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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!

Franklin’s Gull, Riverside Park

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The Franklin’s Gull looks very similar to the Laughing Gull. Both are common throughout their ranges, with the former occurring in the central swath of North America and the latter along the East Coast. I see Laughing Gulls frequently during summer and fall, mostly on Randall’s Island and in New York Harbor, but occasionally even on the Reservoir. I had never seen a Franklin’s Gull.

In fact, prior to this year there had been only one eBird record of Franklin’s Gull in New York City, and only a few in the entire metropolitan area.

But a powerful storm in the midwest coupled with sustained, strong westerly wind flows extending to the East Coast set in motion an epic Franklin’s Gull flight last week that brought large numbers of the species to New Jersey, New York, and adjoining states.

The morning of Friday, October 13 is when the first observations arrived, from Staten Island and Long Island. I had seen the wind map and was thinking about the possibility of vagrants. I intended to search the North End of Central Park midday for land birds, but Andrew Farnsworth suggested visiting the Hudson River to try for the Franklin’s Gulls. Given how far away the reports were, I thought the chance for success was very low, but then more reports came in and it was apparent that a large flight was taking place. I needed to visit the places where gulls congregate, as this is where the Franklin’s Gulls were likely to go.

My plan was to check out the Reservoir first since it was nearby and it always has a large gathering of gulls. Then I would zip down on the subway to Battery Park — the closest accessible point in Manhattan to where the Franklin’s Gulls were being seen — and watch the harbor and the Hudson.

Shortly after I had run to the Reservoir, at 1 p.m., an alert arrived from Jacob Drucker: he had seen two Franklin’s Gulls moving south on the Hudson River from the 70th Street Pier at 11 a.m. (A dead cell phone battery had prevented an immediate report.) Now it made no sense to waste time going to Battery Park — I needed to run for the Hudson, which I could do in under 2o minutes.

Cold westerly winds gusting over 30 mph hit me as soon as I arrived. I figured these would help to push birds over to the Manhattan side of the river, and indeed many waterfowl were taking shelter there in the marinas and coves. I wanted to check these calmer areas, so I walked south along the shore to just past 59th street. The Franklin’s Gulls were unlikely to be resting, but if they were then I would have no trouble identifying them at such close range.

I was disappointed to see a fairly steady stream of gulls moving south along the western side of the Hudson, nearly a mile away. The tall cliffs just beyond the New Jersey shore appeared to be sheltering these gulls from the wind somewhat. I had no chance of identifying Franklin’s Gulls at that distance (though I could just make out some Great Black-backeds), and it would not have helped me anyway — I needed Manhattan birds, meaning those no farther than the midpoint of the river.

At 2:51 p.m. I saw two very small gulls flying low to water, moving slowly, rising and falling. I was on the shore and they were just beyond and south of the 70th Street Pier.  At first I thought they might be Bonaparte’s Gulls, but then I saw their dark upper wings and partial hoods. They were Franklin’s Gulls!

I felt fortunate to have the observation and to be part of this historic day for East Coast birding. Andrew Farnsworth would get his on the East River just as the sun was setting. No other subsequent reports came from Manhattan.

Black Skimmer, the Meer

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Black Skimmer (Wikipedia)

Black Skimmer (Wikipedia)

Since the one-time 10 July 2013 appearance of Black Skimmers at Conservatory Water (aka, the model boat pond), I have wanted to add these birds to my Central Park list. I had already looked for them in New York Harbor and on Governors Island in June and July 2012 after Andrew Farnsworth had one on the East River, as I mentioned in my book. As then, at least ten turn up regularly in the sheltered bays surrounding Liberty State Park. You would think that observers on the southwest shore of Manhattan and on Governors Island would see them frequently, but this is not the case — such sightings have been rare.

I had observed the Black Skimmer in Manhattan once before, in October 2012 in the wake of Hurricane Sandy on the Hudson River, but it was a very distant and unsatisfying view.

There was a single report of two Black Skimmers feeding over Turtle Pond in late July 2014, the only known occurrence of them in Central Park that year. These birds used to be seen regularly on Turtle Pond after sundown in June and July of 2003 and 2006. Now one must be a great deal more fortunate in order to see them.

Last Friday, 19 June 2015, one was observed on the Meer at 8:50 p.m. and reported on eBird the following day. Naturally I visited the Meer that evening despite a light mist and occasional drizzle, but I did not see a skimmer.

I wanted to try again when conditions were more favorable. This means mostly clear skies (so the birds are not discouraged from flying several miles to Central Park from their breeding grounds at Breezy Point or elsewhere) and relatively calm winds. Skimmers require calm water for feeding, which is why they prefer small, sheltered bodies of water like Turtle Pond or Conservatory Water).

Yesterday, 22 June, the conditions seemed right, so I ran to the Meer, arriving at 8:37 p.m. just as the sun was setting. I soon saw a large bird with dark wings and a long bill flying over the water, but it turned out to be a Black-crowned Night-Heron. Otherwise, not much was going on. A few Chimney Swifts chattered overhead.

I was positioned at the extreme western tip of the Meer, midway between the north and south shores. At 9:02 a Black Skimmer appeared over the southwest corner of the Meer and began skimming. The lights by the skating rink along with the natural twilight allowed me an excellent, close view of the skimmer as it slowly fished the water surface. The bird was unmistakable both in appearance and behavior, clearly different from any other that one sees in Central Park. After observing several brief passes over the water, I took out my cell phone and started to enter a #birdcp text alert. By the time I had finished typing the alert I could no longer see the skimmer. I searched the rest of the Meer (mostly algae-filled but worth a look) but I was unable to re-find the bird. After ten minutes I moved on. Perhaps the Meer did not suit the skimmer’s taste; maybe the skimmer was just giving it a quick try while in transit to or from some other more desirable place. At any rate, finally seeing it in Central Park was quite a thrill.

Lincoln’s Sparrow, Central Park

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Monday, May 4, began four days of very good to excellent birding in Central Park. All except Tuesday could make the top five for the spring when it is all over. I had Cape May Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, and Worm-eating Warbler multiple times. I also added Summer Tanager and Indigo Bunting.

I had some painful misses, too. A reliable observer had Kentucky Warbler singing in Riverside Park near 121st Street at 6:05 p.m. on Monday. I was not able to chase immediately, and the bird was in a particularly difficult location for me to reach quickly. I had to run across Central Park and much of the Upper West Side to the 86th Street subway station, at Broadway. From there I took the train to 116th Street, and then I had to run another seven blocks. It took me until 6:55 to reach the scene, by which time the bird had been in hiding for a half-hour. I searched with others for another half-hour and never re-found it.

On the following day I had much less far to run. An 11:16 an NYNYBIRD text alert told of a Yellow-throated Warbler at the Point being viewed at 11:15. This came while I was at Evodia, less than 300 yards away. I was at the Point in a minute, figuring I would have an easy bird. Amazingly, no one was on the Yellow-throated, which was said to have flown a bit. Instead, they were looking at a common Canada Warbler! More bad news was that the Yellow-throated had not been seen for fifteen minutes. The people who found it had phoned in the report to another birder, who then issued the text alert. Within ten minutes a hundred birders had come to the Point, but despite their searching it was not observed again.

There are two lessons here: 1) if you are seeing and extremely rare bird and it flies, follow it! Do not just stand there and start looking at something else. Warblers rarely fly far — they tend to move to adjacent trees; 2) Be set up to use our alert systems, NYNYBIRD and BirdCP,  on your cell phone. The directions for setting up BirdCP are on a top-level tab on this website.

Now, about the Lincoln’s Sparrow. It is the rarest regularly-occurring sparrow in Manhattan, at least twice as hard to get as the White-crowned Sparrow. Unlike the latter, the Lincoln’s is almost never found in multiple numbers or with other sparrows. White-crowned Sparrows will frequently associate with a small flock of Chipping Sparrows and remain visible for extended periods on lawns or rocks. Thus, if you get a report of White-crowned Sparrow you have a decent chance of chasing it and seeing the bird. Lincoln’s Sparrow, by contrast, prefers banks of marshes and margins of lawns and woods, and the bird tends to dart for cover quickly when it sees people. You need timing and luck to see a Lincoln’s Sparrow, and you also need to remember that it is a migrant that turns up in May in the spring and late September through October in the fall. I have had it as few times as once per year and as often as seven times during the years I have been very actively birding.

On Thursday morning I was birding along with Joe DiCostanzo’s American Museum of Natural History group when a text alert of Lincoln’s Sparrow from the west side of Balcony Bridge arrived. I figured it was worth a chase, as the bridge is high enough above the stream that birds probably are not bothered by viewers from above. It took only a few minutes to run there, but I saw no other birders and no bird. It was only after closer examination of the area that I saw movement in one of the evergreen shrubs. The Lincoln’s was feeding right on the shrub’s needle-filled branches.

Then I saw a text message that had come in several minutes before: Joe had found a Black-billed Cuckoo on the trees south of Turtle Pond! Of course I ran right back up the hill past Belvedere Castle only to find that the cuckoo was no longer being seen. And it was not seen again.

Had I known that Joe would find a Black-billed Cuckoo almost immediately upon my departure, I would have stayed. This cuckoo, the harder-to-get of the two, is a great (though regular) rarity. But I did not know that, and the odds were hugely against my missing anything significant by taking a ten-minute absence. So I would do the same thing again. The Lincoln’s Sparrow is a bird well worth getting when you have the chance, and I still have another two weeks this month — plus two weeks in the fall — where a Black-billed Cuckoo is possible.

Cliff Swallow, Central Park Meer

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I started thinking about Cliff Swallows earlier this week, as reports of them came in from Long Island. There is little doubt that they pass over Manhattan every year, both in spring and fall, but it seems that they rarely join the three more common swallows (Barn, Tree, and Northern Rough-winged) in skimming the surface of Central Park water bodies. They are known to forage for insects at generally higher levels, which makes them harder to spot.

The morning fog today likely encouraged lower flying, and calm winds made the Meer a good place to find insects. When Deborah Allen, a wildlife photographer and birding tour leader, sent an NYNYBIRD text alert of Cliff Swallows over the Meer at 9:52 a.m., I wasted no time in running there.

Upon arriving, I immediately saw swallows skimming the eastern half of the Meer. Nearly all were Tree Swallows, at least ten, along with some Barn Swallows and at least one Northern Rough-winged Swallow. Then I noticed two swallows with buffy rumps (as viewed from above) flying close together — these were the Cliff Swallows! Had these swallows been flying higher, I would not have been able to see this diagnostic feature, nor would I have seen another such feature, their white foreheads. Given the low fog and extremely poor lighting, I would not have been able to see much at all besides overall shape and tail type. But, as it was, I got great close-range looks.

Black-headed Gull, East River

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Welcome to 2015, everyone! My thought for the day is that big-year birding requires a huge commitment in terms of time and effort. I have heard from some readers who will be doing theirs this year, and I wish them all the best. I concluded my book by saying I would not be doing another big year for a long time, but went out and still had a decent year in 2013 after dialing back the effort and birding more efficiently. Then I began 2014 determined to take it even easier, but I soon sensed that my “amateur” record of 212 might be in danger, so I upped the intensity and ended up exceeding my 2012 total by one bird, with 213.

I think four big Manhattan years is enough — at least for now. I have some other priorities that require focus. I will still be birding, but I will do a lot less chasing and pay a lot less attention to the numbers.

Today’s relatively warmer temperatures (40 degrees F with 15+ mph winds, ha!) encouraged me to run along the East River and over the bridge to Randall’s Island, where I quickly regretted not carrying another layer to don while walking and observing.

My goal was ducks and other waterfowl — Common Goldeneye and the scaups, in particular, both of which have been showing up around New York City in good numbers. I did not see any of those, nor did I see any loons, which used to be regular on the East River and off the Randall’s Island shore.

But did see something even rarer: a Black-headed Gull fishing on the East River near latitude 116th Street, across from Icahn Stadium, at 3:40 pm. Perhaps it is the same gull that has been observed flying over the 70th Street Pier just before sundown since the end December. Next to the Couch’s Kingbird, it is my best bird of 2015 so far.