Registrar: Nick Dawson
Participants: 4
Weather: Cloudy and overcast, in the mid 60s to low 70s
Bird Species: 62
When we arrived just after dawn at the Rockefeller State Park Preserve parking lot, our walk leader Anne Swaim, executive director of Saw Mill River Audubon, pointed out the aralia bushes that have sprung up around the park. A fruiting non-native whose circular clusters of berries are a major draw for migrating birds, it became a focal point for us throughout our time at RSPP and where we saw most of our best birds. We did not see any Worm-eating Warblers (a species the park is noted for), however as we walked the park’s carriage trails on this cool, overcast day, there were pockets of intense avian activity (often centered around those aralia bushes). The highlights included Tennessee, Blue-winged and Cape May Warblers, plus birds such as the Pileated Woodpecker and Eastern Bluebird, a treat for birders from New York City, where the latter two species are seldom seen.
As word circulated of a vagrant Northern Wheatear nearby (sadly, on private property where Anne was unable to take us), we wrapped up our time at Rockefeller and caravanned north up the Hudson to Croton Point Park, where we ate our packed lunches. As we were munching on sandwiches, a juvenile Bald Eagle circled low overhead, and as we walked up and over the hill (formerly a landfill site), we encountered more raptors: Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrels, Ospreys and had as our “buzzer bird” a Northern Harrier, hunting characteristically low over the hill. Other notable birds on the Croton leg of the trip were some late Bobolinks (which we heard, but did not see) and a Savannah Sparrow.
Species Lists
Birds
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ring-billed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Phoebe
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Bobolink
Baltimore Oriole
Common Grackle
Blue-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Pine Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Mammals
White-tailed Deer
Eastern Cottontail Rabbit
