Not #358
I joined Paul Keim this morning for the Brooklyn Bird Club’s Fall walk in Prospect Park. It was a nice morning with various warblers: American Redstart, Magnolia Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-and-white warbler, and so forth. We started around 8:00 A.M on the Northwest edge of the park and circled back around to the Vale of Cashmere.
Around 10:30 we had reach Rick’s Place in the Midwood, when Rob Jett came riding by on his bicycle. he told use that Rafael Campos and Philip Pane had spotted a Connecticut Warbler by the zoo. This would be a life bird for several people, myself included, as well as a good bird for anyone, so we revised our route and headed down to the road.
The warbler had been seen in a small fenced off area between the main loop road and the pedestrian path where it parallels the zoo border. By the time we got there, several other birders had already gotten the news. We scanned the area carefully. Apparently we’d just missed it. Then Rob saw something fly across the path, and began scanning the other side, behind the zoo fence. When a chuipmunk startled the bird, it moved and he spotted it. Shane also got a quick look. However by the time I figured out where they were referring to, the bird had scooted further back and was no longer visible.
We hung out for a while longer waiting for it to reappear, but it didn’t. I went into the zoo to see if I could spot it from the other site. Although I did find Wild Turkey, Emus, and Cape Barren Goose (neither countable) I did not relocate the warbler. Later this afternoon, there was an initial report of a second Connecticut Warbler in the Rose Garden. However, on closer inspection it turned into a Mourning Warbler. Either Connecticut Warbler or Mourning Warbler would have been a life bird for me, but I missed them both.
Connecticut Warbler is not truly an uncommon bird here during Fall migration. However, it’s incredibly secretive. They hide and feed on the ground under the lead litter and any other cover they can find. Thus they’re not seen very often, even though we’re pretty sure they’re out there. People have done studies in which they’ve flushed birds from a field into mist nets, and Connecticut Warblers often appear in numbers way beyond what would be expected from auditory or visual observations. But because they’re so secretive I’ve still never seen one.
They’re not even reported every year in Prospect Park, though we’re pretty sure they’re here. However, this observation puts Prospect Park’s species tally for the year at 182. We may make 200, but we’ll need some really good fall birds to do it. With today’s Connecticut, we now have all 36 warblers that are likely to appear in New York City. Just maybe we could get an Orange-crowned Warbler. There are maybe 5 or 6 more birds we haven’t seen yet that are likely to show up in fall migration. (Red-headed Woodpecker, Bald Eagle, Northern Pintail, Northern Goshawk, Eastern Bluebird) and we could easily miss any of those. We missed out on shorebird migration this year (not enough puddles at the right times) and that cost several species. We could get a couple more owl species, possibly some grassland species, and probably some completely unexpected West Coast vagrants, though what they’ll be I can’t guess. Still I’m not sure that adds up to 200.
