Sora in Prospect Park
Migration’s getting weird. Normally Fall is when the rarities show up, but we’ve hit a triple this week. First there was the Blue Grosbeak Rafael Campos found in the Vale of Cashmere on Tuesday. Then Alex Wilson found a Yellow-throated Warbler on Three Sisters Island yesterday. Then last night John Ascher found the rarest bird yet, a Sora:
This is the first Sora seen in Prospect Park in about 12 years, though they’re a little more regular at Jamaica Bay. I got out bright and early to see it this morning shortly after dawn. For such a striking bird, it blends into the phragmites very well. Fortunately John had returned and was able to point out the bird to me.
I also got this QuickTime video of the bird walking around, though it’s roughly of the same quality as the famous Bigfoot or Ivory-billed Woodpecker films. (Warning: may crash some browsers.)
Total species count form about 6:30 A.M. to 9:15 A.M. was 39:
- Pied-billed Grebe (3 Prospect Lake)
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Egret
- Black-crowned Night-Heron
- Canada Goose
- Brant (~170 flyover)
- Mute Swan
- Mallard
- Ring-necked Duck (1 M, 1 F, Upper Pool)
- Ruddy Duck
- Red-tailed Hawk
- American Coot
- Ring-billed Gull
- Herring Gull
- Rock Pigeon
- Mourning Dove
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Downy Woodpecker
- Northern Flicker
- Eastern Phoebe
- Blue Jay
- Carolina Wren
- American Robin
- European Starling
- Chipping Sparrow
- Fox Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- Swamp Sparrow (Peninsula forest)
- White-throated Sparrow
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Northern Cardinal
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Vale of Cashmere)
- Blue Grosbeak (Vale of Cashmere)
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Common Grackle
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- House Sparrow
- Sora
Also, although I did not see these next two myself today, Phil Payne relocated the Yellow-throated Warbler, and Orrin Tilevitz found the first White-crowned Sparrow of the year for the park.
