Prospect enjoyed the privileges again of hosting an AMERICAN BITTERN, this time under much normal circumstances from the last bittern high up in a Ravine Sweetgum Tree. It seems like a run by bitterns , the second such rare heron to make an appearance in Prospect, which would be much delighted having two in one spring! (photo by Orrin Tilevitz...click on photo for enlargement)
Rob Bate alerted me of the rare sighting in a text message, with an update of its continuing presence. Unfortunately for me, i was too tied up with a major planting project with the "Million trees program" , which my crew planted about 25 trees and shrubs on a Grand Army Plaza berm.
It wasnt until late lunch i went looking for it with little time to spare; i did'nt find it,thinking it flew its coop. But as I was coming back from the fields mid-afternoon, Alex Wilson and I crossed paths and he mentioned with satisfaction of seeing the bittern. He showed me the spot and there it was, very exposed on a bramble jumbled mess of water rooted willow tree i believed and stuck in the middle almost was the "confused" bittern ( I thought they hide most of the time..Go figure).
The best view was from the rink's war memorial ; look at the green weed harvester boat and just to the left , about 35 feet is the rare heron. Keep them coming! ;)>
Lists from today's birders:
AMERICAN BITTERN- DUCK ISLAND north corner, left of the green (observers: Rob Bate, Edith Goren ? ,Alex Wilson, Peter Dorosh)
Northern Rough -winged Swallows- 4 minimal Upper Pool ( during a drive by)
************************
From Valerie Bull:
Sighting at the Maryland Monument
Hi Peter, I saw the Indigo bunting (oh blue blue blue) feeding on the ground with the sparrows near the fire hydrant today at 9:42 AM
Valerie
*************************
From Russ :
Slow day overall.
Got a singing BROWN THRASHER at the summit of Lookout Hill and a
singing HOODED WARBLER above the steps at the MD Monument where the
INDIGO BUNTING continues.
Park still overrun with YRWAs.
Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 5/1/09 (9:15 - 10:30am)
Number of species: 37
Canada Goose 6
Mute Swan 1
Mallard 8
Ruddy Duck 1
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Egret 1
Laughing Gull 4
Ring-billed Gull 2
Herring Gull 10
Rock Pigeon 6
Mourning Dove 3
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 1
Barn Swallow 2
Black-capped Chickadee 1
American Robin 50
Gray Catbird 4
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 25
Northern Parula 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 50
Common Yellowthroat 1
Hooded Warbler 1
Chipping Sparrow 4
White-throated Sparrow 4
Northern Cardinal 2
Indigo Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird 3
Common Grackle 4
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Baltimore Oriole 2
American Goldfinch 8
House Sparrow 10
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/)
***********************
From Alex Wilson:
Location: Prospect Park
> Observation date: 5/1/09
> Number of species: 78
>
> Canada Goose 50
> Mute Swan 4
> Wood Duck 2 (Drakes, Upper Pool.)
> Mallard 30
> Ruddy Duck 3 (Lingering on Lake.)
> American Bittern 1 (Duck Island, several observers;
> photographed.)
> Great Egret 2
> Green Heron 2
> Black-crowned Night-Heron 5
> Red-tailed Hawk 2
> Laughing Gull 20
> Ring-billed Gull 1
> Herring Gull 15
> Great Black-backed Gull 2
> Rock Pigeon 50
> Mourning Dove 20
> Chimney Swift 5
> Belted Kingfisher 2
> Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
> Downy Woodpecker 6
> Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 7
> Eastern Phoebe 1 (Lily Pond.)
> Eastern Kingbird 1 (Three Sisters Islands, FoS.)
> White-eyed Vireo 2 (Lily Pond; Ravine.)
> Blue-headed Vireo 4
> Warbling Vireo 6
> Blue Jay 7
> American Crow 3
> Fish Crow 1
> Tree Swallow 4
> Northern Rough-winged Swallow 4
> Barn Swallow 12
> Black-capped Chickadee 7
> White-breasted Nuthatch 4
> Brown Creeper 1 (Ravine.)
> Carolina Wren 2
> House Wren 6
> Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
> Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 6
> Veery 2
> Swainson's Thrush 1 (Upper Pool, FoS.)
> Hermit Thrush 3
> Wood Thrush 1 (Heard on Lookout, FoS.)
> American Robin 150
> Gray Catbird 12
> Brown Thrasher 1
> European Starling 200
> Blue-winged Warbler 1 (Singing behind Pools.)
> Nashville Warbler 1 (SInging in Ravine behind Pools, PM.)
> Northern Parula 20
> Yellow Warbler 6
> Magnolia Warbler 1 (Bridle path behind Lily Pond.)
> Black-throated Blue Warbler 6
> Yellow-rumped Warbler 100
> Black-throated Green Warbler 4
> Palm Warbler (Yellow) 4
> Black-and-white Warbler 10
> Ovenbird 12
> Northern Waterthrush 3
> Louisiana Waterthrush 1 (Boulder Bridge.)
> Common Yellowthroat 2
> Hooded Warbler 1 (Singing on Lookout, upslope from path
> above Wellhouse.)
> Eastern Towhee 8
> Chipping Sparrow 15
> Song Sparrow 5
> Swamp Sparrow 1
> White-throated Sparrow 25
> Northern Cardinal 15
> Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2
> Indigo Bunting 1 (Maryland Monument.)
> Red-winged Blackbird 20
> Common Grackle 20
> Brown-headed Cowbird 7
> Orchard Oriole 3
> Baltimore Oriole 4
> House Finch 1
> American Goldfinch 15
> House Sparrow 30
Rob Bate alerted me of the rare sighting in a text message, with an update of its continuing presence. Unfortunately for me, i was too tied up with a major planting project with the "Million trees program" , which my crew planted about 25 trees and shrubs on a Grand Army Plaza berm.
It wasnt until late lunch i went looking for it with little time to spare; i did'nt find it,thinking it flew its coop. But as I was coming back from the fields mid-afternoon, Alex Wilson and I crossed paths and he mentioned with satisfaction of seeing the bittern. He showed me the spot and there it was, very exposed on a bramble jumbled mess of water rooted willow tree i believed and stuck in the middle almost was the "confused" bittern ( I thought they hide most of the time..Go figure).
The best view was from the rink's war memorial ; look at the green weed harvester boat and just to the left , about 35 feet is the rare heron. Keep them coming! ;)>
Lists from today's birders:
AMERICAN BITTERN- DUCK ISLAND north corner, left of the green (observers: Rob Bate, Edith Goren ? ,Alex Wilson, Peter Dorosh)
Northern Rough -winged Swallows- 4 minimal Upper Pool ( during a drive by)
************************
From Valerie Bull:
Sighting at the Maryland Monument
Hi Peter, I saw the Indigo bunting (oh blue blue blue) feeding on the ground with the sparrows near the fire hydrant today at 9:42 AM
Valerie
*************************
From Russ :
Slow day overall.
Got a singing BROWN THRASHER at the summit of Lookout Hill and a
singing HOODED WARBLER above the steps at the MD Monument where the
INDIGO BUNTING continues.
Park still overrun with YRWAs.
Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 5/1/09 (9:15 - 10:30am)
Number of species: 37
Canada Goose 6
Mute Swan 1
Mallard 8
Ruddy Duck 1
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Egret 1
Laughing Gull 4
Ring-billed Gull 2
Herring Gull 10
Rock Pigeon 6
Mourning Dove 3
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 1
Barn Swallow 2
Black-capped Chickadee 1
American Robin 50
Gray Catbird 4
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 25
Northern Parula 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 50
Common Yellowthroat 1
Hooded Warbler 1
Chipping Sparrow 4
White-throated Sparrow 4
Northern Cardinal 2
Indigo Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird 3
Common Grackle 4
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Baltimore Oriole 2
American Goldfinch 8
House Sparrow 10
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/)
***********************
From Alex Wilson:
Location: Prospect Park
> Observation date: 5/1/09
> Number of species: 78
>
> Canada Goose 50
> Mute Swan 4
> Wood Duck 2 (Drakes, Upper Pool.)
> Mallard 30
> Ruddy Duck 3 (Lingering on Lake.)
> American Bittern 1 (Duck Island, several observers;
> photographed.)
> Great Egret 2
> Green Heron 2
> Black-crowned Night-Heron 5
> Red-tailed Hawk 2
> Laughing Gull 20
> Ring-billed Gull 1
> Herring Gull 15
> Great Black-backed Gull 2
> Rock Pigeon 50
> Mourning Dove 20
> Chimney Swift 5
> Belted Kingfisher 2
> Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
> Downy Woodpecker 6
> Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 7
> Eastern Phoebe 1 (Lily Pond.)
> Eastern Kingbird 1 (Three Sisters Islands, FoS.)
> White-eyed Vireo 2 (Lily Pond; Ravine.)
> Blue-headed Vireo 4
> Warbling Vireo 6
> Blue Jay 7
> American Crow 3
> Fish Crow 1
> Tree Swallow 4
> Northern Rough-winged Swallow 4
> Barn Swallow 12
> Black-capped Chickadee 7
> White-breasted Nuthatch 4
> Brown Creeper 1 (Ravine.)
> Carolina Wren 2
> House Wren 6
> Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
> Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 6
> Veery 2
> Swainson's Thrush 1 (Upper Pool, FoS.)
> Hermit Thrush 3
> Wood Thrush 1 (Heard on Lookout, FoS.)
> American Robin 150
> Gray Catbird 12
> Brown Thrasher 1
> European Starling 200
> Blue-winged Warbler 1 (Singing behind Pools.)
> Nashville Warbler 1 (SInging in Ravine behind Pools, PM.)
> Northern Parula 20
> Yellow Warbler 6
> Magnolia Warbler 1 (Bridle path behind Lily Pond.)
> Black-throated Blue Warbler 6
> Yellow-rumped Warbler 100
> Black-throated Green Warbler 4
> Palm Warbler (Yellow) 4
> Black-and-white Warbler 10
> Ovenbird 12
> Northern Waterthrush 3
> Louisiana Waterthrush 1 (Boulder Bridge.)
> Common Yellowthroat 2
> Hooded Warbler 1 (Singing on Lookout, upslope from path
> above Wellhouse.)
> Eastern Towhee 8
> Chipping Sparrow 15
> Song Sparrow 5
> Swamp Sparrow 1
> White-throated Sparrow 25
> Northern Cardinal 15
> Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2
> Indigo Bunting 1 (Maryland Monument.)
> Red-winged Blackbird 20
> Common Grackle 20
> Brown-headed Cowbird 7
> Orchard Oriole 3
> Baltimore Oriole 4
> House Finch 1
> American Goldfinch 15
> House Sparrow 30
