Monthly Archives: September 2014

Connecticut Warbler, Central Park Ramble

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The Connecticut Warbler has proved over the last couple years to be very chaseable. Unlike most warblers, it prefers walking (not hopping, and this is an important element in identification) to flying during the day, and so it tends not to go far from where it is sighted. When it appears in a not-densely-vegetated area, as it did two years ago near Tupelo Meadow in the Ramble, it can offer extended views to many observers. The flip side is that its tendency to stay low in heavy brush can also make it very hard to see in the first place and challenging to re-find.

Yesterday, September 29, a Connecticut Warbler was observed walking on the loose dirt and leaves of the hill that rises just north of the Riviera (the path along the Lake) at the south end of the Central Park Ramble. It was reported quickly, both online and by BirdCP text alert at 5:59 p.m. I was at home when I received the alert, and in a few minutes I was running toward the Ramble, binoculars in hand.

I did not want to waste any time, as sunset was 6:40 and the Ramble could be dark well before then on a cloudy day. I arrived at 6:13 and saw three birders in the area. They said they had just seen the Connecticut, and almost immediately it appeared again near a large log. I watched it for a few minutes as some of them took photographs. The bird had a gray hood and unbroken eye-ring, and it was walking, so there was no question about identity.

The Connecticut Warbler was my 196th species of the year. I still need Golden-winged Warbler to complete another “perfect” warbler year (of all regularly-occurring warblers in Manhattan), as I had once before in 2012. It appears extremely unlikely that I will see one, as none have ever been recorded on eBird in Manhattan in October, and cross-breeding is making the pure species rarer each year.

**3 October Update: 

More chaseable Connecticut Warbler reports in Manhattan followed: first at Madison Square Park in the afternoon on 30 September, and then the next day in Strawberry Fields, Central Park at 5:35 p.m.

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Pectoral Sandpiper, Muscota Marsh

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The first Pectoral Sandpiper ever recorded on eBird in Manhattan was seen very early on the morning on September 1 of this year on Randall’s Island by eBird project leader Marshall Iliff, who had no idea at the time that he had set a record.  The species is seen nearly every day at Jamaica Bay, and it also occurs occasionally in the New Jersey Meadowlands marshes. Iliff’s bird, which he reported quickly, stayed in view only a short time on the NE shore before flying off. I saw no compelling reason to chase, but I did run the island later that evening, finding nothing.

The incident started me thinking about Pectoral Sandpiper, though. So it was with some excitement that I read an eBird report yesterday afternoon of a single Pectoral Sandpiper seen at Inwood’s Muscota Marsh among a small flock of Semipalmated Sandpipers and a single Least. The description of the bird and the presence of the more common peeps on the list made me confident that the observer really had seen a Pectoral. I was not thrilled about the timing, however. The bird likely was seen just before noon, a little more than an hour before low tide, but I did not receive the report until after 3 p.m. and did not read it until 3:30. There would be little if any mud left by the time I arrived, and the shorebird flock might have dispersed or even left the area. But I still had a chance, and I had to try the chase.

I was out the door by 3:50 and I ran to the 86th Street stop on the west side to catch the local, which would take me to the A train at 125th. There were no delays, and I entered Inwood Hill Park by 4:25 p.m. The main bay was entirely flooded and I saw no shorebirds nearby, so I continued on to Muscota. The eastern bay had a small patch of mud where I saw the flock of Semipalmated Sandpipers. After a couple minutes the flock was startled and flew back to the the rocks of Muscota, just a few feet off shore. I scanned the group carefully, but all appeared to be Semis.

So I searched nearby shorelines, returning to Inwood Hill’s marsh and all around the area. I did not see any other shorebirds. Then I came back to Muscota and waited. By 5:10 I was getting ready to leave, but I wanted to get another view of the sandpipers from a different angle, thinking that one or more could be hiding between rocks. So I stationed myself across the little bay, west of Muscota. Suddenly a larger shorebird flew at the flock and then landed on the rocks east of it. As it perched, I could see it was the Pectoral Sandpiper: much larger than the Semis, and with the color and patterning of a Least Sandpiper, except for a bill that was lighter-colored at the base.

I issued an NYNYBIRD text alert on it at 5:18, watched it more, then decided to move in closer. On the way over I saw a juvenile Lincoln’s Sparrow. But I did not re-find the Pectoral, which might have flown or might just have been hidden by rocks. I needed to head out, and did not spend any more time looking. Other observers responded to my alert and were able to see the bird in the same spot later in the evening.