It’s spring migration and a true joy since I moved to NYC has been the Bryant Park birding tours led by the wonderful Gabriel Willow.  Last week Gabriel joked that he is not on the sign in the park because the one day they have a photographer there is a substitute tour guide.  I loudly interjected, “Gabriel you are on the website.”    When I got home I double checked, and sure enough he is in most of the website photos, though not all.  I also found that I was in one of the photos, a bit blurry but easy to pick out with my face mask, which I wore last spring and still wear on the subway–I will not be able to receive my measles vaccine until October, and I worry about crowds.

Yesterday was fantastic!  We saw four sparrows: Swamp Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White Throated Sparrow–Six Warblers: Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Parula, Yellow-rumped, Yellow; plus Grey Catbird, Hermit Thrush and Yellow Bellied Sapsucker(sadly killed by glass skyscraper).  When Gabriel started the tours ten years ago, he wondered if he would only find the three non-natives: pigeons, house sparrows and starlings, but ebird currently lists 129 species, found in this little park!