Field Notes: April 19th - 21st...

It has been rather slow with the migrants, so I have recently spent some time exploring new places to bird in the Bronx and Queens. In the Bronx, I finally found my first Yellow-crowned Night Heron for the county, a long overdue bird. Andria who birded with me counted 11, knowing that there was a good chance of additional birds in the area. Here is an image of one that I thought the plumage was nice enough to photograph.

In addition to the YCNH, Andria found a Little Blue Heron, which while not a Bronx first for me was a rare occurrence and my first April sighting of that bird in the Bronx. Over in Queens at Oakland Lake, I enjoyed nice looks at a male Hooded Warbler that was found by Eric Miller. This bird was very cooperative but might be now shying away from the path. I wonder if taping in the bird had anything to do with that as I have observed some birders playing tapes to no avail as the bird did not respond at least as far as I observed.



A drake Redhead continues to linger at Baisley Pond Park in Queens; while there are records of Redheads in April, this is still late for this bird to be hanging around and it will be interesting to see how much longer it stays.

Other migrants showing up and establishing nesting territory include Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. Often tough to photograph, I got lucky with one that perched long enough for a decent photo. I'll have another update shortly from the field posting shorebird notes and photos as I conduct my shorebird surveys.

  Tags: Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Bronx, Hooded Warbler, Queens