The beautiful weather and late-month decline in migration activity prompted Brendan Fogarty and me to pursue some breeders north of the city on Saturday, May 30th. We began the day at Sterling Forest State Park, birding the roads, forests, and clearings between Old Forge and Ironwood. We easily caught up with every target we hoped to find at this location. Several Golden-winged Warblers were heard and seen well as they flitted about, joined by Blue-winged, Hooded, Cerulean, Worm-eating, Prairie, Blackpoll, Black-throated Green, Black-and-white, Yellow, Yellowthroat, Ovenbird, and Redstart. Both Black-billed and Yellow-billed Cuckoos were encountered at Ironwood, including a close, low flyby by a Black-billed. A vocal pair of Red-shouldered Hawks and a raggedy youngster soared overheard, some crows took issue with a passing raven, and a skittish Green Heron made a brief appearance. Many Indigo Buntings were seen and heard, along with a few Field Sparrows. Veery and Wood Thrush were heard singing, alongside forest regulars like tanagers, vireos, orioles, gnatcatchers, and the like. On the non-avian side of things, we encountered Red-Spotted Purple and Giant Swallowtail butterflies, as well as many smaller species and an abundance of dragonflies.
Our next stop was Doodletown, which proved equally productive. The continuing Kentucky Warbler was exceedingly cooperative, singing loudly and proudly when we joined Andrew Baksh at its territory and perching unobstructed on a branch for a short time. Hooded, Cerulean, and Blue-winged Warblers were singing in abundance, and we got great views of all three species. Five Yellow-billed Cuckoos were heard throughout the hike, and most of them showed decently. We picked up a handful of new species for the day here, including Louisiana Waterthrush, Yellow-throated Vireo, and Black Vulture. Riding high on our good fortunes, we decided to head up to Blue Chip Farms to make an attempt for Upland Sandpiper. Although we found a number of birders from the NYC/Long Island area also searching on the roadside, we failed to catch a glimpse of any Uppies. Bobolinks were a fine consolation prize, displaying throughout the fields, and we also picked up meadowlarks and Killdeer. We turned the car towards home, planning to hit Plumb Beach as a final stop. The only bird of note on the drive was a flyover kestrel while we fought the congested roads of Manhattan. We survived the city's traffic and arrived at Plumb Beach with little more than an hour of sunlight left. We hastily made our way down the beach to the east end, where we found abundant gulls and shorebirds flocking. After some careful scanning, we successfully managed to pick the continuing Franklin's Gull out of the throng of Laughers. We enjoyed watching it feed and fly about in the evening light as more birds gathered on the sand. I scored my first of spring Least Tern and Black Skimmers, alongside lingering Brant, a flyover Greater Scaup, and a noisy Greater Yellowlegs. Willet, Oystercatchers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, and Sanderlings rounded out the shorebird representation. Bringing our fantastic outing to a close on a high note, we headed to the parking lot, where we were treated to a "good night" song from a Yellow Warbler as the sun dipped below the horizon. Full checklists below: Sterling Forest - http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23715423 Doodletown - http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23715476 Blue Chip - http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23715485 Plumb Beach - http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23715505 Cheers! -Tim H -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
