Van Courtlandt Bird Walk Report 9-10-2011...

Last Saturday, I was back at Van Courtlandt Park leading my 1st of the 2011 Fall walks. For new readers, this is a program that I lead at Van Courtlandt Park in the Bronx NY, on behalf of NYC Audubon in partnership with Van Courtlandt Park Nature Conservancy. On Saturday our group met up at our usual spot, the nature center near the parade grounds. We did our usual scan of the fields, and picked up American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) (perched on the fence), Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) (flying overhead) and a Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum) working the fence line on the parade grounds. We then headed out to bird along the Van Courtlandt Lake. There was little to no activity on the lake, but we did the hike that took us past the gold course. Near the golf course, a female American Restart (Setophaga ruticilla) caught my attention and a bit of phishing resulted in us getting nice looks at our first pocket of passerines of the day. Later on Vault Hill, we hit another pocket of activity and picked up our best bird of the day in Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorum). Having heard that throughout the summer none of the walks had produced any Hummingbirds, I took the group to the restoration area where we had them in the past and lo and behold, we picked up 3 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. (Archilochus colubris) The group was very pleased and it was a nice way of ending our walk. Below is a list of the Birds seen.

Total Birds: 38

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
Rock Pigeon (Columba livia)
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)
Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)
Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii)
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)
Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus)
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorum)
Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)
Tennessee Warbler (Oreothlypis peregrina)
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)
Northern Parula (Setophaga americana)
Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum)
Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus)
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Tags: Van Courtlandt Park, Bronx NY