Mokka mit Schlag

Migration has kicked into full gear. Over 70 species a day are being seen in local parks. This morning I got to Prospect Park a little before 6:30, and started at the North end. Some days the Vale of Cashmere is empty, but some days it’s packed with birds. Today it was packed. Ruby-crowned Kinglets were practically dripping out of the trees. I was hoping for the Summer Tanager and Orchard Oriole found yesterday, but no such luck. I did see four warblers and several year birds though. This Northern Waterthrush was the first:

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Yesterday I joined the Brooklyn Bird Club for our annual trip to Western New Jersey, specifically Hyper Humus, a relatively recently discovered hot spot. It started out as a nice winter morning when we arrived at the site at 7:30 A.M., progressed to Spring around 10:00 A.M., and reached early summer by 10:15.

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Seems you can now go bird watching via the Internet. I haven’t been able to test it out yet (20 user limit apparently) but this is certainly cool. Personally, I can’t imagine it replacing actually being out in the field by any small amount. On the other hand, I’ve always found it quite sad to meet senior birders who are no longer able to hold binoculars steady or get to the park. I can imagine this might be of some interest to them. At least one elderly birder did a big year on TV, after he could no longer get out so much. This certainly tops that.
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Ridgewood Reservoir, 2007-04-21

Today I joined Heidi Steiner-Nanz, Steve Nanz, Rob Jett, Janet Schumacher, and Jerry Layton for the first of six planned breeding bird surveys at Ridgewood Reservoir. The reservoir served Brooklyn and Queens for about a century, and then relegated to backup status in the 1950s, and eventually decommissioned in the 1970s. Recently the Parks Dept. took the site over, and we’re trying to figure out what’s there before they turn it all into parking lots and ball fields.

The reservoir sits on what may be the highest point in Queens. It used to be a local birding hot spot, but birders pretty much stopped going after the Bushwick riots in the 70s, and nobody’s paid much attention to it in years. I’ve been maybe three times before. Everyone else in our group had been once or twice. A couple of locals who hang out there told us it was unusual to see this many people on any given day. They blamed the “crowds” (about 20 people over three hours) on the nice weather. There’s also considerable evidence of dirt biking and paintballing.

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Ridgewood Reservoir, 2007-04-21