Hi Tweeters,

I just got back from a week in New York City with several nice walks though
Central Park. It is an amazing place to bird with about 275 species being
seen in it throughout the years. Not bad for being right in the middle of
the largest city in the United States. I met a number of very friendly
birders who went out of their way to show me birds.

The highlights:

Mute Swan
American Black Duck
Laughing Gull - an alternate plumaged bird seen at the Statue of Liberty;
Great Black-backed Gull
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
Tufted Titmouse - I got the song down well enough to be able to identify
them singing throughout the TV broadcast of the Masters golf tournment
today
Blue-winged Warbler - a sighting that might cause me trouble as it was nine
days earlier than the previous earliest New York state sighting;
Pine Warbler
Palm Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush - these last three warblers are very accomodating
because they spend a lot of time on the ground providing ample time for
great looks;
Northern Cardinal
Swamp Sparrow - seen below a small bridge frequently in the company of a rat
or two;
White-throated Sparrow - the most common sparrow in the park;
Common Grackle
also quite a few species that we also get out here for a total list of 46
species.

I was told several times that the park will really be hopping the first two
weeks of May when it is possible to see 25 species of warblers in a morning.
I did have a great time inspite of missing prime time. One nice thing about
biding on the East Coast is not having to put up with the variety of
"Olympic" gulls. It is possible for an east-sider (of Washington) to
identify every gull seen. I was not able to get to a good spot for Lesser
Black-backed or Iceland Gull. Just more reason to go back.

Denny Granstrand
Yakima, WA



Denny Granstrand