Alley Pond in Spring

Alley Pond is a really really hot spring migration spot. Located in Queens, it is, in the words of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) "The gem of northeastern Queens."

Arriving at the Upper Alley Woodlands, listed on eBird as having 209 species, I didn't find anywhere near 209 species, but I did find closer to 2,009 people throwing footballs, barbecuing and admonishing their children or, in some cases, totally ignoring their offspring. I should have known that this would be the scene on Memorial Day Weekend, but I dove into the woods anyway, and even though a large family blasted music as loud as possible, a Great Crested Flycatcher, a lifer for me, was very cooperative and gave me great views. A Baltimore Oriole sat in a tree and preened.

After hopping over a fallen tree, I found myself at a little kettle pond, where a Northern Waterthrush hopped around some logs on the edge of the water and a female American Redstart put on a show less then ten feet from me. Birds were abundant and very close up. Unfortunately, so were mosquitoes. After I smacked and scratched myself numerous times, I exited the area and returned to the main path.

Kettle Pond 

Northern Waterthrush

I then retired to the car, grabbed some water, and then got out again. Moving to a different area of woods, I found basically nothing except a Red-bellied Woodpecker nest, which was very active and fun to watch, as the parents went in and out of the hole in the snag with food.

Red-bellied Woodpecker Nest

I moved around a bit, and there located even more Red-bellied Woodpeckers, and also a Hairy Woodpecker, which was a nice treat. There were also Gray Catbirds--the male was trying to get a female to mate--a bunch of Baltimore Orioles, and and a troublesome flycatcher that may have been either a Willow Flycatcher or Alder Flycatcher, or may have been neither. But a bright male Scarlet Tanager was really beautiful.

Scarlet Tanager

Finding little else than a House Wren at the Upper Alley Woodlands, I decided to head over to the Alley Pond Environmental Center, a nature center built to educate urbanized Queens kids, and also the headquarters of the Queens County Bird Club, my bird club. 

Upon arriving there, I found another birder setting up a giant camera in the parking lot. He provided me with some fantastic tips, and so I set off into the woods. 

The other birder had told me that there was a Willow Tree a little down the path that often held Yellow Warblers and Blue-winged Warblers. I found it in only a moment, and sure enough, with a flash of yellow, there it was, my old sight nemesis, the Yellow Warbler. Those birds must not like me; I have heard them all over the place, including in my own backyard, but never seen one. But on this day at APEC those bright little birds were very cooperative.

Yellow Warbler

I kept down on the path, where there was a female Red-winged Blackbird and a bunch more Yellow Warblers and plenty of Baltimore Orioles. 

Moving down a wood walkway through a marsh, I encountered two pairs of LOVEBIRDS, not the feathered ones but the human types, an adult pair and a younger pair. Both stood there and did some stuff, which I am going to skip over.

I passed the lovebirds and came out to an overlook that surveys a marsh and some water. I there found the other birder, who gave me some more good tips, but I also found Tree and Barn Swallows, zipping around and occasionally perching on nest boxes. A Red-tailed Hawk soared way off in the distance and then disappeared, not phasing the Mallards on the water. A Great Egret flew across the the marsh and landed next to a Black-crowned Night-Heron.

Great Egret and Black-crowned Night-Heron

The sun was setting, a Red-winged Blackbird yelled at me because, well, I don't know, and a Song Sparrow sat on a branch. I looked around a little bit more and a male American Redstart sang happily. 

American Redstart

And then I left. I had gotten two lifers and a bunch more on my year list, and some great photos. It was late, I was hungry and tired, but thrilled to have seen such great birds!

Barn Swallow

QCBC Big Day

Every year, bird clubs around the country get a bunch of people together and send them to count all the species they see on a certain day, usually May 10. The Queens County Bird Club (QCBC) is no exception. I was thrilled to be able to participate.

I arrived at Forest Park, where the count was to take place at around 11:20 AM. And from there, I took off into the woods, going down a concrete path known as the Park Road, but then diving into the real woods. There, I found plenty of birds: Black-throated Blue Warblers, an Ovenbird, and Northern Parulas, all three lifers. As I watched a parula only around eight feet from me, the flashily colorful bird took off and headed straight for my head. It dove only around one foot away from me; I literally head to duck to avoid being hit in the head by the new, high-tech  PARULA MISSILE used by the US military. 

Black-throated Blue Warbler (photo by Lauren Scott)

We finally arrived at the Waterhole, an area where birders set up a feeding station in the winter and floods to make a swampy pond in the spring and summer. This is one of the best birding spots in Queens, at least in spring migration.

I there joined up with the rest of the Big Day team. High above us, a Scarlet Tanager, a lifer for me, landed in a tree, drawing plenty of attention from fellow birders. A Yellow-rumped Warbler landed on a log. 

According to Jean, the leader of the team and a frequent birder in Forest Park, a rare bird had been hanging around and we had to find it. We heard it sing all day long, the unmistakable two part "chip...eeeeee!" of the BLUE-WINGED WARBLER. We heard it, we chased it, we stared into the trees with binoculars, but we never saw it. But since we all heard it, we added it to our total count. 

While chasing that Blue-winged, I was delivered some other birds: a Red-eyed Vireo, Magnolia Warbler, American Redstart, Wood Thrush and Veery. 

We decided to move on to another area. But before we do so, we get a few more birds: a BROWN CREEPER, a bird that hangs out here in the winter but not so much in the spring. We were ridiculously excited to see it. Also, a Northern Parula splashing in the Waterhole, taking a refreshing bath, a Swamp Sparrow, and a skulking waterthrush that we'll just call Waterthrush sp. (P.S. That's a euphemism for "I couldn't identify it).  Just before we left, we located a Palm Warbler.

Northern Parula (photo by Lauren Scott)

Northern Parula (photo by Lauren Scott)

Next, we moved on to another part of the park. While waiting for the rest of the team to arrive, I peered into a little gully called the Kettlehole, and was, in the space of five minutes, showed three Wonderful Warblers: the Blackpoll Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler and Canada Warbler. Also the Red-eyed Vireo showed itself nicely. A little bit down from there I located a Black-throated Green Warbler preening in a tree.

I joined up with the team and headed down a trail. Alas all we located there were three Baltimore Orioles. Heading back down the trail to grab some food, I located a Black-and-white Warbler and a 

Common Yellowthroat.

After getting food, we headed back into the park, only to find the trip leader Jean waving us down frantically. I ran (literally) down to her, and found that they had a MOURNING WARBLER, a really really big rarity. Unfortunately, only one of us saw it, though we spent twenty minutes trying to relocate it. 

In that time, it started to rain.

And it got worse.

In ten minutes, the rain was pounding down constantly. It was so loud, I couldn't hear any of the singing warblers that we had seen. However, this also had to do with the fact that all the birds in the place had hunkered down and shut up. They were gone. I wasn't wearing a coat, just my t-shirt and lightweight pants (it had been eighty-one degrees. It was now sixty-eight degrees and raining). At least my binoculars were getting cleaned.

The rest of the team, three people, had left their car far away, and had to get to a place where they could hold food. We ended up driving them: five people in a car that can hold four. But they got there and I got home, to write this blog post.

Take a look at my total life bird count for the day, just to give you an idea of what a fantastic day it was.

1. Swamp Sparrow
2. Red-eyed Vireo
3. Magnolia Warbler
4. Northern Parula
5. Black-throated Blue Warbler
6. Black-throated Green Warbler
7. Veery
8. Wood Thrush
9. Canada Warbler
10. Blackpoll Warbler
11. Scarlet Tanager
12. Ovenbird
13. Blue-winged Warbler
14. Yellow Warbler

11:30 AM to 3:15 PM and fourteen life birds. Now there's a fine day for you. Lots of thanks to the trip leader and the other birders who helped me out.

Black-and-White Warbler (photo by Lauren Scott)

Clark Botanic Gardens: Spring Migration

Spring migration! The favorite time of year for many birders! I went today to Clark Botanic Gardens, near my house, to attempt to locate birds on spring migration.

First bird of the day was heard, a Pine Warbler. Gosh, that bird really had plenty to say. On and on it went, singing its rising, trilling song, all day long. However, the bird never showed itself so I could take a picture of it.

As I stood there vainly searching for a Pine Warbler to photograph, a fantastically beautiful bird, a BALTIMORE ORIOLE, flew over my head, landing in a tree. It was a bright adult male in full breeding plumage. Every year these male orioles come a few weeks before the females, in order to get nesting territories straightened out. However, this pair of orioles has nested alone in the garden for many years, so the male oriole just hangs around and sings loudly and acts flashily. Pretty soon, the female will come and then we hope they'll get about nesting.

A Baltimore Oriole has something to say

I then walked down by one of the three ponds at Clark. Looking into the trees, I got the best bird of the day: a BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER, a bird I'd longed to see. This little guy is a small warbler with black and white streaks, and he hitches up and down the tree like a nuthatch. Some Ruby-crowned Kinglets also bounced around in the trees, my FOS.

Black-and-white Warbler

Walking down to another grove of pines where I'd seen a Blue-headed Vireo the day before, I found it strangely empty. Soon, though, I encountered the reason for the emptiness: A Sharp-shinned Hawk gliding off the trees and hovering into the air, looking for prey. However, it was awfully dark, and I couldn't get a good picture.

It had been good birding, and it was time to finish up. More Black-and-white Warblers acted like nuthatches as they should, and another Ruby-crowned Kinglet flitted around. A Chipping Sparrow sat in a tree.

Chipping Sparrow

Black-and-white Warbler

And that was it, a fine day of spring migration, and I added some birds to my life and year list.

Yet another Black-and-white Warbler