Each day brings new things or better fortune. That's the beauty of birding.Yesterday was slow , hard fought trying to find birds; today , though not birdy, bought a little quality.
A little beat from writing and finishing up the newsletter after coming back from watching the Brooklyn Cyclones last night, I wanted to go easy on myself birding this morning. My long time friend Jerry was going by at Butterfly Meadow, his usual exercise regimen walking the byway. I called out to him and we chatted for a while on the south path adjacent Butterfly Meadow. Then I spotted bright yellow halfway up the pine , one of 6 pines in Arleen's Pine Grove. I exclaimed "Chat!". It was a beauty,a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT in the pine. For a few seconds sighting, ( most these birds give you for a quick looker anyway), it then dropped down into the weeds between the fences.Its likely hanging out in Butterfly Meadow.
Arleen's Pine Grove got some other nice "new" birds too. A BLUE-WINGED WARBLER quite low in the foliage; then when Keir came along, we all , while standing on the mulch mound, saw excellently NASHVILLE WARBLER in the same spot as the latter, feeding along , and upon the weld wire metal fence . MAGNOLIA warbler also hung around the pine grove.Its great to just stand around and "chat" :)>
Another decent hotspot was noted when Keir and I ventured to the south side of the lake. At Three Sisters Island, at least 5 species warblers spotted at the western most island woods fringes above the back channel. 2 YELLOW,MAGNOLIA,REDSTART,BLACK AND WHITE and NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH appeared here. ( also NWwaterthrush I spotted behind the Wellhouse earlier)
And something new for the lake as well. 15 NORTHERN SHOVELERS, PIED-BILLED GREBE and for good quality BLUE-WINGED TEAL near the western shore.
And another note to add. I noticed propensity of birds on the slope just above the Maryland Monument , to the left of the trail going up.Many robins and doves but this indicates to me abundant food sources. I thought I had a Yellowthroated Vireo but cherry tree limbs blocked the view without me getting any better looks here.So If I were you, I would check out this nice potential spot for fall birding..You can get good stuff low , like last year's warbler fallout in the flowers on the opposite hill side..... Or stay awhile here and chat.....
Peters List
Observers: Peter , Jerry Layton, Keir Randall
Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 9/5/10
Number of species: 34
Canada Goose 56
Mute Swan X
Mallard X
Blue-winged Teal 1 hen Lake
Northern Shoveler 15 Lake
Pied-billed Grebe 1 Lake
Double-crested Cormorant 1 at 3 sisters islands
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove 35
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Black-capped Chickadee 2 Butterfly Meadow
White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Butterfly Meadow
Carolina Wren 1 north Butterfly Meadow
Veery 1
Swainson's Thrush 1
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing 2-north Butterfly Meadow
Blue-winged Warbler 1-north Butterfly Meadow
Nashville Warbler 1-north Butterfly Meadow
Yellow Warbler 2-- 3 sisters islands
Magnolia Warbler 2--3 sisters islands;north Butterfly Meadow
Black-and-white Warbler 1-- 3 sisters islands
American Redstart 3--2 at 3 sisters islands
Northern Waterthrush 2--1 at 3 sisters islands (PD,KR), 1 wellhouse ( PD)
Common Yellowthroat 1 --north Butterfly Meadow
Yellow-breasted Chat 1 north Butterfly Meadow (PD,JL)
Song Sparrow 1 north Butterfly Meadow
Baltimore Oriole 3 south Lookout Slope
American Goldfinch 1 north Butterfly Meadow
House Sparrow X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/)
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From John Ascher:
Hi Peter,
Chaoyan and I saw a Black-throated-Blue Warber female and a Red-eyed Vireo
toward the base of the Lookout Hill steps (those nearest the playground).
No luck with the Y-B Chat.
John
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