Aaand…the floodgates open!

Central Park, NYC

Sunday 28 May 2023 62 °F

THURSDAY, MAY 11:

Welp, still catching up! This late morning, I once again found myself in the North Woods and Ravine area of Central Park and boy was I glad I did! There were migrants everywhere, starting off with this female BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER:

A pair of YELLOW-THROATED VIREOS which is a great bird for Central Park:

A really nice male CANADA WARBLER:

Male MAGNOLIA WARBLER:

Male NORTHERN PARULA:

NASHVILLE WARBLER:

VEERY:

Male SCARLET TANAGER:

And female:

Male BLACKPOLL WARBLER:

BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER:

GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER, my first of the year!

CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER:

RED-EYED VIREO:

LOVE a male BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER:

SWAINSON’S THRUSH:

A wonderful find near the Tulip Tree on the Great Hill was this COMMON NIGHTHAWK which a whole group of other birder-admirers got me on:

It even stretched its wings for us!

Then, I had nice looks at WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, quite a nice bird for Central Park.

And a WILSON’S WARBLER:

SWAMP SPARROW:

GADWALL:

Possibly the rarest bird of the morning was a heard-only EASTERN SCREECH-OWL from the North Woods — this is an incredibly rare find in Central Park that is rarer in the park than almost any of New York’s other resident owl species. Unfortunately, I never got eyes on it as it was calling from a really dense spot where going off trail was not allowed, but it was nevertheless an extremely notable sighting for the park as the only place on Manhattan Island they are expected is Inwood Hill Park, miles away.

Overall, today was also the highest density of migrant birds I have ever observed in Central Park in one day, even though I started in the late morning! It was truly a spectacle of passerine migrants — there was something in every single tree! Bird-of-the-day to the Common Nighthawk with runners-up to the Eastern Screech-Owl, Yellow-throated Vireo, and White-crowned Sparrow. Super solid!

Happy birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1150 Species

Posted by skwclar 02:51 Archived in USA