Category Archives: Big Year

Late summer report

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Winter birding season really was poor

I complained in my Winter Birding Review that, although I ended the winter with a fine species total (86), I — and nearly everyone else — missed many essential winter birds. Species totals were padded by late-lingering fall birds that would be easy to get in the spring.

Once spring migration was over the effects of this bad winter were more clear. I went into June with only 175 species as compared to the 180 I had then in 2015 and the 182 in 2014 despite having an above-average spring.

Spring migration season was very good

All of the expected birds appeared, and did so in decent numbers, arriving at anticipated times. Arrivals were spread out well, too — unlike in 2014, when migration was delayed by a couple weeks of bad weather before a massive surge concentrated over several days.

Many of the expected but more difficult species were relatively plentiful and easy to observe, with numerous alerts making the job of finding them still more efficient. A female Cape May Warbler, for example, showed up early at the Oven and lingered there for nearly two weeks. Later, Cape Mays gave great, close views in the trees surrounding Turtle Pond, as did Bay-breasted. Yellow-throated Vireo was observed multiple times on many days. A White-eyed Vireo lingered for over a week at the Maintenance Meadow. Both Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos also made frequent appearances, many of them text-alerted. Mourning Warbler had at least several very chaseable alerts — I ended up seeing it on two occasions.

It was also a fine spring for observing the rarest warblers, which last year did not make much of a showing. Most notably, Kentucky Warbler made a brief but well-followed appearance in the Tupelo Meadow/Maintenance area on the same day (19 May) morning that a Cerulean Warbler lingered near the source of the Gill. Over a month earlier Yellow-throated Warbler showed up in the Maintenance Meadow and re-appeared the following morning. A Prothonotary Warbler was reliably reported on 27 May but was not re-found.

It also was an excellent season for unexpected rarities. I had a close view of Purple Sandpiper on 25 April on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island. Now that this species has been observed there in two consecutive years, perhaps it should be considered a regular visitor? 8 May was a notable day: an American Bittern was found at the Oven and seen by many, as was a Chuck-will’s-widow at Muggers Woods — making 2016 the fourth consecutive year in which the latter has been seen by multitudes in Manhattan. On that same day Andrew Farnsworth had Glossy Ibis over the East River and Golden-winged Warbler near Sutton Place. Let’s also remember the best bird of them all, the Swainson’s Warbler of which I wrote, and not far behind it in terms of rarity, the Seaside Sparrows. It was also a treat to get a clear, close (as opposed to high flyover) view of a male Bobolink in Central Park.

That said, empidonax flycatchers were very rare this year. I had Acadian in the Ramble, and it also was heard on a couple other days. But there were only single reports of Yellow-bellied , Willow, and Alder in Central Park, and I did not have them.

I also missed Blue Grosbeak.  I chased a report of it with Tom Fiore and another birder on the afternoon of 12 May. After Tom and I set out on a different trail, the bird almost immediately reappeared for the third birder who had stayed behind. None of us ended up seeing it again despite hours of search.

Summer has been mildly disappointing

Summer is not over yet, but it has been filled with misses.

I ventured out to the Meer and Turtle Pond at least six times around sunset in June and July in search of another Black Skimmer, but did not see any.

I also made eight trips to the Inwood area in July and August in search of shorebirds and others. All I got out of it were the two most common species I expected to add, Semipalmated Sandpiper and Least Sandpiper.

A juvenile Little Blue Heron on was seen and photographed at Spuyten Duyvil Creek on July 30. Had it been reported immediately, I almost certainly would have been able to reach it in time to observe it, but the finder apparently was not initially sure of the ID. I raced to the scene within an hour of the alert, but by then the tide had risen, the mud had disappeared, and the bird had moved on.

I was, however, delighted to hear a Willow Flycatcher calling on 18 August in the Ramble and  a Red-breasted Nuthatch, also calling,  near Delacorte Theater the following morning.

 

Bobolink, Central Park Oven

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The Bobolink in general is a common bird, but it is a very difficult one to observe in Manhattan. Venture a few miles west, to the New Jersey Meadowlands, or to the coastal marshes of Brooklyn and Queens, and you can find plenty of them during spring and fall migration. You also can observe their migratory flights very early in the morning over Manhattan. Sometimes you can hear their flight calls. Rarely they alight on trees in Central Park in passage, never lingering long before continuing on.

Around 10 a.m. today I encountered AMNH Ornithologist Joseph DiCostanzo and Lenore Swenson in Tupelo Meadow. They told me that they had learned of a male Bobolink in the Oven forty minutes prior, and that they had observed it themselves before it flew off and was not re-found. Joe had attempted to issue an alert on the bird but the email apparently did not go through.

I had come across Bob “Birding Bob” DeCandido and his group earlier and I was birding with them when I got the news. We eventually made our way to the Oven but did not observe the Bobolink. Along the way we had a mystery flycatcher, seen only briefly, and my first-of-season Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Maintenance Meadow.

As a small digression, I should mention that I had a great time birding with Bob. Many know that Bob uses recorded calls and songs to draw in birds, as do many top birding guides. Birds that are perching still sometimes move and reveal themselves; some birds that are out of sight will fly in to check out the commotion; and some that are in sight but high up will descend to levels where they are more easily viewed. The result is that members of Bob’s group see a lot of birds and often get excellent views of them. I certainly had better views than I usually do on my own.

Yesterday, Bob found a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in Tupelo Meadow. I had remained in the Maintenance Meadow, along with many others who were part of a different birding group. Bob ran back to Maintenance to let everyone — not just his group — know of the cuckoo. We enjoyed extended views of the bird flying and foraging high over Tupelo.

Today, after initially striking out at the Oven in search of the Bobolink we moved on to Swampy Pin Oak. Warbler Rock, and the Rustic Shelter, where we saw Indigo Bunting, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, and Blackburnian Warbler, among others..

Bob suggested we finish with one more pass over the Oven and then onto the Point. As we we turned onto the dirt path leading to the Point, I began to hear Bobolink song. So did Bob, and he already had the bird in sight, atop a bare tree over the Oven. The Bobolink continued singing loudly, moving around to various high perches both at the Oven and later toward the north to the Captain’s Bench area.

This was my first visual Bobolink in Central Park — I had heard one singing two years ago in the North Woods. What a way to end the morning! With the temperature rising and warblers becoming more scarce, I headed home.

 

 

Seaside Sparrow, Hudson Greenway

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Thursday, May 5, was cloudy and cold — just like most days this last week. I had taken a walk in the afternoon to the North End as much for exercise as for birding. When I returning home shortly after 4 p.m. I figured I was done for the day.

But at 6:26 p.m. a Manhattan Bird Alert came through from Adrian Burke: he had found three Seaside Sparrows at a small park known as Clinton Cove at 55th and the Hudson Greenway.

My first thought was, “How can I chase these birds?” I live on the Upper East Side, so I would have go entirely across town and then roughly a mile south. I ran across the park to the AMNH subway stop at 81st Street and immediately caught a southbound train to 59th Street. From there I ran to  the location.

Seaside Sparrow is one of the very rarest Ammodramus-type sparrows for Manhattan. There are records on eBird, all in Central Park, from 1923, 1974, and 2011. I had one briefly in October 2014 on Randall’s Island’s northeast saltmarsh, a place you would expect the species, as it gets Nelson’s Sparrows annually.

Where I found Adrian Burke and the sparrows was not at all a place that a Seaside Sparrow should want to be. The three sparrows were moving quickly on foot on a narrow median strip of mostly bare ground and some plants and trees between a paved lane for runners and cyclists and a paved lane for pedestrians.

Walkers, runners, and dogs occasionally scared a sparrow to short flight, but they remained in the area. One ventured onto the eastern edge of a large lawn on the Hudson side.

I was first on the scene, and, along with a couple others who showed up, got great views from less than ten feet. The sparrows appeared not to mind our presence as they went about their foraging.

These sparrows went on to defy expectations by remaining at this location during both the following day and the day after that — today, May 7.

Another Seaside Sparrow was found at 65th and the Hudson Greenway on the morning of May 6. It, too, has remained in place since then. A fourth Seaside Sparrow appeared at the Clinton Cove location, also on May 6. An American Kestrel was observed catching and carrying away one of the Clinton Cove sparrows that same day.

 

Swainson’s Warbler, Strawberry Fields

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Last night’s winds looked unfavorable for birding this morning. For the first few hours after sundown they were light and southwesterly, encouraging Central Park migrants to fly out. Later they switched to northwesterly, discouraging flight into the park. So I did not intend to do any early birding, and temperatures in the low 50s only strengthened the case for waiting.

After seeing #birdcp Twitter reports before 7 a.m., I knew that some good birds probably had remained in the park — Nashville and Worm-eating Warbler, for example. But I had already observed these in recent days and had no interest in chasing them.

As I was having breakfast a 7:22 a.m.a Twitter alert arrived, issued by Alice Deutsch, one of the park’s most expert and well-traveled birders: “Swainson’s Warbler, Imagine mosaic.” My first thought was that she meant Swainson’s Thrush, a common bird but one that would be early and first-of-season for Central Park, so worth reporting. But a few minutes later she tweeted, “Confirming, and it’s singing.” It had to be a Swainson’s Warbler, just as she had written — she would not bother confirming a common thrush, nor would anyone care that one was singing.

This meant I had to get to Strawberry Fields — fast! No time to finish eating. I put on running clothes, packed my bag, and I was out the door.

At 7:46 I arrived at the mosaic to see 25+ birders looking into the shrubs to the south. Almost immediately the Swainson’s Warbler sang and then popped up to perch on some foliage several feet off the ground. Then it flew another 5o feet south, landing in a tree, where it continued singing but was not being seen. Soon it was found on the ground, inside and underneath the dense shrubs. This is where it stayed during the time I viewed it (as late as 9:35 a.m.) and, I am told, the remainder of the day.

Within 90 minutes over 150 people had stopped by to see this rarity. It has been recorded only four times in Central Park with multiple observers (each time in May, in 1973, 1979, 1990, and 2000). A very reliable single observer had it at the Upper Lobe, briefly, in May 2012.

Yellow-throated Warbler, Maintenance Meadow

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Yellow-throated Warbler is one of the six hardest-to-find warblers about which I wrote in the appendix to my book. Prior to today I had had it only twice, in late April 2012 and 2014. I, along with many others, should have had it in 2015 also, but the finders sent the alert much too late.

Today’s original finder, Kathleen Toomey — one of Brooklyn’s top birders — did not make this mistake. She reported it quickly using my #birdcp Twitter alert system, something for which she had signed up just a few days before.

I had just finished a gym workout and was at home when her 3:16 p.m. alert chimed in. I quickly changed clothes and started running. Within ten minutes I arrived at the source of the Gill and saw Kathleen and others. She said that the bird seemed to have flown north and that she was no longer seeing it.

I started searching Tupelo Meadow, an excellent place for a warbler to find food, with many tall trees starting to leaf out and some blooming. Then I circled back around Azalea Pond. No bird.

After nearly an hour of re-checking these areas, I was ready to head home. But first I wanted to try the Maintenance Meadow, which has some large trees filled with white blossoms — always attractive for warblers.

I saw a small bird with a lot of white on it swoop down from high up in the trees and land near me just a foot or two off the ground. I turned, focused, and got a brief but clear view of the bird’s grey back and crown, dark cheek, and bright yellow breast. I had re-found the Yellow-throated Warbler.

It then flew east and landed in a tree with white blooms. I knew that over twenty birders were looking for it, so I took the opportunity to send out my own Twitter alert to draw them over. When I looked up again I was no longer seeing it. This was at 4:36 p.m.

When the group arrived I passed on the information and lingered for another fifteen minutes before heading home.

It was not reported again until 6:09, at the same location, where it stayed for perhaps five minutes before flying further east and out of sight.

Winter 2016 Review

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December 2015 was unusually mild, and unseasonably warm conditions continued to prevail over Winter 2016, allowing some species that are usually gone by January to linger throughout part or all of the season. At the same time these conditions discouraged a number of species that usually visit Manhattan in the winter from moving south.

The overall effect was an excellent winter species total for me of 86 through March 21, just one bird off my best (in 2013). By contrast my lowest post-2011 total was 78 last year (2015). But Winter 2015 was better than my species total for it suggests, just as Winter 2016 was not as good.

The problem is that my Winter 2016 total is padded with lingering species that I would be certain to get later in the year, and it is missing many that will be very difficult to get.

These common species that lingered include Cedar Waxwing, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Gray Catbird, Swamp Sparrow, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Towhee, Northern Flicker, and two warblers: Wilson’s and Black-and-white. Yes, I generally do have a few of these birds (not the warblers) during the winter, but not all of them.

I missed Lesser Scaup, which in other years was an easy winter bird, and one that is very hard to get later in the year. I also missed Horned Lark, American Pipit, both loons, Long-eared Owl, Red-necked Grebe, Long-tailed Duck, and American Tree Sparrow. Most of these species were not reported by anyone. There was a single report of Red-necked Grebe on the Hudson in Chelsea, but travel time would have made the chase odds not so good. Common Loon is still very likely to show up on the Reservoir this spring (and on the East River), but there is less-than-even chance for Red-throated Loon.

As I said in my first post of 2016, I am not planning another big year. Still, I like winter birding. Very few birders go out in the winter. Aside from the feeder area, I mostly have Central Park to myself.

Highlights

I had two life birds this winter — Lapland Longspur on January 31 and Glaucous Gull on March 6 — which is outstanding. Last winter I did not have any.

I did not write up my chase of the Glaucous Gull on the Reservoir, which was well-reported but which lingered for roughly only a half-hour after the initial report. I was particularly glad to get this species because an unexpected event forced me to cancel a visit to Governors Island in March 2015 where a Glaucous Gull ended up being observed.

I also had these very good birds: Great Horned Owl, Pine Siskin, Orange-crowned Warbler, Ring-necked Duck, Snow Goose, Common Merganser, Common Goldeneye, Canvasback, Horned Grebe, Merlin, American Woodcock, and Common Raven.

[Follow-up: The last ten days of the March were very productive for finding new species for the year. I added these:

87 Golden-crowned Kinglet Central Park–The Ramble 23-Mar
88 Pine Warbler Central Park–The Ramble 23-Mar
89 Fish Crow Central Park–North End 25-Mar
90 Eastern Bluebird Central Park–North End 26-Mar
91 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Central Park–Great Hill 27-Mar
92 Osprey Riverside Park–79th St. Boat Basin 30-Mar
93 Great Egret Central Park–Turtle Pond 31-Mar
94 Palm Warbler Central Park–North End 31-Mar
95 Chipping Sparrow Central Park–North End 31-Mar

95 species is my highest-ever total through March 31.]

Lapland Longspur, Randall’s Island

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Just as I was about to head to the gym at 1:58 p.m. I received a text alert of an NYSBirds posting: Tom Fiore had learned of a Lapland Longspur on the northeast shore of Randall’s Island from another birder and had seen it for himself. The gym would have to wait.

The last eBird record of Lapland Longspur in Manhattan on land is from 1956 — a retroactively-entered historical record from Central Park. Andrew Farnsworth observed a pair via overnight flight call recording in 2010. For Manhattan it is thus an extreme rarity. Nevertheless, it has been on my short list of species I expect to get for some time. One reason is that it keeps showing up nearby every year. There was a 2013 observation in Van Cortlandt Park just to the north in the Bronx. There are annual observations of it at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.

Another reason is that Manhattan has suitable habitat for it. Lapland Longspurs like to winter on open grasslands and tilled fields, and they seem to travel near the water when they pass through the New York City area. So Randall’s Island and Governor’s Island are great for it, and the fields of Inwood Hill Park also offer possibilities — a stopover point for those moving along the Hudson.

I printed out the directions to the bird, dressed appropriately (galoshes because Randall’s Island fields tend to flood when snow melts), and ran for the subway, catching the express to 125th Street. From there I ran across the RFK Bridge and onto the island’s northeast fields. I saw no other birders. I also saw no bird. Then it popped up out of the grass right next to the shore, just south of the sign for ball field #31. It was ten yards away, and my presence did not seem to bother it. I observed it for a few minutes and issued a #birdcp Twitter alert at 2:48 p.m. Then I left the area — I did not want to risk spooking the bird and making it harder for others to observe. Andrew Farnsworth found it in the same place 90 minutes later.

A Big Week, But Not a Big Year

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In the first eight days of 2016 I had 62 bird species in Manhattan, my strongest-ever start to a year. My list is notable for the many fall birds that remained during the unusually warm December: Orange-crowned Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Brown Thrasher, Gray Catbird, Hermit Thrush, Eastern Towhee, Cedar Waxwing, and Northern Flicker.

It is also notable for the absence of many species, mostly waterfowl, that I usually have in January. I had no unusual ducks, geese, or gulls, just Brant and Red-breasted Merganser. No loons.

Even so, I definitely will not be doing another big year in 2016. I have done four of those, the first of which — in 2012 — was the subject of my book.

Big-year birding requires a great deal of time and effort spread throughout the year. In 2016 I want to focus on some other challenges. I’ll still bird when I want to, perhaps even quite a bit at times. But I don’t want to put much effort into chasing or searching for species that I regularly have — and there are a lot of those.

Exactly how many? I did some list comparison to find out. I had 191 birds appear on both of my 2015 and 2014 year-lists. Of these, 179 also were on my 2013 list. A few, like Long-eared Owl and Chuck-will’s-widow, are rarities that could not be expected to show up most years. Still, this leaves roughly 175 birds that form the core of an annual Manhattan list. Only five Manhattan eBirders reported even this many species in 2015.

I will continue commenting here on both my own birding and Manhattan birding in general. To all my readers, best wishes for a great 2016!