Birding Around the World

SATURDAY, MAY 13:

One nemesis of mine in New York state has been the Roseate Tern as every may I head out to Nickerson Beach in search of this rare, Common Tern lookalike. Would I fair differently today? Read on to find out!

Larids were definitely in abundance in the form of COMMON TERNS (bottom) and BLACK SKIMMERS (top):

They allowed for relatively close-up views when they settled onto the beach, letting me pick through their massive flocks for any Roseate Terns:

Of course, other birds were present too, like SANDERLING:

And LAUGHING GULL:

And OSPREY:

But it was back to picking through the terns in search of the “needle in a haystack!”

Unfortunately, despite over 90 minutes of this thorough searching, my sore luck with this species held true and I never was able to discover the presence of this threatened, small, pale tern among its Common cousins. Well — this proves there is always another adventure waiting out there!

Bird-of-the-day to all the Common Terns as they deserve more love for always showing up and putting on a show, with runner-up to the fabulous Black Skimmers.

Happy birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1150 Species

FRIDAY, MAY 12:

This morning I sang my last jury at the Manhattan School of Music and of course had to celebrate after by heading to the incredibly-birdy North Woods of Central Park, which once again did not disappoint! Upon arriving, I saw a text message on the alert of an Olive-sided Flycatcher in the Loch and so I immediately scooted over and…got the OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, my New York lifer!

AMERICAN REDSTART:

Activity in the Loch was incredible with near fallout conditions in places. This female HOODED WARBLER was one of the better birds around but did allow for satisfactory views:

Male BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER:

Male SCARLET TANAGER:

And a female:

Female YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER:

Male CAPE MAY WARBLER:

One notable sighting was actually this TUFTED TITMOUSE — all of these guys have left the park for the summer except for this one individual that keeps on hanging out south of the High Meadow.

BAY-BREASTED WARBLERS gave an incredible show today, including this female:

And male:

And a male BLACKPOLL, the Bay-breasted’s lookalike in fall (though remarkably different in springtime):

Female COMMON YELLOWTHROAT:

SWAINSON’S THRUSH:

Male YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER:

Male CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER:

Male CANADA WARBLER:

RED-EYED VIREO:

Male BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER:

NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH:

Female NORTHERN PARULA:

Activity was, yet again, extremely high today and I managed a decent nineteen warbler species — one more than yesterday’s total! Overall, it’s been an incredible two days of migration in Manhattan and possibly the peak of passerine migration we will see here. What an absolutely mind-blowing time of year!

Bird-of-the-day to the Hooded Warbler with runner-up to the Tufted Titmouse.

Happy birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1150 Species

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

TUESDAY, MAY 9:

Still catching up on posts! Today, I headed to the Central Park Ramble for the first time this year — freshman-year Henry would call me crazy for waiting till this long, but honestly these days I prefer the North Woods/ravine area of Central Park (same # of birds, fewer [though increasing] birders).

My two targets today were Summer Tanager, Brewster’s Warbler (a backcross hybrid Golden-winged X Blue-winged), and just a generally-reported influx of passerine migrants into the park overnight.

Well, I was not disappointed as the birds were absolutely out in force. RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET:

CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER:

NORTHERN PARULA:

NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH:

BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER:

COMMON YELLOWTHROAT:

HERMIT THRUSH:

OVENBIRD:

Then, I heard the “bee-bzz-bzz” of a Vermivora-genus warbler in Tupelo Meadow, and as the Brewster’s was the only Vermivora reported yet today, I was pretty sure I had the target bird. Soon, I tracked him down and located this beautiful (yet tough-to-photograph) Brewster’s Warblers in the trees, AND was able to get dozens of other eager birders on this uncommon hybrid! Super cool!

Then, a wonderful Manhattan birder named Mary Beth alerted me to the fact that the Summer Tanager was refound by Warbler Rock so I scooted over and instantaneously located this beautiful, full adult male SUMMER TANAGER singing his heart out! Another day of two-for-two target birds!

WOOD THRUSH:

RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER:

Well, the SCARLET TANAGER was not about to let a “drab” Summer outshine its crimson brilliance, so my FOY male fluttered down to eye level and perched on a branch just ten feet away, for just enough time for two perfect shots. What an absolute stunner!

And a HERMIT THRUSH to round out the morning!

Solid. Did I mention I am obsessed with the month of May?! Bird-of-the-day to the Summer Tanager with runner-up to the Brewster’s Warbler and I just have to give an honorable mention to the showstopper male Scarlet, as well.

Happy birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1150 Species

LONG overdue in posting as I have done SO MUCH great migration birding but have had absolutely no time to post about all of it.

SATURDAY, MAY 6:

Today, I was once again headed — no surprise — to the North Woods of Central Park in search of several birds that had been sighted earlier in the day (I got out only in the early afternoon due to classes and lessons), including a Worm-eating Warbler, among others.

Upon entering the North Woods, BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLERS quickly proved to be the most common species of the day. This day proved to be one of the greatest spectacles of this species I have ever encountered as one or two seemed to be adorning EVERY SINGLE TREE in the park! It was most amazing.

Then, some birders alerted me to the fact that they had just seen the WORM-EATING just barely up the trail, so I promptly thanked them and headed a mere thirty feet up the paved trail near the Blockhouse and immediately found this understated gem of a warbler foraging just above eye level in the trees:

Yay! Always nice to find a target within ten minutes of birding. Of course, I had to continue as the passerine activity was moderately good and I was rewarded with my first real views of a VEERY this year:

BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLERS are so wonderfully common here:

Then, I heard the “beee—bzzz” of a BLUE-WINGED WARBLER just off the path, and with the help of another friendly birder, we located it in the trees just off of the Loch. And it’s an FOY!

A rather hot BLUE-HEADED VIREO panting:

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER:

Then, I heard the telltale chromatic-scale song of my F.O.Y. PRAIRIE WARBLER and quickly located one rather lethargic individual above the Loch that would occasionally sing and between bouts of song, make half-hearted attempts at taking an afternoon nap. This made it far easier for me to photograph than most Prairies in the past, and I was able to get over a dozen other eager Central Park birders on it, too!

LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH with nice bubble-gum pink legs:

BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER:

My route home back to school always takes me straight through Morningside Park, where a RED-HEADED WOODPECKER (rare for Manhattan Island) has been seen for the last few days. Well, as you can see, after a bit of searching, I was able to track it down flying among the treetops above the 114th St Playground, as was reported! Awesome — and it was an extremely photogenic adult bird.

So, a solid day of birding all around with an absolutely spectacular show of Black-and-White Warblers. Bird-of-the-day to the Worm-eating Warbler with runners-up to the Red-headed Woodpecker and of course, all the Black-and-Whites. Stay tuned for more!!!

Happy birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1150 Species