Spring Migration 2014, part 1: Good Looks

Another catchup post.

I joined several birding trips with the Hudson River Audubon for early looks at the spring migration. The first trip was in New Rochelle, in the Nature Study Woods. Expectations were high: the American Birding Association list for New York, and many of the local birding blogs around NYC, had been reporting waves upon waves of spring migrants.

Nature Study Woods, in New Rochelle, is less of a proper 'park' than a series of trails through a densely wooded area in the midst of suburban Westchester. I got there about ten minutes late, and the group was still no further than 20 yards into the park: a good sign when the entire group were stock-still and binoculars out. I missed a warbling vireo but there were many other good birds to come.

The stand-out was a great look at an Eastern screech owl:

Perched in a hollow tree about fifteen feet up, quite clear to the naked eye, he responded quite readily to recorded screech owl calls from a smartphone, his little chest vibrating while he returned calls. He looked like a drowsy little cat. After a while, it seemed he realized there was no other owl, but a bunch of tricky humans. He looked quite indignant, and in doing so, became quite a bit more owl-like:

You talkin' to me?

Other good looks were a black-throated green warbler, northern parulas, a scarlet tanager, a rose-breasted grosbeak, more yellow-rumped warblers than you could shake a stick at, a few blue-gray gnatcatchers, a black-and-white warbler, an osprey, and a wood duck.

The blue-gray gnatcatchers were too elusive for a really good picture. The wood duck, like most of the wilder birds, was shy, but I managed to approach from behind cover and ambush it for a good picture. We also saw a thrush, but I forget if it was a Hermit or a Swainson's; at any rate was too far away and too well-camoflauged in the leaf litter for a good shot.

At any rate, it was fantastically productive day for a scant three hours, with several life birds, notably the screech-owl, black-throated green warbler, rose-breasted grosbeak and scarlet tanager. But that would be nothing, nothing compared to the Central Park walk the next weekend...

Delaware Expedition

Catch-up post. Last month, in late April, I joined the Hudson River Audubon Society for a birding trip to the Delaware shoreline. The trip was led by Michael Bochnik. This was the first time I've ever gone on a trip exclusively for birding, by the way. It took three and a half hours by the New Jersey Turnpike down to Smyrna, DE, and the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.

One of the first sights was a set of purple martin houses, teeming with occupants.

Getting past the co-op board is tough

Purple martens are the largest swallow in North America. They've declined a great deal in the last century, mainly due to reduction in habitat and especially competition from invasive European starlings. In the last few decades, conservationists have put up many Purple Marten condos, which has slowed their decline somewhat.

The Bombay NWR, along the Delaware shoreline, was a good stopover for birds in the spring migration, and of course a good place to pick up birds that favor marshland and shore. There was a very well-maintained boardwalk and trail through several of the marshlands. Several dead trees stood over the reeds throughout the marsh, and among them was several colonies of tree swallows.

There were several of the usual suspects for shoreline and marshland: great blue herons, snowy egrets, great egrets, green herons. A few ospreys were soaring over the waters and diving for fish. There were quite a few life birds for me as well: a green-winged teal, blue-winged teal, a willet, a greater yellowlegs, and a few American coots. Common enough for most birders, but new to me at any rate.

Blue-Winged Teal

Greater Yellowlegs; the beak ~1.5x the size of the head

Willet

Swamp sparrows, a marsh wren, and even a bobwhite quail were heard, but not seen.

A watchtower allowed us a good look, through binoculars and spotting scopes, at one of the target birds for the trip: a black-necked stilt. I did have a good look through binoculars, but it was too far away for the 250mm lens, and digiscoping didn't turn out very well either.

We were disappointed looking for an American Avocet, but that would come later in the summer.