Registrars: Annie Plum and Suzanne Zywicki
Participants: 9
Weather: Cloudy with light fog changing over to sunny with scattered clouds. Temperatures ranging from 52 to mid-60s °F
Bird Species: 63
The trip report below was written by trip leader Julien Amsellem
The annual Linnaean Society Hillside Woods Trip occurred for the first time in the second weekend of May rather than the last weekend of April. The opening of A Tale of Two Cities was a fitting description of today’s travails: “It was the best of times…” 18 warbler species including some genuine rarities for Hillside, “It was the worst of times…” every bird we encountered was sky high in the tallest tree around, horribly backlit, and refusing to cooperate at any point. So, while the species were of great quality, the birding itself tested our patience.
Nonetheless, even with these difficulties, today was a standout day of Hillside birding in many respects. Warbler song has been somewhat limited in Westchester this spring, but today was a drowning cacophony of Parula, Black-throated Green and Blue, Redstart, Ovenbird, and Black-and-white as we parsed through in search of the tougher species. In the end, our patience and due diligence in combing through large flocks paid off — three Canada, Tennessee, Cape May, multiple Magnolia, and Blackpoll were all seen and/or heard by the group. Worm-eating was unfortunately not seen by all, but the showstopper (from a Hillsider’s perspective) was a singing male HOODED WARBLER, just the second I’ve had here and third all-time eBird record.
Our route was an atypical one, and not what I had planned for at all. After lingering in the parking lot for some time, I opted to take us on the paved path above the tennis courts and Watertower Woods. The rationale was that warblers high up would be more readily viewable from this elevated vantage point. That would have been true had the warblers been willing to show themselves at all, but this did lead to several good finds to start the day like our first Canada Warbler and a nice flock of Cedar Waxwings.
More importantly, it drew us out to Hillside School and Field, where the trees lining the edge of the field and parking lot were teeming with warbler life. A new singing Canada beckoned us to the entrance of the parking lot, where we had a fabulous mixed flock that had Blackpoll, Tennessee, Magnolia, Canada, and many more, though all were high. This also netted us our flyover Yellow-billed Cuckoo and a Swainson’s Thrush. The Field has become a promising source of warblers in fall migration and a new favorite sunrise spot of mine to start the day here, but this is the first time I’ve had it produce such success in spring.
After this, we followed a slightly more typical path, coming around the back of the school to get to Sugar Pond. Sugar Pond South was busy with breeders like Baltimore Oriole, Great Crested Flycatcher, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and Red-eyed Vireo, and the occasional migrant (we had our final and loudest-singing Canada here). After a quiet walk though Sugar Pond proper and SP Swamp, both of which had little going on besides Northern Waterthrush and Cape May Warbler, we progressed down the Swamp/Creek Path (which had one small mixed flock) to Three Island Pond.
Three Island Pond was a little quiet, but still productive for 10:45am. Our best bird here was undoubtedly the Hooded Warbler, which sang on and off from someone’s backyard next to the Woods. A Hummingbird also entertained here.
After a quiet walk to the Vernal Pond Thickets, activity again skyrocketed and we enjoyed our final push of warblers for the morning, all high, singing, and reoccurring species from earlier. A pair of Scarlet Tanager was the final highlight here. As we walked out of the woods and the sun finally appeared, we got Black Vulture and Red-tailed Hawk to cap things off!
Species List
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
American Herring Gull
Green Heron
Great Blue Heron
Black Vulture
Osprey
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Barn Swallow
White-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Northern House Wren
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Veery
Swainson’s Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird
Worm-eating Warbler
Northern Waterthrush
Black-and-white Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Canada Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal