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!