A sight for Sora eyes

For almost two weeks, the most notable bird in Central Park has been this Sora who has been in the Loch in the northern part of the park. Soras are freshwater marsh birds, and don't normally stop in Manhattan even during migration. We get maybe one very couple of years--the last one was in Bryant Park in October of 2013.

Soras are also normally quite skulky, though you wouldn't know it from this one. Probably it has resigned itself to the lack of really dense cover in the Loch. The bird's left wing appears damaged--it drags the wingtip, though I'm not sure if there's actual structural damage or if the feathers are just mangled.

You can see the droppy left wing in this second photo. There's been some talk of trying to trap the Sora and get it to a wildlife rehabber; I know the park rangers tried at least once, unsuccessfully. The Wild Bird Fund people are worried that catching the bird might be more stressful than letting it try to heal on its own--it appears to be foraging well, and if the problem is just feather damage it might replace those feathers in time to get south on its own. Or, they can try to capture it later. No need to force a crisis early.

Meantime, it's been giving some excellent views. Unfortunately, I have heard that a photographer was chasing it around with a big flash a couple of days ago. I suspect I know who that was--not a malicious guy, but just clueless about how birds behave. Which is not a great excuse.

Anyway, I got this second photo from about 18 feet away--I stood behind some vegetation on the opposite bank of the stream (it's only two or three feet wide) and waited for it to emerge from a thicket. The top photo, taken slightly later, was even closer.

I moved down the stream ten feet or so in the direction the Sora was going, and waited. I was rather in the open, and I was worried that the bird would spot me and turn back, but I figured at least it wouldn't be really disturbed as long as I didn't approach it.

I think this is usually the right technique for a bird that forages on the ground--figure out where it's headed, get there first, be still and wait quietly. Just don't chase the bird around--you'll scare it, it will think you're a predator.

In the event, the Sora paid no attention to me and continued working downstream, walking right past me. I could have gotten a lower point of view, but I was in a bit awkward position, and I didn't want to move a lot once it came into sight.

Return of the son of the revenge of more Fall migration photos

Winter Wren working it for the camera

The thing about Fall migration is that it lasts a long time. Spring migration is a few intense weeks in May, with a slow build up for maybe a month. before, and a rather abrupt ending. Fall migration starts around the end of July and continues in a fairly steady stream for about three months.

So the less common birds get spread out a bit. Sort of.

lazy afternoon

This Whipoorwill turned up in the Loch in northern Central Park in late September. That's a nice bird for Manhattan; we get maybe one a year--more frequent than then Chuck-Will's-Widow, less frequent than Common Nighthawk.

Whipoorwills sleep most of the day, like owls, and wake up around dusk to hunt insects. They're hard to spot, since they don't move around much during daylight, and they generally roost pretty high up. This one was in an unusually low perch, the the photographers had a great time with him.

That same day, a Grasshopper Sparrow was spotted on the Knoll, also in the northern part of the Park just a short walk from the Whipoorwill's roost. I didn't see that bird, though. Well, maybe I did: I saw a very streaky backed sparrow fly by me that the other birders said was the Grasshopper. They had had a good look at it before, but for me, that wasn't enough of a view to count.

showing the flag

Then the next week, two fairly uncommon birds showed up at Harlem Meer. This female Green-Winged Teal spent a lot of time browsing a patch of duckweed in the southwest corner of the Meer near the little island.

The Green-Winged Teal is our smallest duck. Here's what that means:

size comparison

You see it's about half the size of the Mallard. You can almost ID it just on size.

Also on the Meer at the same time was a female American Wigeon. I had a heck of a time picking it out of the crowd of Gadwalls, even though they were all just a few feet off shore. It blended in surprisingly well.

semi-anonymous

The dark bill isn't all that striking when you're watching it swim around, and the coloring is a bit cryptic. Eventually I noticed that it was the only one never showing a white speculum, and then it became obvious.

bird of the evening

Besides the Grasshopper sparrow, Central Park has hosted a couple of other uncommon sparrows. A Vesper Sparrow spent the better part of a week in the area called Locust Grove, along a woodchip path just west of the Great Lawn between the Delacorte Theater and the Pinetum. It only liked to come out when the light was dim.

Of course, a lot of non-rarities continue to move through, like the Winter Wren at the top of this post, and this very confiding Pine Warbler:

warbler at my feet

He hopped around within a few feet of me, too busy foraging to worry about some slow monkey.

But there are signs the migration is ending, like the arrival of Juncos. They usually come right at the end.

sign of the end times

More Fall migration photos

bold Redstart

Fall migration continues to be productive. Warblers are still coming through; I'm seeing mostly Common Yellowthroats and American Redstarts, like the charming little guy above.

There have also been some rarities, like this very cooperative Marsh Wren who spent a day at Maintenance Meadow in the Ramble.

confiding Marsh Wren

I'm going to rant a bit now. This bird was showing quite well, popping out of the bushes along the west edge of the meadow every few minutes, and giving some fine looks. Then, one of Central Park's famous bird guides came through with his group.

Locals will know who I'm talking about when I say that he played recordings of the wren's calls for a good twenty minutes to try to get a better (or faster) look for his group. As so often, that didn't work at all--the wren went and hid the whole time. One of the onlookers was a visiting birder from England, who was boggled by the entire business. When the group went away, the wren eventually returned, but was much more skittish and less cooperative. At least it wasn't scared entirely out of the area; I've seen that happen, too.

The whole practice is abusive to to birds and inconsiderate of everyone else in the area.

Anyway. If you're visiting and want to go on a Central Park bird walk with a group, there are walks organized by the Museum of Natural History, the Audubon Society =, and the Linnean Society, which are all very good and don't engage in this kind of nonsense. Try one of them.

Chat in a tree, for once

Returning to rarities--the Maintenance Meadow also hosted a Yellow-Breasted Chat for a couple of days. Unlike all other Chats I've seen on migration, this one liked being up in a tree instead of hiding out in the bushes.

Last weekend, a Whipoorwill roosted at the Loch in the northern part of Central Park--I'll have photos of that when I do my next post--and a Grasshopper Sparrow was seen on the Knoll (also in the north end of the Park).

More common migrants have also been showing well. I spotted this Wood Thrush, my first of the season, while taking a break from the bad birdwalk incursion (so that time wasn't a total loss).

first Wood Thrush of the Fall

Great Crested Flycatchers have been around and a couple were active much lower down than usual.

goodness gracious!

I haven't seen too many Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks this Fall, but one posed in the sun on a fence at Tupelo Meadow at the end of a line of House Sparrows.

just trying to blend in with the crowd

There have been a lot of Brown Thrashers around--you can hear them all over, and sometimes they come out for a look around and a nice berry.

Thrasher with tasty berry

Northern Flickers have been moving through in great numbers as well.

Flicker striking a noble pose

More coming soon.

Connecticut Warbler!

Connecticut Warbler, up close and personal

I've mentioned before that I've never seen a Connecticut Warbler in a dozen or so attempts. Once, I was standing next to four other birders, who all saw one skulking in the bushes only a few feet away. The Connecticut is kind of a "nemesis bird" for me.

Monday, I took the day off from work for an appointment. It ended sooner than I expected, and when I was finishing lunch afterwards, I saw a tweet that a Connecticut Warbler had been seen in Trinity Church Cemetery, which stands at the head of Wall Street.

The Lexington Avenue subway entrance is literally right in front of the church, so I was there inside of a half-hour. I spotted birders among the ancient tombstones in the northwest corner. And there was the bird, popping out of the shrubs and flower beds occasionally. It would walk under the shrubs (and walking is one of the field marks of the Connecticut), once in a while jumping up to snatch at an insect. When it reached the edge of one planting it would take off low and fast to the next.

I watched it circle the area several time in this way. It's big eye-ring was plain to see (when the bird was in sight), as was the dull brown hood. Eventually it retreated...somewhere.

I walked around a bit. There were several other warbler species there--Black-and-White, Redstart, Black-Throated Blue, Common Yellowthroat--plus a Veery and a couple of Catbirds. Quite birdy for such a small bit of greenery.

new bird, old headstones

The northeast part of the churchyard is blocked off from visitors--I believe they're doing some renovation--and we spotted a bird walking on the grass there--a second Connecticut, or the same one? It was rather distant from any place one could stand and watch it, though.

On a hunch, I walked out of the churchyard onto Broadway, and looked through the wrought iron fence. As I hoped, the bird worked its way closer to Broadway, away from the bird paparazzi inside the cemetery.

putting on a show

For about a half-hour, I was the only one watching the warbler from the street. I saw people moving back to the northwest corner inside. The bird became quite confiding, coming to within perhaps eight to ten feet from the fence at times. An excellent view!

the blemish below the eye is probably a tick

Eventually other birders came out onto Broadway as well. They had been watching the other Connecticut--so clearly there were two--back in the northwest shrubs, and then it flew to somewhere in the closed-off area. We never had both birds in view at once, but the one I'd been watching continued to wander fairly close to Broadway, and everybody got fine views.

So now I have seen a Connecticut Warbler and I'm going to need a new nemesis bird. Of the northeastern warblers, only the quite rare Golden-Winged Warbler isn't on my Manhattan list, but that's really too rare to be a nemesis--I've never even had a chance to chase one.

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The Connecticuts continued at Trinity church on Tuesday, and I'd say the odds are fair they'll be there Wednesday, so if you're in town it's worth a look in.

Some Fall migration photos

I'm sorry I've been silent lately. It's been a tiring summer, is all. Also, there hasn't been much going on at once, so it has taken a while for the interesting things to build up to the size of a post.

Still, there's been a steady trickle of Fall migrants, like the proud young Redstart above (a first-Fall male, from the orangy bits), and the very nice male Hooded Warbler below, from Tanner's Spring a couple of weeks back.

The resident birds have held some interest, too. I was quite surprised to see this scene in the Ramble the other day:

That is a Common Grackle killing a mouse. I have never seen a Grackle stalk and kill prey before.I didn't know they even did that. This one kept chasing the mouse into the waters of the Gill--and occasionally grabbing at it with his beak--until the mouse drowned. Then the Grackle ate part of it, with some difficulty. A Grackle's beak is pretty big, but I don't think it's really suited to tearing up meat.

Other birds dined in a less violent manner.

I love watching birds eat berries, don't you? Also, woodpeckers are hard at work as always.

I'll wind up with a couple of more migrants. This shy Canada Warbler was in poor light, but I think it made a nice picture:

And a Great Crested Flycatcher was hanging around Maintenance for several days, giving uncharacteristically close views.

Hangin' with my peeps

hangin'

Last weekend, the shorebirds finally showed up at Inwood Hill Park. Following a report by Nathan O'Reilly on Saturday, I went up on Sunday and saw my first peeps of the season.

Peeps--tiny sandpipers about the size of sparrows--are fun to watch skitter along the mudflats or beaches. Sunday I mustly saw Least Sandpipers, like these:

the Least of sandpipers

But there were also a couple of Semipalmated Sandpipers--generally grayer and with black instead of yellow/green legs. If you get a close view you can see the partial webbing--thesemipalmation--on their feet, but my views were not so good.

Semi-Palmated on trust

Nathan also had Greater Yellowlegs and a Semipalmated Plover, but those had left by Sunday. I contented myself with a Great Egret, a couple of Great Blue Herons (one of whom was going out of his way to bug the egret), and a charming family of ducks.

There should be plenty of more chances to see shorebirds there between now and about the end of September. Or if you don't mind a bit of wading, you can go out to Jamaica Bay, where they flock by the hundreds or thousands.

on your marks! get set! dabble!

Down in Central Park, Fall migration continues to trickle along. I saw a worm-Eating Warbler on Saturday, and a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, both near Warbler Rock in the Ramble.

Gnatcatcher

The main warbler in right now is American Redstart--lots of females and immature types.

I often wonder if they remember their close encounters with people

Less common birds will be drifting through for a couple of months. There was a sighting of a Golden-Winged Warbler in the North Woods, but nobody saw it but the initial observer as far as I know.

And of course, our resident birds are still around enjoying the pleasant summer weather.

bold grackle

Waiting for the shorebirds

Great Blue Hunter

It's the end of July and I'm waiting for the shorebirds to show up. As far as I know, nobody's been seeing much in Manhattan--no sandpipers at all, for one thing. I've read that Jamaica Bay is quite uncharacteristically slow, too--maybe the migrating shorebirds are avoiding the whole area.

I was up at Inwood Hill Park the other weekend, and although there were no sandpipers or plovers, there were a few birds of the heron family, including my first Great Blue Heron of the year in Manhattan--two of them actually, hunting quite successfully in the coves.

Snowy Egret

There were also at least one Snowy Egret, and a Great Egret. All nice to see, but I'm still waiting for my peeps.

Great Egret, workin' hard