Devorah and tweeters,

I was lucky enough to see a pre-release version of "Winged Migration",
before the final sound had been added, at our recent Victor Emanuel Nature
Tours leaders meeting in Austin this past December. The footage is
extraordinary, spanning the far north to the far south. Victor had some
input into the final version. I'm just heading off tomorrow to lead two
tours on the upper Gulf coast of Texas, perhaps to see some of the same
warblers you will soon see in Central Park.

Bob

Bob Sundstrom
ixoreus at scattercreek.com
Tenino, WA

----- Original Message -----
From: "Devorah A. N. Bennu" <nyneve at amnh.org>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 11:14 AM
Subject: move: winged migration and central park birdies


>
> hello tweets,
>
> i am listening to a radio interview on WNYC with the director of
> the film, winged migration. (i'd imagine this interview will also
> play on KUOW if someone peeks for the schedule on the web).
>
> after listening to this interview, i have decided that i am very
> excited to see this film! it sounds like a real winner! the film
> was nominated for an oscar and it opens this friday at the paris
> theatre, not sure if that's located in paris or NYC, so i guess i
> will be poking around on the web today too, to figure out the answer
> to this question.
>
> yesterday and today are 80 degrees! wow, NYC is unbeatable on a warm
> lightly breezy day! the weather is so unbelievably warm that it's
> hard to imagine that we had a blizzard ten days ago.
>
> i walk home from work through central park now and so far, i am seeing
> white-throated sparrows, american robins, european starlings, rock
> doves, dark-eyed juncos, downy woodpeckers, red-headed woodpeckers,
> blue jays, common grackles, red-winged blackbirds, american crows,
> double-crested cormorants, several gull species including the delicate
> ring-billed gull that is so familiar in seattle during winter, occasional
> mourning doves and peregrine falcons, and the central park red-tailed
> hawks that were made famous in the book "red-tails in love." the
> red-tailed hawks perch on the gold ball that tops the flag pole outside
> my office window or they sit on my window sill and look out over central
> park. i have even seen an incredibly pale red-tailed hawk ("pale male"?)
> on several occasions.
>
> the first wood warblers that appear in NYC are pine and palm warblers,
> but i also heard a report of an early louisiana waterthrush in central
> park. the big influx of wood warbler migrants will occur in two weeks.
> i have been listening to all my new eastern birdsong CDs, hoping to
> figure out all the warblers before they arrive.
>
> the trees are starting to bloom, the maples with their tiny fists
> of yellowish-green flowers, the pears with their white flowers and
> the dogwoods. the trees on the north and west side of the streets
> are blooming first while those trees on the south and east side of
> the streets look like their blooms are about one week behind. i also
> saw some really gorgeous pink trees in central park and wonder if
> those are cherry or hawthorne? i need to investigate this soon, while
> the blooms are still intact.
>
> there is plenty for the warblers to eat when they arrive!
>
> regards,
>
> Devorah A. N. Bennu, PhD
> email:nyneve at amnh.org or nyneve at myUW.net
> work page http://research.amnh.org/ornithology/personnel/bennu.htm
> personal pages http://research.amnh.org/users/nyneve/