Central Park was quite fruitful this morning. Two of the main highlights were icterids, the best of which was a singing male BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE at Fort Clinton. (The structure looking over the south end of the meer) Presumably the same individual seen a week or so ago, voice was the first cue to its ID. It was notably larger than the other common grackles in the area, though it remained separate from them to some degree. In addition to size and voice, it's tail size and shape was significantly larger, longer and rounder than nearby common grackles, it's shoulders were broader, it's bill was a bit longer than a common's would be, and the blue-green sheen typical of Boat-taileds was easy to see. I obtained poor-quality phone-binned pictures of the bird, where one can make out a pixelated silhouette of it's shape and structure. Other highlights included an adult male ORCHARD ORIOLE feeding in a cherry tree on the W side of the NE cove of the reservoir, as well as 2 CLIFF SWALLOWS also around the NE cove of the reservoir, and 9 Warbler species (see below). My abridged list of highlights is below: Common Loon-- continues on reservoirSnowy Egret--2 flyovers, reservoirCliff Swallow--2, NE cove of reservoirBlue-headed Vireo--5Blue-gray Gnatcatcher--8Northern Parula--singing male, Cherry HillYellow Warbler-1, Duck Island in meerPalm Warbler--20ishYellow-rumped Warbler--manyPine Warbler--6Black and white Warbler--4Ovenbird--1, steps on east side of castle--thanks Ranger.Northern Waterthrush--1, Gill. Others reportedCommon Yellowthroat--1 male, Duck Island Good Birding,Jacob Drucker --
NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
