For your information, this is the 7th record for Prospect , the first since Sept 27th , 2003 over Prospect Lake as well ( J.Zinn, A.Baratz). At the end of Alex's summation of his NYS Bird Listserve posting , the records from my office database. Yesterday's sighting is the FIRST SPRING historical record.
---Kingsboider
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From NYS Birds Listserve:
Subject: Prospect Park, Brooklyn 5/18/11 Black Tern
From: "alex@....com"
Date: Wed, 18 May 2011 15:50:18 -0400
X-Message-Number: 4
A BLACK TERN was over the Lake in Prospect
Park this morning around 8:45. I picked it up while
scanning a fairly dense flock of swallows
(mostly Barn) shortly after arriving at the shore
near the base or west end of the Peninsula. My
first thought was “what’s wrong with that Laughing
Gull?” but I was able to get good looks as it made a
few passes back and forth, dipping once to the
surface of the water, displaying continuous dark gray
across the mantle and wings, shading to black on the head,
with the black extending below through the belly, with white
at the tail. It was over the central part of the Lake, tending
east where it passed out of my view. When I moved down the
Peninsula to a better vantage point I was unable to relocate it.
This bird is very rare for Prospect; the 2001 checklist
indicates 7 sightings prior to 1960; I’m not aware of any
reports in the 6+ years I’ve birded the park. Presumably
this appearance is related to the ongoing wet weather
pattern, which conversely resulted in a poor showing
for passerine migrants, with a modest 13 warbler species
seen on a date when one might have hoped for peak activity.
Good birding,
Alex Wilson
Brooklyn, NY
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Office records
Black Tern Prospect Park 8/9/1942
Black Tern Prospect Park 9/9/1949
Black Tern Prospect Park 10/9/1949
Black Tern Prospect Park 10/13/1950
Black Tern Prospect Park 9/16/1953
Black Tern Prospect Lake 9/27/2003
**********************************
From Adam:
Hi Peter
Weather was pretty crummy for birding, also the leaves
are really out now, but managed a few warblers in the
Lullwater during my short outing this morning.
Had an Osprey with a large fish heading over the
Lullwater, looked like it came from the Upper Pool area.
Also saw a Red-tailed Hawk raiding an American Robin
nest -- the parent Robins were dive-bombing the RTH and
the neighbourhood Jay was screaming its head off, but the
hawk didn't care.
No Canada Goose? Where are they? Also no swans seen.
Cheers
Adam
From:
Date: Wed, May 18, 2011 at 1:05 PM
Subject: eBird Report - Prospect Park , 5/18/11
To: adamwelz@...com
Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 5/18/11
Notes: intermittent rain, wind, no Canada Goose even though
Prospect Lake was briefly surveyed
Number of species: 42
Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos 8
Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus 1
Great Egret - Ardea alba 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax 1
Osprey - Pandion haliaetus 1
Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis 2
Laughing Gull - Leucophaeus atricilla 10
Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis 2
Herring Gull - Larus argentatus 8
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura 2
Chimney Swift - Chaetura pelagica 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus 2
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens 2
Warbling Vireo - Vireo gilvus 1
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata 2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - Stelgidopteryx serripennis 1
Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor 1
Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica 15
Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor 1
House Wren - Troglodytes aedon 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Polioptila caerulea 1
American Robin - Turdus migratorius 25
Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis 5
European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris 1
Northern Parula - Parula americana 3
Yellow Warbler - Dendroica petechia 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler - Dendroica pensylvanica 2
Magnolia Warbler - Dendroica magnolia 1
Cape May Warbler - Dendroica tigrina 2
Black-throated Blue Warbler - Dendroica caerulescens 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler - Dendroica coronata 1
Black-throated Green Warbler - Dendroica virens 3
Blackpoll Warbler - Dendroica striata 3
American Redstart - Setophaga ruticilla 1
Northern Waterthrush - Parkesia noveboracensis 2
Common Yellowthroat - Geothlypis trichas 1
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis 6
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus 8
Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula 2
Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater 1
American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis 3
House Sparrow - Passer domesticus 10
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
