This morning on my weekly Bryant Park/ NYC Audubon walk, we had some interesting sightings. Of note was a roving flock of Tufted Titmice in the tops of the London Plane trees. Although a common species, they seem to stick to their territories in Central Park or wherever, and I don't recall having seen them before in Bryant Park. There were about a half-dozen birds. Also present were a couple of Northern Cardinals (another unusual species for the park), a Hermit Thrush (FOS for me), numerous Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, a Winter Wren, Lincoln's Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, and very large numbers of White-throated Sparrow. One participant in my walk (who is a fairly experienced birder) reported seeing a White-crowned Sparrow earlier in the day, but I failed to spot it. She saw it near the public restroom, so that'd be worth keeping an eye out for. In front of the Library, we found more Sapsuckers, a lone Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and a very unusual White-throated Sparrow that I suspect was a hybrid between a WTSP and a Song Sparrow. It looked like a typical brown-striped morph but had heavy malar stripes and was as heavily streaked below as a SOSP, with a central breast spot. I've seen streaked young WTSPs, but never as coarsely and heavily as this bird. Here's the whole list: Rock PigeonYellow-bellied SapsuckerEastern PhoebeBlue JayTufted TitmouseWinter WrenRuby-crowned KingletGray CatbirdHermit ThrushCommon YellowthroatOvenbirdNorthern CardinalSong SparrowSwamp SparrowLincoln's SparrowWhite-throated SparrowWhite-crowned Sparrow (?) Cheers, Gabriel WillowNYC Audubon
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