The Merlin app enticingly picked up the calls of Yellow-rumped Warblers early last week, but I didn’t see them with my own eyes until the morning of Wednesday, April 17, 2024. It was bright and early, shortly after sunrise, when I decided to hike the westernmost ridge of Inwood Hill Park, the ridge that overlooks the Hudson River.
Near the Straus Mansion site, the place that served as the country home for the co-founder of Macy’s in the nineteenth century, I came across a flock of the Yellow-rumped Warblers fanned out across a tall tree with multiple trunks. I counted at least seven of them, but perhaps there were nearly a dozen.
Last year, I saw Yellow-rumped Warblers everywhere in the park during spring migration. I saw my first one of the species on April 24, 2023, so my fresh sightings indicate an arrival a week earlier than last year. I saw many more in May last year, too.
Now that I have blogged about these local sightings for over a year, it may be possible to compare patterns and timings of the arrivals. I saw my first Palm Warbler in 2023 on April 19, as noted on the April-May 2023 Sightings page. This year, I saw a pair of them on top of the easternmost hill near the tennis courts on April 15. I saw a Hermit Thrush last year on April 9, and this year I spotted one on April 6.
Maybe the spring warbler migration has come earlier this year for a couple of warbler species, but we can’t jump to conclusions. I don’t go birding every day, and my approach is hardly close to any scientific method. In addition, I always fail to see all the noteworthy birds in the park. Every birder knows this. Other birders will see a bird that seems to escape your notice. There’s frequently the close call, or a day away from birding, or often, we have to leave the park early to go do our day jobs.
So far, the spring migration has unfolded in similar fashion as last year’s, even if a little faster. Another advantage of keeping a multiple year diary like this is being able to anticipate what species may arrive in the next week or month. The May 2023 Sightings page here provides an exciting glimpse what may be to come. Given the overall decline of birds in general, my chief concern would be any expected birds that do not arrive at all.
My unscientific approach mostly goes like this: The birds are here. I saw them. I took pictures and noted the days and time.
With the small warblers, my goal as a photographer is to remain still and calm and try to take recognizable and pleasing pictures of them. When I draw them, I am able to revel in their fleeting presence.
Cover: Yellow-rumped Warbler. April 17, 2024. 7:14 a.m. Inwood Hill Park.
See Artwork page for more original drawings.
Recent posts
- The Sparrows of April
- Celebrating the Orioles
- The Return of the Yellow-rumped Warblers
- The Double-crested Cormorants of Spuyten Duyvil
- An Osprey for April Fools’ Day
Birds of Inwood 