Mike and I had already had a pretty good morning’s birding at Jones Beach, even though we were driven out of that migration hot-spot by many malevolent mosquitoes. So we did what any good birders would do: we went birding elsewhere!

Valley Stream State Park was next on our itinerary, a park that neither of us had ever visited before but was rumored to be a pretty good spot for warblers and other neotropical migrants. A Golden-winged Warbler had been reported there recently and though it hadn’t been seen in days I had some hope that we might get lucky.

From the parking lot we could hear and see the rufous-capped sparrow of summer, the Chipping Sparrow. Walking through the center of the park revealed some of the usual park-type birds like starlings and House Sparrows. Then things started to get interesting with colorful birds high up in the canopy of some pretty big trees. Eventually we managed to pick out a Magnolia Warbler but I believe at least one warbler escaped our binocular-aided eyes.

Next up in a path through some nice woods was a Wood Thrush that gave good looks until it disappeared into the undergrowth from which a catbird emitted its mewing calls. Continuing along the trail we spotted Common Grackles and Baltimore Orioles, heard the plaintive cries of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and ignored a pair of male Mallards in the stream that paralleled the trail.

We eventually came to a nice open spot by the stream and it just felt like a bird should be there. A quick spish and out popped a White-eyed Vireo, which I thought was bird number 200 for the year in the state (turns out that it was one of the terns we saw earlier, but that’s what I get for trying to keep track of birds in my head).

A little further down the trail we were trying to figure out some more warblers when another birder joined us…and was this ever the birder to meet in Valley Stream State Park. Bobby Berlingeri was hs name and birding Valley Stream State Park was his game. He’s the guy that originally found the Golden-winged Warbler and he agreed to show us the hot spots in the park.

When we crossed what he called the first footbridge it was like by crossing the bridge we had walked into the land of warblers. Black-and-white, Prarie, American Redstart, a Blackburnian (Bobby and I got on it and Mike missed, really rough because it would’ve been Mike’s lifer), Yellow-rumps, Black-throated Green, and Ovenbirds were all around, singly or in numbers. And then, just to top things off, Bobby got us on the nesting Yellow-crowned Night Herons.

After the herons and our heartfelt thanks he had to head out so Mike and I went back to try to find the Blackburnian Warbler again and also the Bay-breasted Warbler that Bobby had seen earlier. Mike picked out a Scarlet Tanager and while I was drinking in this first of the year bird he spotted the Blackburnian Warbler and positively beamed with joy!

More warblers were around up high and we realized to ID the Bay-breasted we were going to have to hear it first. Unfortunately, neither of us knew what one sounded like so I dug out my Peterson’s warbler guide and read out the transliteration of the bird’s song. No sooner had I done so than we heard the bird! But when we got on it we realized it was a Cape May Warbler! A lifer for me! A look in guide revealed that Peterson knew his stuff, as he wrote that the Cape May Warbler’s alternate song is similar to that of the Bay-breast. You learn something new everyday.

After that, Mike had to head home and I headed to Jamaica Bay. I won’t bore you with the details of my adventures there but I will give you some pictures:

Black-and-white Warbler on a black and white Birch Tree

Yes, it is the same Northern Parula pic from the other day.

Black-throated Green Warbler

Eastern Towhee

I ended the day with 95 species. Not bad for not-quite-a-full-day’s birding.