I led a bird walk in The Battery (formerly known as Battery Park), the southernmost point in Manhattan, this morning. I think this park has a ton of potential, even more so than other pocket parks in NYC: it's fairly large (at 25 acres, much larger than Bryant, Madison Square, or Washington Square Park) and even better, has an excellent mix of mature native trees, mostly the oaks that are so beloved by migrating warblers. It also has extensive lawns that are often fenced off to the public and to dogs, and it overlooks the harbor, providing sea-watching opportunities and possible storm-blown vagrants. For anyone who works in lower Manhattan, it could be a really productive patch. This morning was my personal best day in the park out of maybe a dozen birding visits total: 42 species in about three hours, which would be a respectable morning in Central Park to say nothing of the Battery! Six of these were new for the park according to eBird. The oaks were fairly crawling with warblers of a dozen species, and there were 6-8 Scarlet Tanagers fly-catching around the park (there was some sort of small brown flying ant hatch-out happening). Additional highlights included: Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (a very cooperative individual perching low in a Willow Oak near the Battery Tunnel air exchange tower vent at the SW corner of the park)Yellow-throated VireoBlackburnian Warbler (several)Bay-breasted Warbler (one male)Canada Warbler (2 or 3)Wilson's Warbler (2) Here's the whole list: Canada GooseMallardDouble-crested CormorantGreat Black-backed GullRock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)Red-bellied WoodpeckerDowny WoodpeckerYellow-bellied FlycatcherEmpidonax sp. (likely Least)Eastern KingbirdYellow-throated VireoRed-eyed VireoBlue JayFish CrowVeerySwainson's ThrushAmerican RobinGray CatbirdNorthern MockingbirdEuropean StarlingCedar WaxwingOvenbirdBlack-and-white WarblerCommon YellowthroatAmerican RedstartNorthern ParulaMagnolia WarblerBay-breasted WarblerBlackburnian WarblerBlackpoll WarblerBlack-throated Blue WarblerCanada WarblerWilson's WarblerChipping SparrowWhite-throated SparrowSwamp SparrowScarlet TanagerNorthern CardinalRose-breasted GrosbeakIndigo BuntingBaltimore OrioleCommon GrackleHouse Sparrow Good late spring migration! Gabriel WillowNYC Audubon
-- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
