Central Park, New York USA>
27 April 2007

I wandered down to Central Park for the second time in a few days this morning looking for spring arrivals. When I visited on the 24th the sun shone in a cloudless sky and the migrants that should have been combing through the trees for insects and caterpillars were zipping overhead to their nesting grounds further north - possibly, they could have still been basking in Florida I suppose - but this time round the night and early morning had been cold and wet and the trees would be dripping (see what I did there) with birds…Only it appeared that they were still zipping overhead, as the only thing dripping from the trees was (hmm, is this joke a little too obvious?) water…

I really enjoy birding in Central Park. The walk from the hotel we stay at to the Park takes about fifteen minutes, and the tension from the shoving and pushing on Park Ave, and 5th, and the numerous smaller side-streets falls away as you reach the Park itself and start to hear the songs of American Robins and the excited chattering of Red-winged Blackbirds.

I always feel that there’s something very inspiring in finding so much bird life thriving in the midst of such a huge and loud city, but all “wide-eyed Brit abroad” sentiment aside, this really was one quiet morning (darn it). Somehow the local birders seemed to know there was no ‘fall’, as there was hardly anyone down in The Ramble (where a small loose crowd of New York’s finest bird spotters are often seen wandering around misidentfying Yellow-rumped Warblers - only joking folks, only joking).

No, there was just a handful of us strange folk with binoculars peering up into the trees or scanning the undergrowth today, and I have to say the rewards weren’t huge. If anything there were less birds around than earlier in the week - notably most of the fifteen or so Swamp Sparrows and the Louisiana Waterthush I’d seen down in “The Oven” had left - and the only warblers I saw were singles of Northern Waterthush, Common Yellowthroat, and Palm, Yellow-rumped, and Black and White. Outstanding if you’re in the UK but a little disappointing if you’re in New York in late-April. Two typically wary Brown Thrashers and a Least Flycatcher (which I thought looked slightly disgruntled to find itself high up in a tree surrounded by skyscrapers after a winter spent sunning itself in coastal Central America), and a handful of Chipping Sparrows and two Field Sparrows in front of The Dairy were pretty good, but worth getting up at 05:00 for? I was awake already (blinking jet-lag) but even so I’m not entirely convinced…

Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina

 

White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis

There were of course plenty of the Central Park spring regulars: birds like Red-bellied Woodpecker which you can hear anywhere in The Ramble (which is undergoing a massive restoration programme at the moment), flocks of American Robin, large numbers of White-throated Sparrows giving their apologetic, wistful songs (one of my favourite sounds in eastern North America), Rufous-sided Towhee, Hermit Thrush, and the usual Ruby-crowned Kinglets which I tried hard to something if not more interesting then certainly more colourful. Lest I seem completely ungrateful, I have to say I am fully aware that there are plenty of European birders who’d have willingly swopped places with me for a morning that included that little lot - but, you know, was just one Worm-eating Warbler or a Nighthawk really too much to hope for..?

Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus

 

Northern Waterthrush Seiurus noveboracensis

 

Palm Warbler Dendroica palmarum

Oh well. Whilst days where you dash around from pillar to post in a frenzy of “Yes, this great - but what’s in the next tree?” are exciting (and exhausting), quieter days have their attractions too. Mooching about without a care in the world (well, not too many anyway) is relaxing, and by taking my time I did get some rather nice photos even if I say so myself, including a truly gorgeous pair of Blue Jays gathering twigs for their untidy nest, and a pair of Mourning Doves sharing a tender moment. Lovely.

Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus

 

Mourning Doves Zenaida macroura

 

Blue Jays Cyanocitta cristata

 

Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula

 

 

---

 

 

And when the birding’s over for the morning…

All photographs copyright Charlie Moores