September Birds

With Fall migration picking up steam during September, and many more birds passing through New York City, it turned out to be a fairly decent month for my Brooklyn year list.

I started off the month with one very timely observation. While looking for "grasspipers" at Floyd Bennett Field, Heydi and I first heard, then looked up to see three Royal Terns flying overhead. Earlier that morning we had also seen a Philadelphia Vireo. This vireo is frequently misidentified due to its similarity to a bright, freshly plumed Warbling Vireo, as well as, sometimes the Tennessee Warbler. Here's a nice piece by Don Roberson about the conundrum.

A couple of days later Sean and I went back to Floyd Bennett Field where we found a Clay-colored Sparrow and Pectoral Sandpiper, followed up by an American Golden-Plover at Gerritsen Creek.

Probably the most unexpected bird of the month for me was a Black Tern. When Peter Dorosh spotted one flying around Prospect Lake late in the day, I hopped on my biked and pedaled over in time to see it. The two of us watched it circle the lake, occasionally snatching dragonflies out of the air, until the sun began to set. At that point the tern headed over the treetops at the edge of the lake and continued South towards its Wintering grounds in Central and South America.

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NYS Total: 241
Kings Total: 234
Added in September: 10
Effort: 37.75 birding hours, 6 locations

225) Royal Tern (Floyd Bennett Field, 09/02/13)
226) Philadelphia Vireo (Floyd Bennett Field, 09/02/13)
227) Pectoral Sandpiper (Floyd Bennett Field, 09/04/13)
228) Clay-colored Sparrow (Floyd Bennett Field, 09/04/13)
229) American Golden-Plover (Gerritsen Creek, 09/04/13)
230) Bald Eagle (Park Slope--My Roof, 09/07/13)
231) Black Tern (Prospect Park--Prospect Lake, 09/10/13)
232) Blue Grosbeak (Prospect Park, 09/21/13)
233) Dickcissel (Floyd Bennett Field--Community Gardens, 09/21/13)
234) Sora (Prospect Park, 09/30/13)