After this post I was able to recover from my illness (likely the flu) rather quickly, just in time for my birthday. Despite going birding at multiple location both in the morning and to dusk when I heard some woodcocks, I did not get any new birds for the year (although I think my mother saw a Tree Swallow while I was distracted taking pictures of Robins.) Despite this I saw a new mammal in the Little Brown Bat at the Teaneck Creek Conservancy while Woodcock Watching for the 2nd straight year. That weekend I traveled to the Bronx Zoo for the first time this year where I got 3 new species last year. With all 3 species already down though, I picked up no new species there although I didn’t care with a pair of Peregrine Falcons showing up. That week I took a short trip to Van Bushirk Island Park where Black-Crowned Night-Herons had been known to roost, even so early in the spring. The reports were correct and I was able to see 2 individuals resting in the still bare branches. I then took a trip to the Celery Farm in search of Tree Swallows and Pileated Woodpeckers. My luck was sadly not there, although I got my first passerine migrant in the Yellow-Rumped Warbler, although I had already seen several wintering in Sandy Hook on the 1st of the year. Finally last weekend I went to DeKorte park in the meadowlands where dozens of Tree Swallows were reported. I had great luck towards the start, catching an Osprey flyover and seeing 6 Great Egrets (eBird flags anything higher then 1 as a high count.) Additionally, I got my first Herptiles of the year in the Common Garter Snake. Despite this, no luck with the Tree Swallows. I hope this weekend I can travel to Staten Island to see a mega-rare Gray-Breasted Martin, crossing my fingers that it’s still there on Saturday as I can’t take off until then.
Mammals
8) Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus)
Birds
103) Black-Crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
104) Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
105) Great Egret (Ardea alba)
Herptiles
1) Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)
Progress:
Mammals- 8
Birds- 105
Herptiles- 1
Total- 114
Probably should post another update before migration season goes into full swing! This update begins 2 weekends ago as I traveled to Liberty State Park in search of Red-Throated Loon. They had been quite common in the Upper New York Bay this year so I was expecting to see them. My day there started slow, only seeing a flock of the resident Boat-Tailed Grackles that had just arrived, however as I was walking to the nature center area and away from the bay I spotted a Horned Grebe, a nice pickup. However, within the matter of a minute an American Oystercatcher along with a group of Tree Swallows flew over me. While walking through the nature center I was explaining to my father how I was a bit shocked not to see a Phoebe yet this year, and then as we turned the corner a Phoebe perched on the tree right in front of us (love jinxing myself in ways that help me.) After getting back to the car I decided to try one more team for the Red-Throated Loon. Luckily for me I caught it right before it was scared of by a Jet-ski. My luck continued when I got home as I saw a Hermit Thrush chilling under my feeder with some sparrows. The next day I took a trip to Staten Island where a Mega-Rarity Gray-Breasted Martin had been spotted. When I first arrived I was greeted by a variety of shorebirds including new for the year Greater Yellowlegs and Pectoral Sandpiper and a long-overdue lifer in the
Wilson’s Snipe. After seeing a group of birders on the other side of the marsh, I drove over there to find they had spotted it and it didn’t take me long to also spot the
Gray-Breasted Martin, a bird that I may never see again with it only being the 3rd US Record of the bird (funnily enough, one of the other 2 was in Brooklyn, so maybe they like the area.) The following week was relatively uneventful in terms of birds until the end of the week when I saw a Chipping Sparrow during a non-birding trip to West Point. The weekend was rainy and slow, however Sunday I got in a trip to DeKorte where I got to see a Blue-Winged Teal (first time seeing one there surprisingly) and a flock a Field Sparrows, which were almost as many as I saw in total all of last year. Additionally while leaving I saw a Muskrat trying to hide in the reeds. Monday I took a short trip to the Demarest Nature Center for the first time. While slow at first, wit the majority of my sightings being Hermit Thrushes, I was quite happy after getting a Lifer
Louisiana Waterthrush hanging out near a pair of Hermit Thrushes. Later in the week I finally got a new species on the golf course as a Broad-Winged Hawk flew over. Despite missing an opportunity to see a Little Gull later that day, I was able to get in a trip to Van Saun Park to see a Pine Warbler hanging out near a group of Phoebes and a pair of Pied-Billed Grebes diving in the lake. Despite rain on Friday I persisted in going to the Celery Farm, a typically good place to see birds. A good place it was as I picked up 4 new species there. First was a pair of Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers hopping around the tops of trees. Next up was a huge Pileated Woodpecker that flew right over me and landed in a tree. It was the best view I’ve had of one yet with 2 times I’ve seen them before being deep in the woods where my view was heavily obstructed. After going out of the old forest, there was a curious Ruby-Crowned Kinglet along with some Chickadees there to greet me. While I thought I was done for the day, while leaving I saw a small, overwintering Winter Wren popping out of the reeds. Finally yesterday I took a ride up to Lake Henry in Ramapo where I saw several flocks of songbirds, all of them containing Palm Warblers, a long overdue species for the year. This week I’m on Spring Break and thus should have even more time for birding, and this is before the height of migration season next week.
Mammals
9) Muskrat (
Ondatra zibethicus)
Birds
106) Boat-Tailed Grackle (
Quiscalus major)
107) Horned Grebe (
Podiceps auritus)
108) American Oystercatcher (
Haematopus palliatus)
109) Tree Swallow (
Tachycineta bicolor)
110) Eastern Phoebe (
Sayornis phoebe)
111) Red-Throated Loon (
Gavia stellata)
112) Hermit Thrush (
Catharus guttatus)
113) Pectoral Sandpiper (
Calidris melanotos)
114)
Wilson’s Snipe (Gallinago delicata)
115) Greater Yellowlegs (
Tringa melanoleuca)
116)
Gray-Breasted Martin (Progne chalybea)
117) Chipping Sparrow (
Spizella passerina)
118) Blue-Winged Teal (
Spatula discors)
119) Field Sparrow (
Spizella pusilla)
120)
Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla)
121) Broad-Winged Hawk (
Buteo platypterus)
122) Pine Warbler (
Setophaga pinus)
123) Pied-Billed Grebe (
Podilymbus podiceps)
124) Ruby-Crowned Kinglet (
Corthylio calendula)
125) Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher (
Polioptila caerulea)
126) Pileated Woodpecker (
Dryocopus pileatus)
127) Winter Wren (
Troglodytes hiemalis)
128) Palm Warbler (
Setophaga palmarum)
Progress:
Mammals- 9
Birds- 128
Herptiles- 1
Total- 138
