From Rob Jett:
The late Marty Sohmer once told me, "The worst weather sometimes
brings the best birds." With that bit of advice in mind, I met my
friend Paige this morning for some wet birding in Prospect Park.
We spent 2 hours birding during the peak of the day's rainfall. When I
returned home, soaked to the bone, the sun promptly appeared. There
appeared to be a pretty decent influx of songbirds around Lookout
Hill, the Peninsula and edges of the lake. Unfortunately, the time
spent between wiping my bins and actually using them to see the birds
were brief. We did have one unexpected find that made up for the rain
- a LEAST BITTERN on Three Sister's Island in Prospect Lake. The bird
was preening out in the open within the branches of a willow tree that
juts into the water on the island's western edge. Cormorants can
usually be seen drying their feathers in this location. Doug Gochfeld
went out looking for the bird later in the afternoon, but was
unsuccessful as it had moved from its exposed perch.
In 2006 a Least Bittern was located on the same island, but close to
the shore on the southwest side within a stretch of phragmites. This
is only the second time that I've seen a Least Bittern in Prospect
Park. The first one I found on a foggy Spring morning perched in a
Black Cherry sapling on Payne Hill (really!).
Here is a link to a Google Earth map with the location tagged:
http://tinyurl.com/4mcyv3
Good birding,
Rob
Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 9/28/08
Observers: Rob Jett, Paige Linden
Notes: Fog and rain. Least Bittern on Three Sister's Island.
Number of species: 41
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Wood Duck 2
American Black Duck
Mallard
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Least Bittern 1
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Osprey 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
American Coot 1
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Empidonax sp.
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
House Sparrow
The City Birder Weblog
http://citybirder.blogspot.com
