Central Park: Cool and Calmer

Today I headed to the park about 1.  I took the subway up to the museum stop, and entered at 77th and headed over to the lake.  It was cool today, only supposed to get up to about 60!  Funny how just a month or so ago that would have felt so balmy, and now it feels so cool.  :-)  Anyway, over balcony bridge to the upper lobe, over the bridge.

Once I turned onto the mulch path, I saw a little round bird, olive-y with an all-over yellow wash, teeny, about the shape of a kinglet.  I saw it only quite briefly, hopping on the ground, further and further away, until it disappeared into the underbrush.  I have no idea what it was.

I took another step onto the path and saw a common yellowthroat, also hopping around on the ground.  It looked at me taking my camera out, and I swear it laughed as it hopped off and disappeared before I could even point the camera its way.

Further along the mulch path a pair of cardinals came through, first the female and then quite quickly the male.  There was some sort of thrush (I can't tell them apart, all I know is no eye stripe) also briefly.  I don't know why the birds here were all so nervous today.

I did a full circuit of the upper lobe, and saw this redstart.  At the time I thought it was a male, but looking at the pictures.... I'm not so sure.  A cormorant flew in, swam around a few minutes, and flew back out.

From there I went to the bridges over the stream by azaela pond, there were some other birders wandering around but I sort of wanted to be on my own.  I saw a thrush that I didn't recognize, but didn't get a good enough picture to help me ID it.

At the stone benchlet this black and white warbler kept me company for a while, then I moved on.

I went along the shore to make my way over to the point.  On the way I ran into a pair of yellow-rumps and another black and white.

At the oven I got a spectacular eye-level view of this magnolia warbler who went between the kinglet bush and the trees by it.  It was fantastic!

Then this oriole came through, and was kind enough to pose on the exposed branch briefly before taking off again.

I head a red-belly and turned around to find him on the ground, sharing the space with a blue jay.  A grackle came over to harass them, but they turned on the grackle together and chased it off.  This partnership did ~not~ last.   First the red-belly yelled at the blue jay.

Then the blue jay yelled back.  Either I twitched, or the blue jay yelled with con-siderably more..... verve than the red-belly did!

The red-belly went to a tree, leaving the blue jay victorious.  The red-belly did fly right back down once the blue jay turned its back though!  It was hilarious.

Then some waxwings came through.  I love these birds!

On to the point.  Just after turning onto the path (the main one, I didn't want to go see the moorhen again, I didn't have much time left) I saw another teeny round bird.  This one had a yellow chest and was olive ont he back.  I got one picture, but the bird is so obscured I don't know what good it will do.  I need to go through my book and other people's posting about what they saw, to try to narrow down what it might be.

Also saw another common yellow throat there, and a yellow warbler.  The yellow didn't have the vivid chest streaks that the one by the castle a few days ago did, but it was still quite pretty.  Just by the path entrance I saw a black-throated blue and another magnolia.

Then it was time to head down to the pond, and check out what was happening there.  I didn't see the wood duck at all, and the geese were not by the island.  They were on the eastern shore.  The red-wing black bird was in his tree, and the night heron was across the way, standing in a pretty open spot, resting.

All in all a good day, and I didn't want to leave!

Crazy windy birding!

Jack and I went to the park today, even though it was pretty windy.  Make that very windy.  Walking up to the subway, the pigeons were careening all over, looking like they were barely in control.  And the pretel guy's umbrella flew off and up the street a block, where the rent-a-bike guy caught it and reined it in.

The park was just as crazy, there was so much crap being whipped around in the air!  It was just flying into our eyes, we did some sneezing in spite of allergy drugs, all of that.  At the upper lobe I caught a glimpse of a common yellow throat but it hid before I could show Jack.  We decided to head for the point to see the moorhen.  On the way, at the thick thrushes by the bench, was another common yellow throat that we both saw.  After we saw it briefly, a kid about 10 years old came by with his mother in tow and a bird book in hand.  He asked what we saw and went off to explore the reeds.

At the oven we didn't see much of anything, but the kid caught up with us and did see the common yellow throat, so I was happy about that.

At the point we took the little dirt/mulch path and did see the common moorhen, it was great!  We also saw a yellow-rump down there, and another unidentified little lovely.

Back on the main path, we ran into some birders who found a Wilson's warbler.  I saw it and had a decent look at it, but Jack didn't see it at all.

They left, we stayed for a few minutes and decided to just head out.  It was so windy, our eyes were really getting crap in them constantly.  We started through the ramble, and ran into the same group of birders, and went to check it out.  Scarlet tanagers!  There was this one tree that a pair of scarlet tanagers were flitting about in, and an oriole came over once in a while, and warblers moved through on a regular basis.  We stayed there for a while just watching it all. Well, I watched, Jack found a bench.  I ended up laying down on the rock and looking up, because craning was hurting my neck so much.  When I asked Jack if he wanted to lay down with me on the rocks, he said he was done and headed home, so off we went.

Crossing over the upper lobe bridge, we looked over and there was an egret.  Hahahaha, this poor guy was struggling in the wind as much as we were!

What a crazy windy day!

Gorgeous day, gorgeous birds

Today I went to Central Park early (well early for me anyway).  I started at Tanner Spring, where I was bored.  I went up to the concrete circle, and did eventually see a mystery warbler there.  Or maybe it's a vireo.  I have no idea.  Anyway, that was it.  To the castle!

I got lost and turned around going to the castle, but did eventually find turtle pond.  I saw this mystery warbler sitting at the end of the pond, on the tree overhanging it.

It looks to me like a blue-winged warbler that is still molting into its breeding costume?  Maybe.  It's pretty iffy actually.  But I couldn't find any other reasonable candidates in my books.

On the path to the castle I saw this gorgeous little yellow warbler, singing his head off!  He was sharing the tree with a common yellow-throat, but I didn't get decent pictures of that one.  I spoke with another birder for a while there, it was nice.

I headed over to the ramble.  After going over the bridge and up the mulch path and heading in, I saw some birders looking intently way up into a tree.  They showed me this magnolia warbler, my first time seeing one!  It was sitting there preening a bit but mostly just singing its head off.  What a treat to get such a long look at a still warbler, even high up in a tree!

As I was walking through, a downie came through and a few ovenbirds teased me.  They are camera shy.  Somehow they can trick the camera into making every picture blurry for no apparent reason.  It's a very weird superpower to have, but I guess you can't choose your superpower, you just have to work with the one you have.

On the way to the point, I saw a black-throated blue.  There must have been an ovenbird nearby because all of its pictures are also blurry.

I went down the dirt path and followed the trail of birders towards the moorhen.  Haha hahaha, these are such fake looking birds!  It was great to see one here.  I got a nice clear view, not for very long though.

At the point I saw this restart, my first time with a good enough view to see what the bird looks like.  Once or twice someone has pointed to a random bird and said "redstart" but they were too fast.  This time I could actually see the bird!

Then the other birders said that it had quieted down and left, and just after they did this oriole came over to say hello.  How gorgeous!  This has happened a few other times.  So some hints for birding: if you see a big group with big cameras, go there.  Something cool is likely to be seen.  If the other birders say it's quiet, let them go, and stay for a few minutes longer.  The birds know, and enjoy playing jokes on the experienced ones who think they know when to leave.  Note to self: remember this when you get more experienced!

This water-thrush was near azalea pond.

It was a great day for me!

Central Park between storms

Today I headed up to the park in the morning (9:30) to get in some park time before the storms come this afternoon.  I went to the lake and saw several little lovelies by the upper lobe on the little mulched trail.  A yellow-rump and a black-throated blue.  Someone said something about a black-footed blue (?) but I couldn't figure out what bird they were talking about.  When the black-throated blue came over to pose and I started trying to take pictures, I realized that I forgot to put a memory card in the camera!   AAAAAuuuuuuuurrrrrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I can't believe I did it again!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And there were really birds everywhere.  So disappointing!

Anyway, also at the lake I saw some grey catbirds and an ovenbird.  Actually there were grey catbirds everywhere, I felt like I saw a zillion of them.  Still saw several white-throated sparrows.

Headed up to the gill, looking for the spot I saw so many little lovelies at a couple of days ago.  Around the gill I stopped and sat by a tree that had several yellow rumped warblers, and one or two northern parula.  Another black-throated blue came over for a little while.  That was on the non-water side of the path.

I crossed over to the water side and saw more yellow-rumps, and a common yellow throat warbler (my first sighting) and a blackpoll warbler.  I had seen the blackpoll before but not a good enough look to ID it.  This time I had a good look!  Another (or maybe the same) black-throated blue, another (or maybe the same) northern parula.

I wandered around to find a different spot and while wandering around saw a hairy woodpecker!  I'm excited because I just learned how to tell downies from hairies, the outer tailfeathers, and I totally saw the tail feathers and can say for sure - hairy!  I got brief looks at the face, but not enough for me to measure the beak even close to reliably or study the lores.  But the tail feathers were quite clear.  He was on a dead tree, little more than a stump really, and I got a really nice look at him.  I love woodpeckers!

Wandered a bit more and talked to someone for a few minutes, he gave me an application for the linnean society.  So, maybe I'll join.  I probably should.  We saw a black and white warbler.  He moved on and I stayed there for a little while longer.  I got a glimpse of someone coming through that I thought was the Blackburnian!  Oh, he was gorgeous for the little second or two I saw him!  It was really just an impression of bright fiery orange with black markings and then he was gone.  Way too fast!

Then it was time to head down to the pond.  I went back to the shore and as I crossed Bow Bridge I saw two cormorants standing in the sun on the rock.  I stopped to look for a second, and saw a third one out fishing.  When I was verifying that there were indeed three separate cormorants in the lake, a fourth flew over!  Hahahahaha, so there were definitely four there.

Down to the pond, where there was not much excitement.  I did not see the wood duck.  The geese were both on the island, one on the nest and one nearby.  The red-winged blackbird was there.  Then walking further south I saw the great egret!  Just hanging out in the water, doing a little snacking, looking beautiful.   cormorant was fishing near him, it was fun to see them together.  No night heron that I could find.

That's it for today.  Hopefully I can make it back soon, with a functional camera!

Central Park: Another look before the storms come

Today was an odd day.  I started out earlier than is usual for me, although I still didn't get to the spot above Tanner's Spring until..... about 10:15.  It was quiet, quiet up there.  I did see a little lovely of some sort, but could not get a decent look at it and was not able to identify it.  Some other birders came over and took me down to the spring, but I didn't want to be around the big camera set-ups so I came back up after a brief look.  I saw a male and female Eastern towhee rooting around, and several catbirds.

Here is my best catbird picture of the day, I saw several birds and heard them quite a few times.

Then a mystery warbler came down to the ground.  Sadly these are my best pictures.

After looking through the books and websites I think this is an immature hooded warbler.  The dusky cap makes such a sharp line, the others with dusky colored caps the line is not sharp at all.  And there's nothing on the face, a little hint of a dusky necklace, and yellow yellow everywhere!  Also this is the exact spot I saw the adult male hooded warbler a day or two ago.

Moving on.  I went by the castle but didn't see anything of note there.

On to the lake!  Saw a pair of cormorants, standing together on the shore and looking around. Lots of catbirds, now that I know they exist I am seeing them everywhere!

This is I believe a female yellow-rumped warbler that I saw by the gill.



This is a Black-burnian warbler that I saw by the gill briefly, I wish I had been able to get better pictures!  In addition to this one of its cute face peeking through, I did get one of the side (it's blurry but good enough for an ID).  He was just there for a few swoops and quick landings, then he was gone.

There was another mystery warbler, with a black face/cap and a yellow throat, and a light-ish back.  Not enough of a look (or picture) to be able to ID it.

This black-throated blue warbler hung out for a few minutes.

Then down to the pond, where I checked on the geese.  The goose was not on the "nest" on the island!  There was a pile of feathers, I looked for eggs but could not find any.

This black-crowned night heron was hanging out, hunting on the near shore and then flying over to the Hallett shore.  I hope it's a regular this year!

It was not a day with a lot of activity, so I'm thrilled that I came away with two new sightings (Blackburnian and black-throated blue) for me.  It was hot and humid, by the time I got home I was pretty wrung out!  I was  in the park about 4-1/2 hours.

Central Park: Hot and Quiet(ish)

Today Jack and I first had a "breakfast" picnic with visiting friends by the Pond.  A cormorant was there standing on the post, I saw a palm warbler across the way in Hallett, a blue jay flew into Hallett and a cardinal flew out.  Jack saw all of them except the palm warbler!

Later we went up to the south-western corner of the reservoir, where it was quiet, quiet, quiet.  I mean, bird-wise.  People-wise, it was hopping!  Anyway, we headed over to Tanner's Spring.

Sitting on the benches we saw this pretty black and white warbler right away, in a close by tree getting insects from the trunk.

There was also a little something or other, possibly a northern parula because we thought we heard its song.  No picture.  It was much too quick for me!

Then this hooded warbler flew in and stayed on the ground like a sparrow.  How gorgeous!  My first sighting of this bird.

As we were heading out I saw a little lovely in a tree, I thought its face looked yellow and it had a black throat.  However this guy was also too fast for me, and the only picture I got (containing the bird) is too fuzzy.  Plus his head is turned away.  Oh well!

Along the path right there we saw an Eastern towhee rooting around, too elusive for pictures, but stayed there a while.  And a catbird, our first sighting of this bird.  No pictures of that one either.  It was not a great day for pictures!

Then we headed down to the lake.  At the upper lobe we saw a water thrush, a yellow rumped warbler, a chipping sparrow, and a catbird.  And a cormorant came in for a landing, fished, caught a fish and ate it!  It was fantastic to see!

We pretty much went to get hot dogs at that point, and then started to head for home.  We walked down to the pond to go around it again.  And saw this black-crowned night heron there!

He was hunting right by the goose's nest.  The goose was ~not~ happy.  He went a teeny bit further away and she laid right down.

Meanwhile, in other news, the cormorant was showing off.

Leaving the bridge I got a brief glimpse of a little lovely but lost it so quickly, I have no idea what it was.  So frustrating!  But I know I'm getting better, so I need to just be patient with myself and keep at it.  I've really seen quite a lot for a beginner!

Central Park: Warbler City!

 What a day today!  I got my chores done in the morning, and about 11 headed to the park.  Yes, yes, I know, all the birders say that's too late.  But, whatever.  7 AM birding is not happening for me right now.  Anyway, after seeing all the reports of wonderful birds everywhere, I decided to go the the south side of the reservoir, Tanner Springs (which I've never been to), then the turtle pond and castle, then the ramble and lake, then the pond.

At the south-western corner of the reservoir, in that little area of trees by the bridle path, there were several yellow-rumped warblers.  Here is one perched.

And here is the yellow rump!  It looks fake, but it's not - it's hilarious and awesome!

And several black and white warblers, who seemed to enjoy being on the trunk of the tree, like they thought maybe if they tried hard enough they could become wood peckers.  :-)  My first sighting of this bird.

Also saw a few oven birds, my first sighting of this bird.

A red bellied wood pecker came through, that was nice, I haven't seen a lot of wood peckers lately.  Also along the shore of the reservoir I saw a yellow warbler briefly, way too briefly to get a picture!  But I am pretty sure that's what it was, there was streaking on the chest, it looked just like the one I saw in Cayman.

From there I tried to find Tanner Springs and it turns out I did.  At least mostly.  There is a concrete area with a drinking fountain and a bunch of benches looking into a bunch of trees.  Again yellow-rumped warblers and black and white warblers.  And Easter towhee that was too elusive for me.  And this mystery warbler, it looks like it could be a golden-cheeked warbler or a black throated green warbler.

I think others have seen the black throated green warbler so that's pretty likely, the pictures are not conclusive.

To the castle!  On the way there I chatted with a birder, she gave me some pointers, that was nice. At Shakespeare Garden, that circle wraparound thing, I saw this northern parula, he was a trickster but I managed this picture!

There was an egret at the turtle pond preening.  Also, obviously, lots of turtles.  It's really enjoyable to watch them from the castle, you get a much better view than from the ground.

Down to the lake!  After a few mis-steps (it's very easy to get turned around, I love my phone!) I made it to the lake.  At the upper lobe this black crowned night heron was hanging out.  There was a water thrush down there too, but it sensed the presence of a camera and made sure to be behind branches and stuff.  The heron didn't care.  It did fly over to a branch along the little trail side of the upper lobe, it looked to me like it chased someone away, but I have no idea who!

Then a cormorant came flying in, and started fishing.  And caught and ate this fish!  It was awesome to see.  It lost it and re-caught it twice, before managing to get it turned the right way to swallow it.  Success!

In the ramble another red-bellied wood pecker came by, they are busy busy busy!  Another black and white warbler also.  And some yellow rumps.

At the oven, this water thrush was still moody and shy.  A pretty swamp sparrow was hanging out there also.

Jack met me on the bridge, and we sat on a bench eating my sandwich and drinking Diet Coke.  A palm warbler and a yellow rumped warbler came by, so Jack could see them.  Then back to the oven.  Some wax wings came down for a quick drink, and the kinglet entertained us for a while.  So Jack got to see many new birds today, it was great.

To the pond!  One of the geese (there is a pair there) is still sitting on what looks more and more like its nest.  I wonder if they'll lay eggs and we'll get a close up view of the whole process!  The red winged blackbird is in his tree.  And a great white egret was there.  We did manage to find the wood duck, after hearing its little peep from the rushes.  And around the corner was a black crowned night heron!  I hope these are all regulars.

It was really a banner day in the park, I was a little reluctant to leave even after about 7 hours strolling around and sitting to watch birds!  Oh, and I definitely need a new backpack.  This one is fine for short-ish walks but is just not cutting it for all-day (or half-day) birding.