Quick note - Central Park north end

I saw my first Ovenbird of the Fall season on Friday, at the northern end of the Ravine. It was pretty skulky, so I didn't get a photo.

Up at the Mount compost area, I saw an odd bird flocking with House Sparrows. It was pretty far away, and trying to circle around to get a better look was even more of an adventure than usual, since the path behind the dump is completely overgrown now. In fact there was no view of where the flock was foraging from that side. Examining the awful photos I was able to get from farther away, I think it was just an immature or female Red-Winged Blackbird, AKA "bird most likely to be confused with an interesting sparrow". Oh well, the frustrations of a mediocre birder.

There were a bunch of Mockingbirds around the compost area, at least four adults and four juveniles; probably more. I got a nice picture of one of the young birds.

bashful

I also saw a lot of Blue Jays there, and one came up and posed for me.

why yes, I am a very handsome and noble bird, thank you for noticing

Barn Swallows were swooping all over the place as well. They weren't inclined to pose.

I wound up the day at the Pool, where I saw a group of very young Mallards just past the fluffy-ducking stage.

who doesn't love a picture of baby ducks?

Fledglings and migrants

By now, many of the birds nesting in Central Park have finished raising their young (some, like the Robins are on their second or third brood, in case you were wondering why there are so many Robins in the world). I've been seeing the inevitable young Grackles, Starlings, Cardinals, Mallards, and so on, and also young Orioles, Waxwings, and this charming little Warbling Vireo:

baby Warbling Vireo, in the big willow at the Upper Lobe

There were some Cardinal juveniles around as well, chasing about and begging food from any bird in the area, including each other and the little Vireo.

A few days before that, I saw one of the parent Vireos in the same spot:

adult Warbling Vireo, in the big willow at the Upper Lobe

Warbling Vireos are usually quite hard to get a good photo of, so I was happy to see this one being so cooperative.

Migrants continue to move through. On the rumors-of-warblers front, a Cerulean (adult male!) was reported around the Upper Lobe on Sunday, and a Prothonotary on saturday at the Point. These were unfortunately not refound. There have been several reports of Worm-Eating Warblers. Elena and I had a Canada Warbler on Saturday at Azalea Pond, a bit early, and of course Black-And-White Warblers, American Redstarts, and Northern Waterthrushes are in.

Also on Saturday, we had the Olive-Sided Flycatcher at Azalea Pond again, and a Great Crested Flycatcher near bank Rock Bridge.

Goodness Gracious, Great Crested Flycatcher!

Early Olive-Sided Flycatcher

Fall migration has been a bit earlier than last year. I've had several warblers--both Waterthrushes, Black-and-White, Parula, Yellow, Redstart--and there's been reports of others, notably Worm-Eating. Last year was all Northern Waterthrush until this point in August.

big flycatcher on top of a tall bare branch, that's our bird!

And yesterday, a nice young man named Adrian Burke pointed me at an Olive-sided Flycatcher! It was on the tall snag at the southeast corner of Azalea Pond, where Olive-sideds like to perch when they come through, and it's the earliest Fall record in eBird for the species in Manhattan that I can see.

not a great shot, but  tufts of white feathers on the back is a good mark for Olive-sided

Keep watching the skies. And the trees. And the shoreline.

Kestrel

Impatient

Tuesday I walked up the Ravine and Loch in the north end of Central Park--there were a couple of Yellow Warblers--then over to the Mount, the Park's composting area. When it's been rainy, the ditches in the dump fill with water and interesting birds sometimes show up. It's been dry lately, but there was a flying visit from a juvenile American Kestrel, who made an unsuccessful pass at one of the resident Mockingbirds and then perched at eye-level on a woodpile, wagging his tail in frustration. The blur in the background of the photo is one of the mockers, who were supremely unimpressed, not even bothering to harass the predator.

As I left the park, Chimney Swifts sortied out over Harlem Meer, and three Great Egrets flapped majestically off to the northeast. Not sure where they were headed, maybe North or South Brother Island.

Tufted Titmouses, hurrah!

Saturday I took a pleasant walk across Central Park. At Tanner's Spring I saw two warm brown thrushes with very blurry spots on the breast. First Veerys of the season!

Turtle Pond held ducks--mostly Mallards, including a mama duck with five ducklings in tow, plus a couple of what seemed to be American Black Ducks and one male Mallard/Black cross. All the male Mallards were transitioning to or already in eclipse plumage, which didn't happen this early last year. Across the pond, a Black-Crowned Night Heron stalked through the tall reeds. There were also a couple of male Wood Ducks, one in eclipse and the other in breeding plumage.

Wood Ducks, breeding and eclipse plumages

The Ramble held the usual summer residents--Evodia had the first female Red-Winged Blackbird I've seen since Spring--and at Willow Rock, I had a nice surprise.

Tufted Titmouse, fluffing dry

Three Tufted Titmouses were bathing in the Oven--the first I've seen anywhere in Manhattan since early May of last year. They're usually ubiquitous in the autumn and winter, but they disappeared last year, and I missed them. I'm a little excited to see them again. They're my 171st species this year in the county.

Cedar Waxwings also bathed in the Oven.

Waxwings taking a dip

I also saw a Black-and-White Warbler there--they're in early this year--and a Northern Waterthrush on the Gill near Laupot Bridge. On the way out of the Park, there was a Black-Capped Chickadee at Triplets Bridge.

So even in the deep summer doldrums, there are birds to see in Central Park if you care to look.

Monk Parakeets, Hudson River Greenway

I Mean You

Do you know about the Monk Parakeets of Brooklyn? Theories abound about how these Argentine birds came to live wild in New York; the leading ones seem to be that they escaped from a crate at Kennedy Airport in the late 1960s or that they were released by black-market importers when the Feds cracked down on the illegal bird trade. Whatever, they turned out to be cold hardy and colonized Green-Wood Cemetery and Brooklyn College.

In the last couple of years people started reporting these birds in upper Manhattan, especially along the Henry Hudson Parkway in the 150s, so I went uptown Friday afternoon to look for them.

I started at Riverbank State Park, about 145th Street and Riverside Drive (I took the 1 train, but the 11 bus has its last stop in the park as well). Riverbank is about 60 feet or so above the river; I'll bet its a good place to hawkwatch in the right season. Near the carousel on the north end of the park, there's a stairway (and an elevator) down to the Hudson River Greenway. I went north from there, along the narrow strip of greenway between the Henry Hudson Parkway and the river. After passing a sign for 155th street, I heard a wild, eerie screech from underneath the elevated road, and a trim green form flew past me overhead. I followed and found a roost with two of the birds in the girders under the parkway.

Home sweet home. See how nicely they blend with the paint job?

They seem to like thick twigs and ivy leaves. They took turns flying out to gather more twigs, calling raucously on their way out and in. A lot of the weirdness of the call was due to the acoustics of the elevated roadway.

When I went back towards 145th, I saw several more parakeets--don't let the name fool you, these are big birds, not much smaller than a pigeon--flying from tree to tree. One of them flew low over the grass and buzzed a pigeon, who took off in alarm. Out from under the roadway their calls sounded like a young starling's begging call, but shriller and louder.

I sat on a bench about 150th Street, and saw two more Monks. Once you recognize the call they're easy to spot.

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Monk Parakeet is my 170th species in New York County this year. That's 19 ahead of last year on July 25th, when I got my first Ruby-Throated Hummingbird of the year (missed it during Spring migration).

More warbler arrivals

Monday on my walk through the Ramble, I heard a House Wren singing in Mugger's Woods.  Since I'm always keen to get photos of singing birds, I followed him as he marked the border of his territory.  I never did get a long enough look for a photos, but on the path down toward the Ramble Arch, I found a Black-and-White Warbler doing what Black-and-White Warblers do.

...doing what Black-and-White Warblers do

White photographing her, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and high up. There was a Yellow Warbler, quickly gone, and then above that a Northern Parula.

oh, the Parulas have no tails in the Ramble...

The Parula seemed to be getting along fine without a tail, but I assume he'll be around until he regrows those feathers. I see a bird or two every Fall migration without tail feathers, usually a warbler or sometimes a sparrow. I wonder why they start migrating before their molt, or what else it could be.

I didn't see the Worm-Eating Warbler reported at the Upper Lobe. I also didn't see much at Randall's Island on Tuesday--Black-Crowned Night Heron, Great Egret, Spotted Sandpiper--but I assume the shorebirds will arrive in good time.