End of summer

I feel there should be some fine Japanese calligraphy on this one

This weekend was the technical end of Summer. Of course, that means that Fall migration is about halfway done already--more for some birds, such as shorebirds.

Despite that, there was a report on Saturday of a very unusual bird for New York, a Pectoral Sandpiper, at Muscota Marsh in Inwood Hill Park. They come through the region on migration in the Fall fairly regularly, but apparently there had never been one in Manhattan before.

Sunday morning, a report from eBird said the bird was still there, so off I went to the very northern edge of Manhattan.

The Pectoral gets its name from the fact that it's upper chest is quite buff. Seriously.

And there it was, hanging out with a couple of dozen Semipalmated Sandpipers. Our hero bird was notably larger and browner. I was very lucky--after I had watched the flock from some distance awhile, they took off---and landed not thirty feet in front of the bench I was sitting on.

Pectoral and Semipalmated Sandpipers synching up

I watched them there for a long time, then went off to see what was doing in the rest of Spuyten Duyvil Creek (answer: not much). When I returned, another birder told me that a Peregrine Falcon had flown in and perched atop a light tower at Baker Field (the Columbia University athletic complex right next to Inwood Hill Park). The sandpipers had mostly flown off, except a few very brave or very foolish Semipalmateds.

The Peregrine eventually gave up, but the Pectoral did not return while I was there. Which doesn't mean it's gone.

dinner is served

Meanwhile, in Central Park this weekend, migration also continued. Scarlet Tanagers, Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, and a good variety of warblers are all around. Oh, and hummingbirds. Did I mention the hummingbirds? They were all over the place.

right now, wherever there's jewelweed, there are hummingbirds

I also had a Red-Breasted Nuthatch at the Pinetum--my first of the year, and I had only one in all of 2013 as well--, a Kingfisher (always charming to see) and various confusing fall warblers. One of the warblers might have been a very dull Bay-Breasted, but most were Pine Warblers, I think.

confused Fall warbler

The Red-Breasted Nuthatch was my 178th species in New York County this year, and the Pectoral Sandpiper was my 179th (and a life bird).

Fall migration

It's tough being a Cardinal papa.

The Fall migration proceeded apace this weekend. I had 32 species in Central Park on Saturday, including eight warblers (Bay-breasted Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Black-and-White Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Redstart, Northern Parula, Magnolia Warbler, and Chestnut-sided Warbler) and some other migrants, such as several Brown Thrashers and a couple of Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks.

Chestnut-Sided Warbler juvenile

Sunday was a bit slower, only 25 species, but one was a Yellow-Throated Vireo, my first of the year (and 177th species in the county).

There are still resident birds finishing up their breeding seasons, as well, like the Cardinal at the top of this post. I spotted a juvenile Cardinal begging food in the big willow at the Upper Lobe; papa came to feed him, then spotted me and decided I needed a good looking-at. He looked pretty worn out.

Raptor migration is under way. Someone showed me a nice photo of a juvenile Bald Eagle who had flown over the Ramble, and a lot of hawks have been seen. I'm told it's going to be a good week for Broad-Winged Hawks passing through--I hope I can get out somewhere I can see some.

Sunday morning, I spotted a bunch of Gadwalls on Turtle Pond. It took me a while to be sure what I was seeing, since they seemed to be in various stages of molt.

Gadwall on Turtle Pond

This weekend's edition of "things I've never seen before" was a red-Tailed Hawk attacking a Black-Crowned Night Heron. I saw the heron fly into a tree near Hernshead on the west side of Central Park Lake. Some 15 seconds later, the hawk flew in and made what looked to me like a pretty serious pass at the heron, who dropped out of the tree and flew low across the lake making a sound I cannot find words to describe. The ducks on the lake were quite startled.  The hawk moved north, but came back to fly around the lake a few minutes later.

I don't know what that was all about. A heron is insanely large to be prey for a Red-Tailed Hawk. Maybe it was some kind of personal grudge.

Osprey and fish; wasp and dragonfly

Osprey and fish

On Friday I went up to Inwood Hill Park in search of an Osprey. Anya Auerbach had described the bird's roosting spot perfectly in an eBird report--just west of the Henry Hudson Bridge, above the paved path along the headland, the spot well-marked with what birders politely call "whitewash".

The Osprey was atop a tall snag, holding down a large fish, seemingly waiting for sunset to eat. I watched for a while until it stretched its wings, giving me the photo I wanted.

On the way up to that spot, I heard a ferocious buzzing and a commotion in the plants by the path, and saw--well, I wasn't sure what at first. Long and thin and colorful, too small for a bird and too large for an insect.

Wasp devouring its dragonfly prey

I finally resolved it into two creatures--a wasp dragging a struggling dragonfly along the ground. The dragonfly didn't struggle for much longer.

You can see a smaller wasp at the bottom of the photo. I don't know what kind it is, but I do know that the big wasp got the heck out of its way and let it feed on the dragonfly.

Down at Muscota Marsh, the tide was high, but a group of small sandpipers was on the rocks right near the bench on the east side of the cove. It was mostly Semipalmateds (I counted 32) and a dozen Least Sandpipers mixed in. Some were standing in the shallows, but others were on the rocks and you could see the webbing on the Semipalmateds' feet.

Lots...

...of...

...sandpipers

The Osprey was my 176th species of the year in New York County, matching my total from last year.

My 175th was a Budgerigar in Maintenance Meadow of Central Park on Thrusday.

Budgie and House Sparrow

A Budgie, of course, has to be an escaped bird (or, God help us, a released bird), and so not really "countable". But I had one on my list last year also, so I've still matched my total. Beaten it, in fact, since last year's total also included a Canary (foraging near the Great Hill in Central Park).

Funny thing about this Budgie was that the sparrows were quite comfortable with it. They chased away the blue one from last year any time it tried to forage with them. The Blue Jays gave that one a hell of a time as well.

Hanging with my peeps

Semipalmated Plover, Muscota Marsh, Inwood Hill Park

My next trip up to Inwood Hill brought more shorebirds. A Great Egret was on the mudflat of the bay, a couple of hours before low tide, with a flock of sandpipers.

Great Egret and Sandpipers, Spuyten Duyvil Creek

The fishing was pretty good, it seems.

Great Egret fishing, Spuyten Duyvil Creek

There were a couple of mixed flocks of sandpipers, Least and Semipalmated, in the bay and in Muscota Marsh nearby.

Semipalmated and Least Sandpiper

The big deal bird was a single Semipalmated Plover hanging with the sandpipers at the Muscota Marsh area.

Semipalmated Plover, Muscota Marsh, Inwood Hill Park

The two Semipalmated species were life birds for me, and my 173rd and 174th species of the year in New York County.

At long last, Leasts

without context, they don't seem so small

Shorebirds are hard to find in Manhattan. Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers usually come through central Park on migration, and you can find Kildeer on Randall's Island sometimes, but for the most part you need to get out of Manhattan for them--Jamaica Bay, for example.

So it was interesting when people started reporting Least Sandpipers in Spuyten Duyvil Creek at Inwood Hill Park a couple of weeks ago. I went up there several times, and gazed upon mud flats filled with...gulls. Hmph.

Finally, last Thursday, I went up again at low tide. I walked around the cove and the Muscota Marsh that Columbia University is restoring. No sandpipers in sight. I rested on a bench a while, made some phone calls, got ready to go home. When I arose to take a last look at the cove as the tide came in, I say little birds scrambling around on the mud. Sandpipers, huzzah!

Six of them , Least Sandpipers with greenish legs, thin bills, sort of blurry streaking across the breast. Very cute, running around probing the mud, sometimes running into each other when they got out of the way of a larger bird passing through.

with context, you see why they're the Least Sandpipers

This shot with the duck strolling by will give you an idea of their size. Teensy little birds.

Since then, I've been seeing reports of Semipalmated Sandpipers in the creek, and Semipalmated Plovers across the island in Sherman Creek Park, so I'll have to try to get up there again soon.

Redstart's lunch

One of the days I was waiting for the Hooded Warbler to show up, I got to watch an American Redstart have a quick lunch. I love this kind of thing.

Gotcha!

OK, now what?

I can't quite figure out what she's eating. I thought at first it was a cranefly, but it's really not. Not a mosquito, either, I don't think.

Let's try shaking it to quiet it down

Now I've got a handle on it

Down you go!

Oh, that's tasty!

She seemed quite satisfied, and flew off.

Hooded Warbler, or the frustrations and joys of bird photography

my best shot of this bird, from the second day

Sunday, I went into Central Park and ran into Pat Pollock, who told me that a Hooded Warbler--a beautifully-marked male--had been seen in the Ramble between Laupot Bridge and the Rustic Shelter. That's a small area with a lot of logs down in it, very nice terrain for a Hooded.

When I arrived, a couple of other birders and I quickly spotted the bird, very active around the logs.

peek-a-boo!

At one point he popped up with an insect in his beak. There was a moment's pause in his activity, and I got in a couple of snaps.

fuzzy meal

Normally, I don't like to blame my camera for my poor results. But I don't understand what happened with the autofocus here--he was right in the middle of the frame (the version here is a heavy crop), right under the center focus point, and he's quite contrasty, so the camera's (Panasonic GX-7) focus system should have been happy.

I still like the photo--I always like photos of warblers with prey.

The warbler disappeared after that, but since people told me he had been circling the area all day, I waited for another opportunity. Unfortunately, about twenty minutes or so later, another photographer walked into the area trying to get an angle on another bird singing in the treetops. I think that spooked him, and he didn't come back in the next half hour before I moved on.

However, another birder found him later that afternoon, and he was reported in the area again on Monday morning, so off I went again. I met Annabella and Sol, two of the regular birders, looking for him. They moved off to the other side of the stream near the bridge, where the bird had also been reported.

A bit later, I happened to glance that way, and saw a flash of yellow in a bush. That's when I got the photo at the top of this post. I called out, and Anabella and Sol got their eyes on the bird as well.

birders in front of me, birders behind me...

We tracked the warbler around the area. At one point it was in perfect light, maybe eight to ten feet away, and...my camera refused to focus on it. (I should point out that the lens I use for birding is not great for manual focusing.) Bah.

Of course, sometimes the camera (and the cameraman) work flawlessly:

Canada Warbler, posing about 8 feet away. Uncropped.

On Monday and Tuesday I also saw a Worm-Eating Warbler and my first-of-season Swainson's Thrush at Tupelo Meadow, several Blue-Winged Warblers, and as I left the Ramble on Monday about 6pm, a Common Nighthawk. The Nighthawk was flying low over the 79th Street Transverse toward Turtle Pond. Beautiful long, sharply-tapered wings with white bars underneath. It appeared to be evading some Robins, so I think it had been chased off it's daytime roost. I went to Turtle Pond, and found a several birders watching pale Male roosting in a tree. They hadn't seen the Nighthawk, and really it could have ended up anywhere.  A thrilling sight.