Birding Van Cortlandt Park 05-12-12...

Our Saturday morning walk at Van Cortlandt Park started off slowly, but picked up steam as we headed around the Van Cortlandt Lake. A male Swamp Sparrow (more red in the crown than a female) enthralled us with his song as he trilled away for several minutes giving us great views of him singing. While enjoying the looks, we had views of several Common Yellowthroat Warblers and Baltimore Orioles that worked around the area.

As we worked our way further around the lake, the songs of Yellow Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers (Setophaga coronata), Black-throated Green Warblers (Setophaga virens) and Black-throated Blue Warblers (Setophaga caerulescens) filled the air. We found it tough finding the birds in the leafed out trees, but managed to get decent looks at the few we saw. One of our more interesting sight of the day was a pair of Ospreys fishing in the lake.  We had never seen them this close to the lake before and it appeared that the low water levels at the lake had something to do with it as the Ospreys found the fish in the lake to be easy pickings.  As if the Osprey were not cool enough, we had another good sight at the bridge by the golf course;  I spotted a Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria) working the shores near the edges of the marsh. Our Van Cortlandt walk has not produced many shorebirds, so it was nice to see this one.

As we made our way towards the parade grounds, I heard a singing Nashville Warbler (Oreothlypis ruficapilla), but could not get the group on it and it was while I was listening for the Nashville, I heard a singing Wilson's Warbler. I stopped the group and worked the area where I had heard the bird and sure enough after a few minutes, a sharp looking male Wilson's Warbler (Cardellina pusilla) popped into view. We all got looks and for many it was a life bird. We then worked our way up into the meadows towards Vault Hill, where several Black-throated Green Warblers as well as a Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica) put on a show for us. A couple of male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (Pheucticus ludovicianus) made their presence known and we added Veery (Catharus fuscescens) and Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus) to our day list.

We ended our walk shortly thereafter. I did some butterflying and then headed into the North West woods for a hike. There I was surprised at the lack in diversity of birds as I had hoped to add to the list of warblers seen.  The only birds of note I added to my day list were Wood Thrush,  Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia) and Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis) as new birds to my list for the day. Here is a complete lists of birds seen:

American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)
Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens)
Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens)
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)
Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis)
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica)
Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica)
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)
Gadwall (Anas strepera)
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)
Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus)
Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
Nashville Warbler (Oreothlypis ruficapilla )
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
Northern Parula (Setophaga americana)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis)
Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis)
Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius)
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus )
Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus)
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Rock Pigeon (Columba livia)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)
Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus)
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
Veery (Catharus fuscescens)
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)
Wilson's Warbler (Cardellina pusilla)
Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)

Tags: Van Cortlandt Park, Canada Warbler, Solitary Sandpiper