Date: Friday, 22 October 2010 (5:00p-6:10p) Location: Bryant Park - along 5th Ave. between 40th & 42nd St. Observers: many observers Reported by: Ben Cacace
I headed for the library late in the day with the idea that I might get a chance to watch a PROTHONOTARY WARBLER going to roost for the evening. Not knowing when this would happen or where they sleep at night I felt this would be a very interesting effort. The odds of keeping my eye on the bird until it went to roost were fairly low but better than ever since this bird has been very loyal to this location. I arrived at 5pm. The bird was spotted on the grass bordering the 5th Ave. sidewalk near 40th St. feeding on insects. A small crowd of bystanders developed with cell phone cameras in hand but no one approached it close enough to scare it up. A security guard for the library was taking a break behind a roped off area south of the lions when the bird flew up to the ledge he was leaning on. I asked if he had seen this bird before yesterday and he said this bird has been around for at least 2 to 3 weeks. The guard occasionally puts out food for the sparrows and pigeons and has been doing this since the Spring. When he noticed the colorful bird a few weeks ago he assumed it was an escaped cage bird. He was surprised to hear that this is a wild bird that is getting on so well with the locals. Soon it started getting dark and most of the birders drifted off. John and I remained and closely watched the warbler as it started to climb higher in the Locust tree above the roped off area. I kept the binoculars on the bird and watched it move up the tree until it got near the top of it. As it approached 5:58p the bird finally settled down after a bit of bill feaking, rousing and preening. It remained still. For the next 10 minutes it didn't budge an inch. We left the bird at 6:08p. Sunset tonight was at 6:06pm. We were both convinced that this spot is where the bird would be found tomorrow morning. I never imagined, living in New York City, that I'd watch a warbler going to roost. I've seen this with many Red-tailed Hawks, a Cooper's Hawk, Red-headed Woodpeckers and Long-eared Owls but never did I imagine this would happen with a Prothonotary Warbler. Many thanks to Matthew for finding and spreading the word about this remarkable Bryant Park bird and thanks to all who post on its status. Weather for 22-Oct for Central Park (4:51p-5:51p) < http://tinyurl.com/2vbqedo >: - Conditions: Clear - Temperature: 51.1 to 50.0 F (10.6 to 10.0 C) - Wind direction: NW / Variable - Wind speed: 5 - 9 mph (gusts to 21 mph) -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
