Tuesday evening, I got a new hybrid for my Central Park list, a Lawrence’s Warbler, which is a Blue-Winged/Golden Winged Warbler hybrid.  The Blue-Winged/Golden Winged Warbler hybrids are discussed in great detail in the Warblers book in the Peterson Field Guide series.  The book has a great set of color plates that many Central Park birders have cut out and bound into a light weight, illustrated Warbler guide.  If you can buy the book used, buy two, one to keep as a reference and one to cut up for the plates.

The Yellow Warblers are still being as photogenic as ever.  I can’t stop posting them!

Central Park had lots of warbler sightings on Sunday, eighteen species and one hybrid.  I had slept in on Sunday and missed photographing all but two species, a Black-and-white and a Yellow.  Luckily, a Yellow Warbler gave me some wonderful poses among some flowers in the Wildflower meadow, so I still had a fun afternoon.

Just north of Wagner Cove, along the lake, a few Yellow Warblers have been seen the past few days.  I counted four on Saturday afternoon.  They are a sure sign that fall migration has begun.

An afternoon search of Morningside Park and the NW section of Central Park for the St. John Red-tails came up empty on Friday.  I suspect that the fledglings are now hunting on their own and their range has increased making it much harder to find them.  If you’ve seen them recently, please leave a coment!

I did see two unexpected sightings.  An Eastern Kingbird and an Amercian Crow one one of the Red-tails favorite spots, 301 W 110th Street.

My knee is improving, so I went into Central Park for the first time in about two weeks.  The fall migration has started and warblers are starting to return to the park.  In my brief outing in the park, I saw a Yellow Warbler, an American Redstart and two Northern Waterthrushes.

The Green Heron young have left the nest, and I found two of them feeding with a parent in a tree 20 feet south of the nest and along the shoreline of the lake.  Having been away for two weeks, I’m not sure if we’ve lost another young heron, or if one of the birds has already fledged and has begun to feed on its own.