October 27th

Rain keeps the birder indoors !

ON a shortened workday, while on an errand around 5 ish, parked in the Key Food's lot on Prospect Ave and 11th, I watched through my car windshield 23 BRANTS fly over. I guess they didn't take the express lane (over 15 items) . ;)>

October 26th, Prospect

From Rob Bate:

Rusty Blackbird spotted on the lake wall just south of the skating rink.

(Rob's picture sent to me.."Kingsboider")

***************

From Peter:

Observations seen from afield and post work. Pretty quiet day though I wasn't able to visit the "hot zones" of previous days.

Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 10/26/09
Number of species: 30

Canada Goose X
Mute Swan 7 lake
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler X lake ( no counting today)
Ruddy Duck X lake
Black-crowned Night-Heron 4 immatures Duck Island back shore
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 f/o peninsula sumacs
Red-tailed Hawk 1 f/o peninsula sumacs
American Coot 6 lake
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull 1 lake
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Eastern Phoebe 2
Blue Jay 1 breeze hill
American Crow 7 f/o maryland monument
Winter Wren 3-- rink cove;midwood;peninsula sumacs
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2-- rink cove; peninsula sumacs
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3 peninsula
Hermit Thrush 15 various locales
American Robin X wellhouse
Common Yellowthroat 1 peninsula sumacs
Song Sparrow 12--9 peninsula sumacs;3 penisula
Swamp Sparrow 3 --1 south lullwater in cattails; 2 peninsula
White-throated Sparrow X south lakeside
Dark-eyed Junco 3 south lakeside
Northern Cardinal 5 wellhouse
House Sparrow X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

October 25th, the day after

Before today's hilights, an epilogue to yesterday's spectacular sparrow day. I spoke with John Ascher this morning and he mentioned that he saw LINCOLN's SPARROW yesterday at Breeze Hill. This make the total number of sparrow species seen on October 24th fourteen (14), among the best if not tops for sparrow diversity in Prospect's illuminated history. Bravo to all everyone who teamed up on the sparrow "whirlwind" that plopped all the good stuff here.

Hilights of today are: refound VESPER SPARROW & CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, LINCOLN SPARROW,WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, 26 WOOD DUCKS ,MARSH WREN,GREATER SCAUP,SCARLET TANAGER (late), ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK(late),INDIGO BUNTING (late) ;

Total number species sparrows today-- 12


Brief notes on the rarities or quality birds

--Vesper Sparrow still seen inside the ballfields snow fence enclosure, moving from the south field to the west side in patchy brown grass sections (Multiple observers)

--Clay-colored Sparrow , first spottted by Shane Blodgett, hung around a tall smartweed plant just behind the tall shrub closest to the west fence around the Wildflower meadow, The sparrow is a little skittish, and uses the cover of the grasses to linger, offering glimpses. ( also Multiple observers).White-crowned Sparrow and Indigo Bunting also was present here.

--Lincoln Sparrow seen at the "Sparrowbowl" (Steve Nanz, Jerry Layton, mult observers)

--Marsh Wren reported from the previous location on the south shore of the Lake i presume bewteen Duck Island and the East Grove cove,opposite the Peninsula "thumb". (obs Rob Bate)

--Greater Scaup drake on the lake near the West Island shelter (P.Dorosh)

--26 Wood Ducks on the Upper Pool Island, as usual


***********************

From Rafael Campos:

Date: 25 October 2009


Place Prospect Park, Brooklyn; NYC


Observer: Rafael Campos R


An early morning start (~7:30 am) to look for the sparrows sps that "rained" yesterday. The only one, considered rare, was the Vesper. But other sparrows sps were present around the fenced area in the Long Meadow/ballfields: Field, Chipping, Savannah, Song, White-crowned, Swamp.


A visit to the Lake area did no give any rare sparrows, but behind the Well House, 2 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.Back to the Long Meadow, and the surprise was 1 Indigo Bunting. At the upper pool, ~10 Wood Ducks.And to end my walk, around 11 am, just before Grand Army Plaza, 1 Scarlet Tanager flew across and landed.


The list:

Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Wood Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe (1, Lake)
Red-tailed Hawk (2 flew over Long Meadow)
American Coot
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker (1, Well House)
Northern Flicker (1, Nethermead)
Eastern Phoebe (~4, fenced area, Long Meadow)
Blue Jay
American Crow
Red-breasted Nuthatch (2, Lookout Hill)
Winter Wren (1)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird (1, Well House)
European Starling
Palm Warbler (~5)
Scarlet Tanager (1)
Eastern Towhee (1, Well House)
Chipping Sparrow (abundant)
Field Sparrow (1)
Vesper Sparrow (1)
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow (1)
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting (1)
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird (2)
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

******************

My birding today was going to be brief, to take a break from my long day yesterday. Well, I spent a little too much time at the special sparrow spots in Prospect when I intended to take it easy and visit the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for special events there.

But the lure of those terrific sparrows pulled me in and I figured some folks would be around looking , so why not try to help some get whatever remained.Fortunately both Vesper and Clay-colored lingered and quite a number of observers were certainly glad to see these species. Vesper was very cooperative when I arrived at the ballfields, very close and sort of tame before flying back toward the fence enclosure's middle. Clay -Colored was a little tougher, being shy and offering glimpses but nevertheless, most if not all the birders saw it, with Shane's help.

When I first entered the park, I saw the Greater Scaup still hanging around in the lake. Well, he is outnumbered by greater numbers of Ruddy Duck --now 61-- and still dominant numbers of Northern Shoveler.Good thing he isn't too close to the Wood Ducks, their 26 (at least) company too numerous for little Upper Pool; there's no space .

On Lookout Hill's meadows, very good numbers of White-throated Sparrows and Hermit Thrushes use the brush very well for coverage. I know there got to be good stuff in there in that thick brush, but whatever it is, it won't come out .Too bad.

Fall colors is certainly providing a wonderful backdrop to the birding.So if you have time, enjoy the spectacle--both leaves and birds this week.

--Peter

List

Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 10/25/09
Number of species: 41

Canada Goose X
Mute Swan 5 lake
Wood Duck 26 Upper Pool Island
American Black Duck 2 lake
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler 235 lake
Greater Scaup 1 sw corner lake
Ruddy Duck 61 lake
Pied-billed Grebe 2 lake
Great Blue Heron 1 upper pool
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 f/o wildflower meadow (Mult Obs); f/o nethermead
Cooper's Hawk 1 f/o
American Coot 4 lake
Herring Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Belted Kingfisher 1 Lily Pool
Downy Woodpecker 2 wildflower meadow;
Eastern Phoebe 4 ballfields
Winter Wren 1 wildflower meadow (John Ascher, PDorosh)
Marsh Wren 1 reported by Rob Bate; south lakeshore
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 6
Hermit Thrush X common , many lookout hill meadows
American Robin 15 BBG
Gray Catbird 3--1 wildflower meadow
European Starling X

Eastern Towhee 1 heard by Steve Nanz Sparrowbowl
Chipping Sparrow 125 south nethermead lawn
Clay-colored Sparrow 1 wildflower meadow ; S.Blodgett, Pdorosh, Mult Observers
Field Sparrow 1 Peninsula Meadow, next to young dogwood
Vesper Sparrow 1 Ballfields, S.Nanz, J.Layton,J.Ascher,P.Dorosh,Mult Observers
Savannah Sparrow X Ballfields
Song Sparrow X
Lincoln's Sparrow 1 Steve Nanz, J.Layton Sparrowbowl
Swamp Sparrow 4 - 2 wildflower meadow ; Mult Observers; 2 Peninsula
White-throated Sparrow X mostly Lookout Hill meadows
White-crowned Sparrow 1 wildflower meadow ; S.Blodgett, Pdorosh, Mult Observers
Dark-eyed Junco X

Northern Cardinal 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 1 ballfields
House Sparrow X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

CLAY-COLORED SPARROW re-found in Wildflower

CLAY-COLORED SPARROW re-found in Wildflower meadow adj Upper pool. per Shane & M.obs

VESPER SPARROW seen well and

VESPER SPARROW seen well and close inside ballfields fence enclosure south side nearest 2nd base

October 24th "A most incredible day, a day to remember for the ages"

I will post my own account on this most astounding day , the "Day of the Sparrow". But for now, read Rob Jett's account below who was present with me and Mary Eyster in seeing all the very rare (4) sparrow species while others got at least three of these special birds. It is a historic day in Prospect because never have I heard nor witnessed getting two Ammodramus genus sparrows on a single day plus two other very rare sparrows after getting an extralimital sparrow seen 3 days ago ( Lark) in a single spot --the ball fields--or very close to the "hot zone".

So, the highlights of this historic day in Prospect Park are:

VESPER SPARROW,NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, SHARP-TAILED SPARROW(SALTMARSH), MARSH WREN, GREATER SCAUP, 13 species sparrows condensed under 4 acres territory combining the ball fields snow fence enclosure/wildflower meadow, & "Sparrowbowl";

Rob Jett's posting to NYSBIRDS listserve:


Today Prospect Park held, what can only
be described as, an outrageous assortment
of sparrows. It wasn't just the unusual
diversity, but also the relatively small area
in which they were located. As mentioned in
previous posts regarding a recent Lark
Sparrow, a section of the Long Meadow
near the baseball fields has
been fenced off for reseeding. It is roughly
a rectangular area 100 yards by 80 yards.
Adjacent to that is a very small wildflower
meadow. Large numbers of mostly Chipping,
Savannah and Song Sparrow have been feeding
in the fenced area. When flushed they'd mostly
move to the wildflower meadow or a pair of large
Linden Trees at the edge of the field. At the
wildflower meadow there have also been many
Swamp, White-throated and one or two White-crowned
Sparrows. About 200-300 yards to the north
on the Long Meadow is a small area that the regulars
call the "Sparrow Bowl". So, keep in mind that very
restricted area of Prospect Park where a group of us
spent a few hours today...

Peter Dorosh texted me at around 10am that there
was a Vesper Sparrow near the baseball field.
I rode over on my bike and got there fast. It
didn't take long to find the bird, which ultimately
flew to the opposite side of the field (of course).
I found it again, but put down my bins so I could
pull up my hood as it began to rain. Naturally, the
bird vanished. As Peter, Mary Eyster and I scanned
the grass field I stumbled on a Nelson's Sparrow
(a. n. subvirgatus)! Peter called Steve Nanz to see
if he could come over and take a photo. Steve got
there quickly and stopped briefly at the wildflower
meadow across the sidewalk from us. He promptly
spotted a Clay-colored Sparrow. There was a birding
group from the Audubon Nature Center passing by,
so a lot of folks got to see it. The rain then started
coming down so I left to get some lunch. As I was eating
lunch Mary called saying that she and Peter found a
Saltmarsh Sparrow at the Sparrow Bowl. I hopped
back on my bike, got to the Sparrow Bowl where
Peter and Mary point out the sparrow casually
eating smartweed at the edge of the grass.
Very weird. In all, we tallied 13 species of sparrow
in Prospect Park. In keeping with the marsh theme
(I suppose), there was also a Marsh Wren at the edge
of Prospect Lake which I tracked down just prior to a
deluge which sent me home for good.

Good birding,

Rob

FYI - As of the late afternoon the Vesper Sparrow
was still present on the field and the Clay-colored
was seen briefly at the wildflower meadow. The
Nelson's and Saltmarsh were not relocated.

**********

Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 10/24/09
Number of species: 51

Brant 6
Canada Goose X
Mute Swan X
Wood Duck X
American Black Duck X
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler X
Ruddy Duck X
Pied-billed Grebe 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Coot 3
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Herring Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker X
Northern Flicker X
Eastern Phoebe X
American Crow X
Tufted Titmouse X
Marsh Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet X
Ruby-crowned Kinglet X
Hermit Thrush X
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
European Starling X
Yellow-rumped Warbler X
Palm Warbler X
Palm Warbler (Western) 1
Common Yellowthroat X
Eastern Towhee 1
Chipping Sparrow X
Clay-colored Sparrow 1
Field Sparrow 1
Vesper Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 12
Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow 1
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow X
Swamp Sparrow X
White-throated Sparrow X
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco X
Northern Cardinal X
Indigo Bunting 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X


Keir randall reported MARSH WREN south side of the lake, between duck and three sister islands and drake GREATER SCAUP on the Lake near the West Island shelter.

**********************

This was a day birders dream about, to see the most of quality, with the least mileage to walk. I understand walking is great exercise, but heck ,once in awhile, its great to see terrific--I mean rare stuff--in a smallest possible region; in today's case, less than 5 acres !

It will be a day I will always remember, a day I almost didn't go to Prospect due to an achy tired body from so much intense planting this week but Mary Eyster hastily suggested birdng Prospect this morning and I thought,its bad weather, good stuff are waiting to be found; let me make Marty proud ("Bad weather brings in the best birds"). Boy, I didn't think it was going to be that ridiculous type of day,where when one rarity was found, other folks come in and they found rarities too! Its the beauty of serendipity , team effort,and technology, culminating in the joy of finding things by happenstance,with skill and most importantly in this era --cell phone text messaging technology. On the latter, I found out that I sent out at least 25 text messages ! No wonder why my cell battery died so quickly.

Getting to the point about today's spectacular day: the hottest piece of turf now in Brooklyn is the Prospect north ballfields. Postseason playoff baseball and Yankee tickets may be hot tickets around town, but Prospect's north ballfields snow fence enclosure is even hotter to step in. Today , 13 species sparrows were recorded either in that ballfield pot of gold spot, or the adjoining wildlfower meadow, or 250 yards north at the "Sparrowbowl". And all this after seeing the Lark Sparrow graced that hot zone just days ago (5 rare sparrows in less than a week? Come on! ).Well, "Larky" sure got the "ball" rolling !

It was an incredible stretch of fortune in which me, Mary and Rob Jett experienced, us three lucky recipients of the four rare sparrows, with others bought on by my text message blasts, seeing or finding at least some of the other rare sparrows.To put it succinctly: I texted everyone the VESPER SPARROW, Rob comes , refinds the Vesper, but finds also the grass hugging NELSONS SHARP-TAILED SPARROW along with Mary who spotted it as well before; Steve Nanz comes too, finds the CLAY-COLORED SPARROW in the Wildflower Meadow which multiple observers enjoyed; after everyone departed, Mary spotted another orangy face bird in the Sparrowbowl, which she suggested in checking out before a lunch break; I thought little of it until I saw her "orangy"- faced bird moments later, a SALTMARSH SHARP-TAILED SPARROW right out in the open !.. We called Rob back from his home. He , along with us two, watched the day's 2nd ammodramus sparrow feeding on low pink smartweed. A funny moment occurred with this last sighting. While Mary was calling Rob about the Saltmarsh ST Sparrow with my phone, the phone kept ringing during the conversation and I looked at the text , interrupting the phone conversation. It was a text message from a friend that morning who saw some of the rare sparrows as well -- perfectly timed-- saying, "What? No more rarities"?

We just had to laugh...it was that kind of day, which we all will remember always as "The Day of the Sparrow" .

Always Good Boiding ! (especially in Prospect Park ;)> )

---Peter

Observers, Peter Dorosh, Mary Eyster, Rob Jett, Rob and Tracy Bate, Janet Schumacher, Multiple observers

List


Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 10/24/09
Notes: Nelson sharp-tailed sparrow subspecies subgivatus
Number of species: 45

Brant 6 flyover ballfields
Canada Goose 125 lake
Mute Swan 4 lake
Mallard X lake
Northern Shoveler X lake
Greater Scaup 1 drake , first seen by Keir Randall, southwest Lake
Ruddy Duck 30 lake
Pied-billed Grebe 2 lake
Great Blue Heron 1 flyover ballfields
Red-tailed Hawk 1 flyover ballfields
American Kestrel 1 flyover PPW Ave
American Coot 3 lake
Spotted Sandpiper 1 lake west shore
Ring-billed Gull 3 lake
Herring Gull 6 flyover ballfields
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Monk Parakeet 3 f/o Sparrowbowl, Mary Eyster
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 south ballfields
Northern Flicker 1 Tennis house
Eastern Phoebe 8 ballfields snow fence enclosure
American Crow 4 f/o ballfields
Brown Creeper 1 south ballfields woods
Golden-crowned Kinglet 20 ballfields perimeter
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 10 ballfields perimeter
Hermit Thrush 3
European Starling X
Eastern Towhee 1 sparrowbowl, male
Chipping Sparrow 40 ballfields snow fence enclosure
Clay-colored Sparrow 1 Wildflower meadow, spotted by Steve Nanz ; M.Obs
Field Sparrow 2 ballfields snow fence enclosure;sparrowbowl
Vesper Sparrow 1 ballfields snow fence enclosure; M.obs
Savannah Sparrow 25 various, mostly ballfields
Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow 1 ballfields snow fence enclosure;P.Dorosh, M ,Eyster,R. Jett,Rob and Tracy Bate
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow 1 Sparrowbowl at fence apex , behind and in front of bent down wire fence; also in dead burdock patch;obs P.Dorosh, M ,Eyster,R. Jett
Song Sparrow 8
Swamp Sparrow 2 Wildflower Meadow
White-throated Sparrow X
White-crowned Sparrow 2 Wildflower Meadow
Dark-eyed Junco 7 sparrowbowl
Northern Cardinal 1
Indigo Bunting 1 Wildflower Meadow; spotted by Steve Nanz; M.Obs
Brown-headed Cowbird 2 ballfields
American Goldfinch 4 ballfields
House Sparrow X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/)



Todays rare species closest to image searched online

Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow

https://www.abcbirds.org/images/saltmarsh_sparrow_jett.jpg

Nelson Sharp-tailed (Subgivatus)

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=nelsoni+subvirgatus&FORM=BIFD#focal=22bb5d5eb47c5c710a6a537e6bcd3be7&furl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philjeffrey.net%2FNelsonShrpTailedSparrow2s.jpg

http://www.jeaniron.ca/Trips/JamesBay2009/nelsonsban5658.jpg

Clay-colored Sparrow

http://sdakotabirds.com/species_photos/photos/clay_colored_sparrow_1.jpg

Vesper Sparrow

http://www.sdakotabirds.com/species_photos/photos/vesper_sparrow_4.jpg

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Marsh wren south lakeside opp

Marsh wren south lakeside opp peninsula thumb per Keir Sharptailed Sparrow below fence break middle .feeding n low pink smartweed

SALT-MARSH SHARPTAILED SPARROW in "Sparrowbowl"

SALT-MARSH SHARPTAILED SPARROW in "Sparrowbowl" weedy edging,vale between mansions.

CLAY-COLORED SPARROW in wildflower meadow

CLAY-COLORED SPARROW in wildflower meadow adjacent to Upper Pool.multiple observers

NELSONS SHARPTAILED SPARROW inside ballfields

NELSONS SHARPTAILED SPARROW inside ballfields snow fence