Sunny, mid 70s, calm
We visited Rockefeller State
Park in Pleasantville last May 14th under rainy skies. We had gone to the reserve on that day
because reports had been issued of a major warbler “fall out” with more than 20
different species identified on site several days earlier. We got skunked that day and found only
a smattering of the hoped for quarry.
I headed back today once lured
by the report of a Tennessee warbler, a bird that has eluded by camera thus
far. Any warbler sightings at this
time of year peak my interest, but this one was too good to pass on. Unfortunately, the specifics of the
“where and when” regarding this sighting were pretty sketchy. As was the case the last time I
travelled down to Westchester for the fallout, I once again failed to find the
bird I was chasing.
It was a beautiful day for a
hike and after the two plus hours on the trails without the Tennessee warbler,
I did not have any regrets about visiting the park. I did have several nice bird sightings while I trekked over
the gravel trails. One of interest
was a large number of Gray catbirds that were all found in one small area
flying back and forth across the trail.
Here in southeastern New York, we find ourselves on the northern fringe
of the catbirds year round range.
Normally in the summer, we find one or two together at most. These birds tend to stay spread out
across their territory. During
migration, however, groups of 10 – 20 are known to flock together in groups
appropriately called “mewings”. I
surmise that this was such a group I found today.
Near the catbirds was a lone
female Rose-breasted grosbeak. Her
drab coloration in the shadows allowed her to mix into the crowd of catbirds
without being noticed. It was only
while photographing individual catbirds that I noticed this “bird of a
different feather”.
Back down at the Swan Lake, I
was somewhat surprised to find no geese, not ducks, no shorebirds, and believe
it or not….not one swan. There
were plenty of the Painted turtles we talked about the other day, sunning
themselves on the logs lying across the placid waters of the lake.
And so, it was one of those
days where the chase did not produce the desired results, but still was worth
the effort. Maybe another day……
No comments:
Post a Comment