Sunday 17 May 2009 - Birding in New York City - Jet-lagged Blogger & Celebrity Jogger - 17/05/2009

Sunday 17th May 2009

Jet-lagged Blogger & Celebrity Jogger

Crossing the Atlantic Ocean from England to the east coast of the United States took us over 7 hours in a Boeing 747 and maaaan it's a struggle.  With this in mind it makes you wonder how those little Yank passerines manage it travelling in the opposite direction every autumn, it really is some kind of miracle.  As we made our way out of the arrivals lounge at JFK airport I spied my first bird of the trip.... a House Sparrow!  This species was introduced to New York by homesick Brits in 1850 and by 1910 it had expanded its range all the way over to California on the west coast.  Evolution is already underway with southern populations measuring smaller than their northern counterparts and populations in desert areas being paler than those on the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts.

After bundling our luggage into the hotel room we made our way from 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan and strolled the short distance to the famous Central Park.  In the busy south sector of the park House Sparrows and European Starlings (another introduced species) were numerous as were native American Robins.  Homosapien was by far the most abundant species however, with dog walkers, pram-pushers, power-walkers, tourists and joggers everywhere.  A sharp-eyed Sammy even spotted foul-mouthed celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey sweating his way towards us!  We then made our way to the more peaceful area around The Lake where our first Northern Cardinals and American Great Egret were seen.  Further along a pair of confiding Gray Catbirds fed just feet away along with a single Northern Mockingbird.  Unfortunately there was no sign of any of the sought after New World Warblers but it was pretty overcast and late in the day for them to be showing.  Before heading back to the hotel I was delighted when a female Baltimore Oriole showed extremely well and a Philadelphia Vireo was spotted skulking in the undergrowth near the American Museum of Natural History.

Gray Catbird feeding on insects at The Ramble, Central Park, New York City