhattan (some with Mike Freeman in early a.m.), I offer a report from Rudy Badia who birded in Prospect Park, Brooklyn on Monday morning: a singing male LAWRENCE's (type) hybrid WARBLER was noted at the Binnen Bridge near the Music Pagoda (as described by RB), & a nice variety of more expected migrants was also reported by Rudy including a Blackpoll Warbler (no specific location in Prospect for that). Rudy also visited Central Park later in the day, & with his reports combined with my own sightings & a few other birders, it's clear that Central Park had good variety as well, with at least 20 warbler species including male Hooded Warblers in at least 2 locations, and a wide variety of other [mainly expected] migrant species... Good birding, Tom Fiore, Manhattan _________ Subject: Mine Rd., Highland Falls, Orange County From: Curt McDermott <tele-tek AT hotmail.com> Date: Mon, 5 May 2008 22:16:11 -0400 Hi All, While passing through Mine Rd. this morning:Blue-winged WarblerYellow WarblerCommon YellowthroatWorm Eating WarblerBlack & White WarblerHooded WarblerRedstartCerulean WarblerGOLDEN-WINGED WARBLERBREWSTER'S WARBLERWHITE EYED VIREOAs a caution: No Blue-winged Warbler on Mine Rd. should be Id'd by song alone, as it is a place of great hybridization. Today Blue-winged, Golden-winged and Brewster's all were singing the typical Blue-winged song. Those who saw the Lawrence's Warbler the past two years will also recall that it too sang the Blue-winged (typical) song.Good Birding,Curt Curt _________________________________________________________________ Stay in touch when you're away with Windows Live Messenger. http://www.windowslive.com/messenger/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_messenger_052008 Subject: Vesper Sparrow at Greenwood Cemetery From: "Michael S. Zablocky" <mszablocky AT verizon.net> Date: Mon, 05 May 2008 15:04:32 -0400 There was a Vesper Sparrow at the far end of Dell Water at 10 o'clock this morning. The individual was a worn adult, very gray and washed out. Come to think of it, I don't recall ever seeing a Vesper in fresh plumage. Anyway, the Vesper was a consolation prize for having been unable to locate the Lark Sparrow. Michael S. Zablocky Brooklyn, NY Subject: RFI: Meadowlands Birding From: Ann Marie Pozzini <li_birder AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 5 May 2008 08:04:26 -0700 (PDT) I'm hoping someone in the NYC or NYS area may have some info on where I can go birding in the Meadowlands area. A friend is graduating from Fairleigh Dickinson on Tuesday, May 20 & the ceremony is at the Meadowland Arena. Rather than arriving in time for the 10 a.m. start, I'd rather go to NJ early and get some birding in before the ceremony. I'm in the search of warblers but would appreciate any & all suggestions. (If all else fails, I'll head out to Great Swamp.) Please respond off-list to me at li_birder AT yahoo.com. Thanks. Ann Marie Pozzini Wantagh --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. Subject: Manhattan parks reports, NYC 5/4 From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2 AT earthlink.net> Date: Mon, 5 May 2008 05:18:25 -0400 Sunday, 4 May, 2008 - Manhattan parks Central Park, Riverside Park, Inwood Hill Park [report from Rudy Badia] Central Park had a very good variety of migrants again, although (I thought) the numbers were down just a bit from the frenzy of Friday- Saturday. Mike Freeman & I birded in the n. end of Central Park in the first ~2 hours of the morning & among species seen & heard were White-eyed Vireo, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Worm- eating Warbler and many others. A few trees in the north woods held (what I counted) at least a dozen Purple Finch, feeding & singing a bit. Separately, I and others noted a Common Loon in breeding plumage again on the reservoir. - - - Between 4 p.m.-6 p.m. I visited part of Riverside Park [near the Hudson River on Manhattan's upper west side], specifically the area of "the drip" where a small flow of fresh water attracts migrants for a drink &/or a bath. A number of other birders were there and notably, Jeff Nulle was among them so that we were well-informed as to the status of all species in Riverside Park, particularly in the sanctuary area of the park (north of W. 115 Street) & "the drip", which is just south of the tennis courts that are near 120th Street inside Riverside. I personally saw 15 warbler species visit the drip in those 2 hours, & others saw several other species as well. A singing Hooded Warbler could not be visually located by me, about 80 yards southeast of the drip after 4 p.m., while I did later spot a singing Blackburnian Warbler that seemed to stay up in the canopy closer to the drive & was not seen at "the drip" itself. Also great to see up close at "the drip" were a gaudy pair of Scarlet Tanagers, & (at one point, 3) male Indigo Buntings trying to out-do the other birds for "oooh" comments from the birders. A good variety of other birds also visited the water-source or were nearby. - - - Lacking migration reports from Ken Allaire, who so regularly & thoroughly offered them in recent years past for this city park at the northern tip of Manhattan, N.Y. City, I'm forwarding a fine report from Rudy Badia (a New Yorker recently back from ongoing field studies of wintering Kirtland's Warblers & other species in the Bahamas) - who also knows Inwood Hill Park and how productive it can be. His report is for Sunday, May 4th, 2008: from Rudy Badia: --->> Today birded Inwood Hill Park and was not disappointed. On the first hour of been there i had 14 species of warblers all singing. The forest was loaded with bird activity and the song of birds filled every corner of the park. At one point, worm-eating, blue-winged, yellow, blackburnian, n. parula & prairie warbler and ovenbird countersinging to others of their species. some of the birds seen - Great crested Flycatcher Blue-headed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Carolina Wren House Wren Wood Thrush Veery Hermit Thrush Swainson's Thrush Blue-winged Warbler (~8 birds, singing non-stop) Northern Parula Nashville Warbler Yellow Warbler (many) Magnolia Warbler (~8 birds) Black-throated Blue Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Palm Warbler Blackpoll Warbler (one bird) Blackburnian Warbler (4 birds) Pine Warbler (3 birds) Prairie Warbler (many singing) Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart (two males) Worm-eating Warbler (4 birds) Common Yellowthroat Northern Waterthrush Ovenbird (many) Rose-breasted Grosbeak (~12 birds) Field Sparrow Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Baltimore Oriole (35+ birds) Orchard Oriole (~13 birds) Scarlet Tanager (~12 birds) Brown-headed Cowbird - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - << Subject: Black Scoter at Bayard Cutting Arboretum (Suffolk Co.) From: John Gluth <jgluth AT optonline.net> Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 22:12:32 -0400 While birding this afternoon at Bayard Cutting Arboretum (Great River) I found a female Black Scoter in a small cove off the Connetquot River. This is the same location where I found a female Barrow's Goldeneye in late December 2006. The location is atypical for both species, being a mile or so upstream from the Great South Bay and a couple more miles from the Atlantic Ocean. When I first spotted it, it was coming in for a landing, apparently after a short flight from somewhere else within the cove. I watched it for a while, and it did not seem injured or ill, but I couldn't be sure. What is it about this location that draws off-course female seaducks? Other notable birds seen during my visit included several Osprey, 2 Solitary Sandpiper a pair of E. Kingbirds, Blue-headed Vireo, N. Rough-winged Swallow, House Wren, Brown Thrasher, Black-throated Blue Warbler, and Common Yellowthroat. Subject: Marine Nature Stuy Area, Oceansidde From: Sy Schiff <icterus AT optonline.net> Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 21:36:05 -0400 May 4; Marine Nature Study Area, Oceanside Spent some time on a bright sunny afternoon, after an overcast morning. New arrivals have been Clapper Rails and Seaside Sparrows, both singing in the marsh today. Also singing was a Boat-tailed Grackle on the edge shrubbery. Both Night-Herons have also arrived. Shorebirds included Willets, both Yellowlegs, both Semipamates and Least Sandpiper. Sy Schiff Subject: Re: North Shore Birds - May 4, 2008 From: Susan Herbst <susieq60 AT optonline.net> Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 21:17:21 -0400 OOPs, forgot the ovenbird, minutes after the GCFlycatcher. On May 4, 2008, at 7:31 PM, Susan Herbst wrote: > Tiffany Creek Preserve, Oyster Bay > Black and White Warblers (quite a number) > Cardinal (M&F) > Blue Jays (3+) > Grackles > Catbirds > Robins > Red Bellied Woodpecker (at least 2) > Blue Headed Vireo (but - it was way in the top of the trees and > couldn't get any closer - I'm pretty sure.) > Tufted Titmouse > Yellow-Rumped Warblers (I only saw males) > Great Crested Flycatcher (Pretty sure this is a life bird for me. > He gave me great views as he caught and ate a butterfly, then spent > a great deal of time grooming and fluffing in a dogwood tree. He > was in pretty much the same spot for more than 20 minutes.) > Heard a hawk of some kind - never saw him. Heard crows as well. > > Uplands Farm, Cold Spring Harbor > Eastern Bluebirds (one landed nearly at my feet.) > Loads of Red-winged Blackbirds > Loads of Grackles (Does it seem like there is an unusual amount > this year?) > Song Sparrows > Red Bellied Woodpeckers > Flicker > Robins > Catbirds > Tree Swallows > Barn Swallows > Morning Dove > White Throated Sparrows > Chickadees > Baltimore Oriole (Chickadees and Oriole were in the apple trees(?)) > 2 Mockingbirds - both very accomplished mimickers - I easily > recognized Cardinal, hawk (not specific), starling, grackles, red- > winged blackbirds, and robins. > Loads of big rabbits and baby squirrels. > I didn't see my usual Red-Tailed Hawk - who is usually sitting in > the trees along the driveway. > > > Susan Herbst > graphic design/illustration/photography > 516-633-7730 > susieq60 AT optonline.net > > > Susan Herbst graphic design/illustration/photography 516-633-7730 susieq60 AT optonline.net Subject: Millbrook, Dutchess County From: John Askildsen <askildsen AT verizon.net> Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 20:04:04 -0500 (CDT) This morning there were two Cape May Warblers, one so close you could have almost reached out to touch it, singing away, in our yard, plus an Orchard Oriole and an adult White-crowned Sparrow, among others. Bobolinks have now joined the meadowlarks in the farm fields of the Millbrook area. We have already discovered a chipping sparrow nest complete with 5 eggs in our neighbor's field today. They surely do not waste time, do they! Regards, John Askildsen and Kirsten Lewis John Askildsen Millbrook, New York Subject: Rose-breasted grosbeaks From: prelich AT aecom.yu.edu Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 20:48:59 -0400 (EDT) Have others been seeing abnormally high numbers of rose-breasted grosbeaks? I have only seen a single male at my feeders prior to this year, but had four at the feeder today. Greg Prelich New Rochelle http://steelhead.aecom.yu.edu/birdwebphotos/birds/index.html Subject: Sullivan Sandhill From: Renee Davis <renee4 AT peoplepc.com> Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 20:05:16 -0400 (GMT-04:00) This evening (unable to pull ourselves away), Marge Gorton and I stopped at the Pine Boat Launch at the Bashakill and found a Sandhill Crane attempting to land. I feel it was the same one Joe Cullen found on April 26 because it tried to land in the same area where he found it last week. The water level is higher now due to the rain we've had in the last few days and I feel the crane felt it was too deep to land. I called John Haas and he was able to come and see the crane too. We watched it for almost an hour, it soared from one end of the Bashakill to the other, I think it was looking for a landing spot. We finally left with the crane still soaring overhead. While visiting all the hot spots I was able to count a few migrating Blue Jays----to be exact I counted 718! Imagine how many I missed as I only casually counted them when I could see them. What a great day it was at the "Bash". Renee Davis ________________________________________ PeoplePC Online A better way to Internet http://www.peoplepc.com Subject: North Shore Birds - May 4, 2008 From: Susan Herbst <susieq60 AT optonline.net> Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 19:31:09 -0400 Tiffany Creek Preserve, Oyster Bay Black and White Warblers (quite a number) Cardinal (M&F) Blue Jays (3+) Grackles Catbirds Robins Red Bellied Woodpecker (at least 2) Blue Headed Vireo (but - it was way in the top of the trees and couldn't get any closer - I'm pretty sure.) Tufted Titmouse Yellow-Rumped Warblers (I only saw males) Great Crested Flycatcher (Pretty sure this is a life bird for me. He gave me great views as he caught and ate a butterfly, then spent a great deal of time grooming and fluffing in a dogwood tree. He was in pretty much the same spot for more than 20 minutes.) Heard a hawk of some kind - never saw him. Heard crows as well. Uplands Farm, Cold Spring Harbor Eastern Bluebirds (one landed nearly at my feet.) Loads of Red-winged Blackbirds Loads of Grackles (Does it seem like there is an unusual amount this year?) Song Sparrows Red Bellied Woodpeckers Flicker Robins Catbirds Tree Swallows Barn Swallows Morning Dove White Throated Sparrows Chickadees Baltimore Oriole (Chickadees and Oriole were in the apple trees(?)) 2 Mockingbirds - both very accomplished mimickers - I easily recognized Cardinal, hawk (not specific), starling, grackles, red- winged blackbirds, and robins. Loads of big rabbits and baby squirrels. I didn't see my usual Red-Tailed Hawk - who is usually sitting in the trees along the driveway. Susan Herbst graphic design/illustration/photography 516-633-7730 susieq60 AT optonline.net Subject: Re:George Washington Bridge Area From: Peregrina Garcia <peregrina_g AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 16:16:23 -0700 (PDT) Pardon me, make that the EAST tower of the George,on the manhattan side, is what I was referring to. Yolanda Garcia ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Subject: George Washington Bridge Area From: Peregrina Garcia <peregrina_g AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 16:07:32 -0700 (PDT) It is not certain if this area,just south of the west tower of the George is part of Fort Washington Park,although it most certainly is adjacent to it. This trail has trees that have leafed out prodigiously in the past week,and a well developed understory,unlike parts of the park proper,which are more "manicured" It was walking here this evening(this entire area has evolved into a much safer place to walk) that i found a singing male HOODED WARBLER up in the trees. I would say it was the early evening but in terms of the light it could be characterized as late afternoon as well. This week the birds in the general area,including the riverbanks, and the local cemetery and woods which parallel the medical center have incuded Prairie Warblers, Baltimore Orioles,Black and Whites,Yellows, Black Throated Greens, Northern Parulas,Ovenbirds as well as small rafts of Brant Geese on the river itself. At Inwood Hill Park last saturday (April 26th) I saw a Veery and a female Rose Breasted Grosbeak. There seems to be an extended passage of migrants taking place along the eastern seaboard this week. Good Birding, Yolanda Garcia ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Subject: Prospect Park May 4th From: tompr AT optonline.net Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 22:14:53 +0000 (GMT) A great day at Prospect Park Sunday Highlights included: Kentucky Warbler: South of Rose Garden. One was reported Friday in the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, just across the road Yellow-breasted Chat: in the same spot as yesterday, below the Terrace Bridge on the Breeze Hill side Cape May Warbler: Maryland monument and Vale Lincoln's Sparrow: very nicely marked bird South of Rose Garden White-crowned Sparrow: in the meadow by the peninsula, with many Chippies Worm-eating Warbler: Boulder Bridge - found by Tom Stevenson. Another was reported from Lookout Hill Hooded Warbler: 1 or (probably) 2 near Rose Garden, 1 Lookout. Others reported elsewhere 80 species for me, including 20 warblers, 5 vireos, 7 sparrows (+towhee&cardinal) - Tom Preston Subject: Hooded Warbler at Target Rock From: Jim Osterlund <jamesost AT optonline.net> Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 17:43:33 -0400 At the risk of seeming obsessed with a species, � but I guess I am; I don't get them very often � I'd like to report another Hooded Warbler, this one at the Target Rock Preserve, Lloyd Neck, Nassau County. Two trails emanate from the parking lot, which is here; 40.927132, -73.438397 one of them runs due south, steeply downhill; this bird, a Blue- headed- and a Yellow-throated Vireo were foraging the same general spot along this trail. All three vocalized a little as they foraged. Subject: West End/Jones Beach(WE II) & Hempstead Lake State Park (HLSP) - Nassau Co. From: Ken Feustel <feustel AT optonline.net> Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 16:34:11 -0500 Sue and I started our birding day at West End in the fog. There were good numbers of shorebirds on the sandbar at the West End Marina, including over 100 Red Knots, a Short-billed Dowitcher, Forster's and Common Terns, and two Bonaparte's Gulls. There were nineteen Semipalmated Plovers and three Piping Plovers in the swale in front of the WE II pavilion. As we were leaving West End, we observed an Upland Sandpiper feeding on the shoulder of the parkway west of the entrance to the T.R. Nature Center. About an hour later Shai Mitra reported Gull-billed and Black Tern in the boat basin. We returned to WEII after birding Hempstead Lake to look for the terns, but a beach cleanup was in progress and the sandbar was covered with cleanup participants. At HLSP we observed four species of vireo and fourteen species of warbler - no uncommon species, however. Seen by Others: Worm-eating Warbler and Solitary Sandpiper (HLSP), Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers (WE II) Ken & Sue Feustel Subject: Cerulean Warbler, Manhattan, NYC 5/4 (to 3 p.m.+) From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2 AT earthlink.net> Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 15:10:42 -0400 Sunday, 4 May, 2008 - Manhattan, N.Y. City I learned word-of-mouth about a male Cerulean Warbler on Manhattan's Upper West Side, specifically the bird is in smallish street trees on the north side of West 89th Street, near building numbers 103 & 105 W. 89th Street (as of 3 p.m.) and was being seen by over a dozen birders. Now checking other lists, I see that a message was posted already by David Speiser on the ebirdsnyc list: http:// groups.yahoo.com/group/ebirdsnyc/message/5012 and with that information, I thank David for the notice & Doug Futuyma for the find. Great bird for a NYC neighborhood! (ps, the location is very slightly west of Columbus Avenue & West 89 Street.) Tom Fiore, Manhattan _________ Subject: Sullivan County From: "vanhaas AT citlink.net" <vanhaas@citlink.net> Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 18:54:37 +0000 Many birders were out today, but bird numbers and diversity were down from yesterday. There were still some good things to be seen and at least 15 species of warblers were seen. A few new birds had come in. Here are some highlights: Bashakill: Merlin - at least three Nashville Warblers Orchard Orioles Great Egret -LV in early am Yellow-billed Cuckoo LV Great-crested Flycatcher Marsh Wren - LV Northern Goshawk Sharp-shinned Hawk McDonald Road/Linear Park Grasshopper Sparrow- continues but hard to find Peter Post got some nice pics GOLD-WINGED WARBLER Black-billed Cuckoo Lincoln's Sparrow Chestnut-sided Warbler Orchard Oriole - for a total of three for the day With the Tennessee Warbler Scott Baldinger had yesterday afternoon, we now have had a total of twenty one warblers in three days. John Haas Subject: Kentucky warbler/ Lark Sparrow, Kings County From: ProsBird AT aol.com Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 10:45:49 EDT I received text messages of the following rarities in their respective locations Kentucky Warbler: Prospect Park southwest of the Vale of Cashmere's and uppar adjacent Rose Garden in northern Prospect. On the map accessed from the Brooklyn Bird Club website homepage Prospect sightings, look for a path or area near the path forks joining the upper "Rose Garden and from the lower Vale paths .My text from Tom Preston was recd at 10:24 am Lark Sparrow : in Southern Greenwood Cemetery accessed from the main gate 25th street and 5th ave, Scott whittle texted me the bird was seen on the ACORN PATH near Grove and Central Avenue (Greenwood is designated by street names inside) text recd 10:28 am. Go to the Brooklyn Bird Club website and "locations" for a drawn map (not detailed , you have to ask the guard for directions or buy the good map) _http://brooklynbirdclub.org/grnwood.htm_ (http://brooklynbirdclub.org/grnwood.htm) Good Luck Peter **************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001) Subject: 05/03, Prospect Park From: Rob Jett <citybirder AT earthlink.net> Date: Sat, 3 May 2008 19:55:45 -0400 DATE: 5/3/2008 LOCATION: Prospect Park OBSERVERS: Rob Jett, Scott Whittle REPORTED BY: Rob Jett Wow, what a difference a night flight makes. Despite the overcast, damp, cool conditions, it was an incredible day of birding in Prospect Park. We also made a run across Flatbush Avenue to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, hoping to relocate a Kentucky Warbler that was observed late yesterday. Unfortunately, the Native Flora Garden (where it was found) was closed today because of the large crowds expected for the cherry blossom festival. No matter, it was a great day filled with bird song and feathered feeding frenzies. I didn't observe any rare or semi-rare species, just a whole lot of birds. We tallied 20 species of warblers, but I suspect that, when all the reports are in, Prospect Park's total will be closer to 25. A couple of interesting observations were - an abundance of Baltimore Orioles (perhaps 40 to 50 over the course of several hours) and 4 sightings of Hooded Warbler (1 near the east side of the Rose Garden on the berm adjacent to Flatbush Avenue; 1 next to the pool at the Vale of Cashmere; 1 along the shore of the Ambergill in the Ravine; 1 foraging in the leaf litter at the edge of the path near the Donegan Oak monument). It is quite possible that we saw a single individual more than once, but they were a distance away from each other. My mind's ear is still hearing songs and calls within the low whirr of my computer, the white noise of the bathroom fan or the sibilance of water running from the kitchen faucet. It happens to me every May after a long day of birding. It should be another good day tomorrow. Good birding, Rob - - - - - Prospect Park, 5/3/2008 - Wood Duck Northern Harrier (Flying over Battle Pass.) Red-tailed Hawk Peregrine Falcon (Flying over Brooklyn Botanic Garden.) Spotted Sandpiper (Circling over skating rink.) Laughing Gull Ring-billed Gull Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Chasing a starling at Rose Garden.) Belted Kingfisher Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Northern Flicker Great Crested Flycatcher (2.) Eastern Kingbird (1, Nelly's Lawn.) White-eyed Vireo (1, singing in Midwood.) Blue-headed Vireo (Fairly common.) Warbling Vireo (3 or 4.) Red-eyed Vireo (4 - 6.) Fish Crow Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow (5, flying around over Upper Pool.) Red-breasted Nuthatch (1, BBG.) White-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren House Wren Winter Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Common.) Veery (Several.) Hermit Thrush (3 or 4.) Wood Thrush (2.) Gray Catbird (Common.) Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher (2.) Cedar Waxwing Blue-winged Warbler (4-6.) Nashville Warbler (Several.) Northern Parula (Common.) Yellow Warbler (Fairly common.) Cape May Warbler (1, Lullwater.) Black-throated Blue Warbler (Several.) Yellow-rumped Warbler (Abundant.) Black-throated Green Warbler (Fairly common.) Blackburnian Warbler (1, Ravine. 1, next to Litchfield Villa.) Prairie Warbler (2.) Palm Warbler (Fairly common.) Black-and-white Warbler (Common.) American Redstart (3.) Worm-eating Warbler (1, near Battle Pass.) Ovenbird (Fairly common.) Northern Waterthrush (3.) Louisiana Waterthrush (1, stream below Esdale Bridge.) Common Yellowthroat (Several.) Hooded Warbler (1, Rose Garden. 1, Vale of Cashmere. 1, Ravine. 1, near Donegan Oak monument.) Yellow-breasted Chat (Walking along low wall below Terrace Bridge.) Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Fairly common.) Indigo Bunting (Heard singing on Sullivan Hill.) Eastern Towhee (Fairly common.) Chipping Sparrow (Abundant.) Field Sparrow (1, behind skating rink.) Savannah Sparrow (Peninsula Meadow.) Swamp Sparrow (2.) White-throated Sparrow (Abundant.) White-crowned Sparrow (4, adjacent to skating rink.) Dark-eyed Junco (Nelly's Lawn.) Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Orchard Oriole (3, Vale of Cashmere. 1, Mount Prospect Park. 1, Botanic Garden.) Baltimore Oriole (Abundant.) Purple Finch (1, RIck's Place.) American Goldfinch (Fairly common.) Other common species seen (or heard): Canada Goose, Mute Swan American Black Duck, Mallard, Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, American Robin, European Starling, Northern Cardinal, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, House Sparrow The City Birder Weblog http://citybirder.blogspot.com Subject: Fw:Saturday at Hunters Garden & Manor of St. George,Brookhaven,Long Island From: Carl Starace <castarace AT optonline.net> Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 07:06:18 -0400 Hello All, We are still waiting for the "big wave", out here in eastern Suffolk.Hunters Garden had a FOS Scarlet Tanager today along with a few Blackthroated Greens and B&W's. While the Manor of St. George near Smith's Point Park had a FOS BOBOLINK. Have a Great Birding Day tomorrow! Carl Starace and Sally Swain Subject: Central Park, NYC 5/3: 4th Hooded Warbler From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2 AT earthlink.net> Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 05:15:47 -0400 A late additional report from Saturday, 3 May 2008 at Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City was a male Hooded Warbler at the Hallett Sanctuary near the Pond in the park's southeastern corner - which makes a definite tally of at least 4 male Hoodeds in the park, & quite possibly more. Also noted was Pine Warbler in the Ramble- added to all the other warblers seen, it puts that tally at 25+ species. - - - Also, at the northern tip of Manhattan, Inwood Hill Park was very active with migrants, and many of the same species reported from Central Park & other city parks were also found there in numbers. - - - It might be noted to this list that a young male BLUE GROSBEAK was reported at Prospect Park by Peter Dorosh leading a Brooklyn Bird Club field outing, the grosbeak seen by the rink near the Lincoln statue. A Tennessee Warbler is also on the list from their trip, along with many of the the other warbler species including the YELLOW- BREASTED CHAT that Rob Jett reported to this list. A LARK SPARROW was apparently reported at Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn on Saturday, but the location within the grounds wasn't made clear on the list P.D. maintains at his birding blog. I mention the Brooklyn additions only as they may not have been reported here yet. See http://www.brooklynbirdclub.org/ for the url to Prospect Park (& vicinity) sightings maintained by Peter Dorosh. Tom Fiore, Manhattan _________ Subject: Avian Abundance at Alley Pond Park (Queens Co.) From: John Gluth <jgluth AT optonline.net> Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 00:43:06 -0400 Participants in Great South Bay Audubon's field trip Saturday to Alley Pond Park and Jamaica Bay Refuge also experienced the abundance of migrants detailed in other posts. Particularly so at Alley Pond where we had 17 species of warbler (several of which were quite numerous, ex. B&W, BTG) highlighted by a Worm-eating and a Hooded (he latter likely the same male seen by Jim Osterlund), and 4 vireo species including multiple Yellow-thoateds. One of our group pished in ~20 passerines, the mob containing several warblers, a Scarlet Tanager and Catbirds. Thrushes were also well represented, by Woods, Hermits and Veerys. We also saw at least 8 Rusty Blackbirds, six of which were foraging in the wet leaf litter just up the slope from the parking lot. The plethora of passerines at Alley Pond contrasted starkly with the relative dearth in the gardens at Jamaica Bay, just a few miles away. The only notables seen were 4 male Orchard Orioles (1 full adult, 3 in first-spring plumage) all feeding in one cherry tree, and a Nashville Warbler. But the West Pond trail picked up the slack with waterfowl (1 lingering Canvasback, Blue-winged Teal) and wading birds (Little Blue Heron), and the East Pond trail chipped in with Bank Swallow, White-crowned Sparrow (2) and N. Harrier. I finished the day on my own at Jones Beach west end, my visit brief due to a stiff easterly wind. There were still 2 Gull-billed Terns on the Short Beach Island bar, but the "hedge" in front of the adjacent Coast Guard Station harbored little of note, nor did the pines at the roadway turnaround down by Parking Field 2. But in the scrub just west of the center entrance to that lot I found a male Hooded Warbler, which drew attention to itself By calling repeatedly. He was the only warbler I saw at Jones, with not even a Yellow-rumped apparent. Subject: Late post - Thursday birds on Keuka Lake From: "Mickey Scilingo" <mickey.scilingo AT gte.net> Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 00:00:31 -0400 Sorry about the late post. Birding in the central Finger Lakes area in Yates County, I found some decent birds at the north end of the western branch of Keuka Lake mid-day on Thursday. There is a DEC fisherman's access site where Guyanoga Creek enters Keuka Lake, with a trail that follows the creek out to the marsh and ends near a wooden observation tower. From the tower, I looked out over the lake and found the following: Ring-necked Duck - 1 male, 1 female Long-tailed Duck - 2 female Bufflehead - 1 male, 1 female Common Goldeneye - 1 male Red-breasted Merganser - 1 male, 9 female Common Loon - 9 Pied-billed Grebe - 2 1 Caspian Tern I thought the loon count was kind of high for this time of year, and it has got to be getting late for the Long-tails and the Goldeneye. Also, a VIRGINIA RAIL and a COMMON MOORHEN announced their presence while I was there. Earlier, I wandered around Keuka Lake State Park for a bit, and found a nice combination of migrants and residents, including: Spotted Sandpiper - 5 along the beach Barred Owl - 1 Common Raven - 1 Carolina Wren - 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 5 Yellow-rumped Warbler - about 30 Palm Warbler - 1 Louisiana Waterthrush - 1 White-throated Sparrow - 5 Mickey Mickey Scilingo Yellow Barn Hill Dryden, Tompkins County, NY mickey.scilingo AT gte.net 607-280-2638 Subject: Late post - Thursday birds on Keuka Lake From: "Mickey Scilingo" <mickey.scilingo AT gte.net> Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 00:00:31 -0400 Sorry about the late post. Birding in the central Finger Lakes area in Yates County, I found some decent birds at the north end of the western branch of Keuka Lake mid-day on Thursday. There is a DEC fisherman's access site where Guyanoga Creek enters Keuka Lake, with a trail that follows the creek out to the marsh and ends near a wooden observation tower. From the tower, I looked out over the lake and found the following: Ring-necked Duck - 1 male, 1 female Long-tailed Duck - 2 female Bufflehead - 1 male, 1 female Common Goldeneye - 1 male Red-breasted Merganser - 1 male, 9 female Common Loon - 9 Pied-billed Grebe - 2 1 Caspian Tern I thought the loon count was kind of high for this time of year, and it has got to be getting late for the Long-tails and the Goldeneye. Also, a VIRGINIA RAIL and a COMMON MOORHEN announced their presence while I was there. Earlier, I wandered around Keuka Lake State Park for a bit, and found a nice combination of migrants and residents, including: Spotted Sandpiper - 5 along the beach Barred Owl - 1 Common Raven - 1 Carolina Wren - 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 5 Yellow-rumped Warbler - about 30 Palm Warbler - 1 Louisiana Waterthrush - 1 White-throated Sparrow - 5 Mickey Mickey Scilingo Yellow Barn Hill Dryden, Tompkins County, NY mickey.scilingo AT gte.net 607-280-2638_______________________________________________ GeneseeBirds-L mailing list - GeneseeBirds-L AT geneseo.edu http://mail.geneseo.edu/mailman/listinfo/geneseebirds-l Subject: Central Park, NYC 5/3 From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2 AT earthlink.net> Date: Sat, 3 May 2008 22:40:03 -0400 Saturday, 3 May, 2008 - Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City (one note, a fifth vireo species was also seen on Friday May 2nd, in the Ramble of Central Park, by at least 3 observers, A. Deutsch, K. Miller, L. Swenson: a White-eyed Vireo.) Saturday brought more birds (both in overall numbers & probably in species variety as well, seemingly especially apparent at the northern half of the park) than the day before... Double-crested Cormorant (many on reservoir & also as fly-overs) Common Loon (breeding-plumaged, continuing on reservoir, a.m.) Great Blue Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret (flock of 8 leaving the Meer, headed west, early a.m.) Green Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron Canada Goose Gadwall (pair, reservoir, a.m.) Mallard Northern Shoveler (at least 2 still on reservoir) Bufflehead (4, reservoir) Ruddy Duck (several, reservoir) Sharp-shinned Hawk (fly-by) Cooper's Hawk (fly-by) Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Solitary Sandpiper (several locations) Spotted Sandpiper (at least several) Wilson's Snipe (2) Ring-billed Gull (mainly on reservoir) Herring Gull (mainly on reservoir) Great Black-backed Gull (mainly on reservoir) Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Great Hill, early a.m.) Chimney Swift (multiple) Ruby-throated Hummingbird (at least several) Belted Kingfisher (Meer, fly-by) Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (northern end) Least Flycatcher (several) Great Crested Flycatcher (more than a few) Eastern Kingbird (multiple) White-eyed Vireo (at least 2) Blue-headed Vireo (multiple) Yellow-throated Vireo (at least several) Warbling Vireo (multiple) Philadelphia Vireo (1 singing & seen well, west of East 102 St. park entrance) Red-eyed Vireo (more than a few) Blue Jay American Crow Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Barn Swallow Black-capped Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Red-breasted Nuthatch (at least several) White-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren House Wren Winter Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Ruby-crowned Kinglet (still going strong) Veery (many) Swainson's Thrush (more than a few) Hermit Thrush (multiple) Wood Thrush (multiple) American Robin Gray Catbird (hundreds, many hundreds...) Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher European Starling Cedar Waxwing (relatively few) Blue-winged Warbler (multiple) Tennessee Warbler (seen singing near Lily Ponds [N. Woods], a.m.) Nashville Warbler (multiple) Northern Parula (common) Yellow Warbler (common) Chestnut-sided Warbler (more than a few) Magnolia Warbler (more than several) Cape May Warbler (several in both N. end & Ramble, & other areas) Black-throated Blue Warbler (multiple) Yellow-rumped Warbler (many continue, with more females) Black-throated Green Warbler (not hard to find) Blackburnian Warbler (at least 3 in N. end, others elsewhere) Prairie Warbler (several) Palm Warbler (multiple) Bay-breasted Warbler (1 bright male on Great Hill, early a.m.) Blackpoll Warbler (several) Black-and-white Warbler (common) American Redstart (not many yet) Worm-eating Warbler (N. end & Ramble) Ovenbird (common) Northern Waterthrush (common) Louisiana Waterthrush (reported by others, but not seen/heard by me) Common Yellowthroat (multiple) Hooded Warbler (3 or 4: Great Hill & Loch [possibly same bird], & Ramble, & elsewhere) Wilson's Warbler (several) Canada Warbler (several) Scarlet Tanager (multiple) Eastern Towhee (common) Chipping Sparrow (many) Field Sparrow (at least 5) Savannah Sparrow (several) Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow (several) Swamp Sparrow (multiple) White-throated Sparrow (very common) White-crowned Sparrow (several, and singing) Dark-eyed Junco (1, N. Woods) Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak (common) Indigo Bunting (several in N. end) Bobolink (3 males on N. Meadow knoll, & 20+ additional calling fly- bys in early a.m.) Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Orchard Oriole (at least several) Baltimore Oriole (many) Purple Finch (multiple) House Finch American Goldfinch (common) House Sparrow Good birding, Tom Fiore, Manhattan _________ Subject: 05/03, Prospect Park From: Rob Jett <citybirder AT earthlink.net> Date: Sat, 3 May 2008 20:49:05 -0400 DATE: 5/3/2008 LOCATION: Prospect Park OBSERVERS: Rob Jett, Scott Whittle REPORTED BY: Rob Jett Wow, what a difference a night flight makes. Despite the overcast, damp, cool conditions, it was an incredible day of birding in Prospect Park. We also made a run across Flatbush Avenue to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, hoping to relocate a Kentucky Warbler that was observed late yesterday. Unfortunately, the Native Flora Garden (where it was found) was closed today because of the large crowds expected for the cherry blossom festival. No matter, it was a great day filled with bird song and feathered feeding frenzies. I didn't observe any rare or semi-rare species, just a whole lot of birds. We tallied 20 species of warblers, but I suspect that, when all the reports are in, Prospect Park's total will be closer to 25. A couple of interesting observations were - an abundance of Baltimore Orioles (perhaps 40 to 50 over the course of several hours) and 4 sightings of Hooded Warbler (1 near the east side of the Rose Garden on the berm adjacent to Flatbush Avenue; 1 next to the pool at the Vale of Cashmere; 1 along the shore of the Ambergill in the Ravine; 1 foraging in the leaf litter at the edge of the path near the Donegan Oak monument). It is quite possible that we saw a single individual more than once, but they were a distance away from each other. My mind's ear is still hearing songs and calls within the low whirr of my computer, the white noise of the bathroom fan or the sibilance of water running from the kitchen faucet. It happens to me every May after a long day of birding. It should be another good day tomorrow. Good birding, Rob - - - - - Prospect Park, 5/3/2008 - Wood Duck Northern Harrier (Flying over Battle Pass.) Red-tailed Hawk Peregrine Falcon (Flying over Brooklyn Botanic Garden.) Spotted Sandpiper (Circling over skating rink.) Laughing Gull Ring-billed Gull Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Chasing a starling at Rose Garden.) Belted Kingfisher Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Northern Flicker Great Crested Flycatcher (2.) Eastern Kingbird (1, Nelly's Lawn.) White-eyed Vireo (1, singing in Midwood.) Blue-headed Vireo (Fairly common.) Warbling Vireo (3 or 4.) Red-eyed Vireo (4 - 6.) Fish Crow Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow (5, flying around over Upper Pool.) Red-breasted Nuthatch (1, BBG.) White-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren House Wren Winter Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Common.) Veery (Several.) Hermit Thrush (3 or 4.) Wood Thrush (2.) Gray Catbird (Common.) Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher (2.) Cedar Waxwing Blue-winged Warbler (4-6.) Nashville Warbler (Several.) Northern Parula (Common.) Yellow Warbler (Fairly common.) Cape May Warbler (1, Lullwater.) Black-throated Blue Warbler (Several.) Yellow-rumped Warbler (Abundant.) Black-throated Green Warbler (Fairly common.) Blackburnian Warbler (1, Ravine. 1, next to Litchfield Villa.) Prairie Warbler (2.) Palm Warbler (Fairly common.) Black-and-white Warbler (Common.) American Redstart (3.) Worm-eating Warbler (1, near Battle Pass.) Ovenbird (Fairly common.) Northern Waterthrush (3.) Louisiana Waterthrush (1, stream below Esdale Bridge.) Common Yellowthroat (Several.) Hooded Warbler (1, Rose Garden. 1, Vale of Cashmere. 1, Ravine. 1, near Donegan Oak monument.) Yellow-breasted Chat (Walking along low wall below Terrace Bridge.) Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Fairly common.) Indigo Bunting (Heard singing on Sullivan Hill.) Eastern Towhee (Fairly common.) Chipping Sparrow (Abundant.) Field Sparrow (1, behind skating rink.) Savannah Sparrow (Peninsula Meadow.) Swamp Sparrow (2.) White-throated Sparrow (Abundant.) White-crowned Sparrow (4, adjacent to skating rink.) Dark-eyed Junco (Nelly's Lawn.) Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Orchard Oriole (3, Vale of Cashmere. 1, Mount Prospect Park. 1, Botanic Garden.) Baltimore Oriole (Abundant.) Purple Finch (1, RIck's Place.) American Goldfinch (Fairly common.) Other common species seen (or heard): Canada Goose, Mute Swan American Black Duck, Mallard, Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, American Robin, European Starling, Northern Cardinal, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, House Sparrow The City Birder Weblog http://citybirder.blogspot.com