At the time of writing this, I've been birding for about 20 years, on and off. There is one place in particular, however, than spurred my re-entry into the birding community, and it's Central Park.
I was walking through the Park one day with Ali, my girlfriend at the time (and someone I've partially converted to birding), and I spotted a Brown Creeper. It's not a rare bird, but not one you'll bump into in an urban setting trivially. It looks sufficiently similar to the Treecreeper found in Britain that I knew with certainty what it was. That was my first lifer in the Park. I was vaguely aware of the Park being a decent birding spot, so I started going into the Park a little in the fall of 1998.
I got 9 life species that fall, but once winter hit I didn't go into the Park much until the following spring. The pivotal point was in late April, when I saw a Savannah Sparrow on Sheep's Meadow and mentioned it to a birder I had met there a couple of times.
Phil's Central Park Lifers (Chronological) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Common Name | Latin Name | Notes | |
| Brown Creeper | Certhia americana | LIFE: Sept '98, Ramble | |
| Hermit Thrush | Catharus guttatus | LIFE: Sept '98, Ramble | |
| Eastern Phoebe | Sayornis phoebe | LIFE: Sept '98, W93rd St. | |
| Black-throated Blue Warbler | Dendroica caerulescens | LIFE: Sept '98, W93rd St. | |
| Pine Warbler | Dendroica pinus | LIFE: Fall '98, nr Pinetum | |
| Blue-headed Vireo | Vireo solitarius | LIFE: Fall '98, Ramble | |
| Red-headed Woodpecker | Melanerpes erythrocephalus | LIFE: Fall '98, Locust Grove | |
| Field Sparrow | Spizella pusilla | LIFE: Fall '98, Tanners Spring | |
| Swamp Sparrow | Melospiza georgiana | LIFE: Fall '98, Tanners Spring | |
| Louisiana Waterthrush | Seiurus motacilla | LIFE: 4/21/99 Oven | |
| Rusty Blackbird | Euphagus carolinus | LIFE: 4/24/99, Ramble/Gill | |
| Hooded Warbler | Wilsonia citrina | LIFE: 4/27/99 Azalea Pond/Gill | |
| Blue-winged Warbler | Vermivora pinus | LIFE: 4/29/99, Ramble | |
| Nashville Warbler | Vermivora celata | LIFE: 4/29/99, Ramble | |
| Prairie Warbler | Dendroica discolor | LIFE: 4/30/99, Ramble | |
| Lincoln's Sparrow | Melospiza lincolnii | LIFE: 4/30/99, Balcony Bridge | |
| Northern Waterthrush | Seiurus noveboracensis | LIFE: 5/5/99 Oven | |
| Northern Parula | Parula americana | LIFE: 5/6/99 at Turtle Pond | |
| Chestnut-sided Warbler | Dendroica pensylvanica | LIFE: 5/6/99 at Azalea Pond | |
| Cerulean Warbler | Dendroica cerulea | LIFE: 5/6/99, Turtle Pond | |
| Worm-eating Warbler | Helmitheros vermivorus | LIFE: 5/6/99, Azalea Pond | |
| Ovenbird | Seiurus aurocapillus | LIFE: 5/6/99, Ramble | |
| Blackburnian Warbler | Dendroica fusca | LIFE: 5/8/99, Ramble | |
| Veery | Catharus fuscescens | LIFE: 5/8/99, Ramble | |
| Solitary Sandpiper | Tringa solitaria | LIFE: Turtle Pond, 5/8/99 | |
| Bay-breasted Warbler | Dendroica castanea | LIFE: 5/10/99, Turtle Pond | |
| Blackpoll Warbler | Dendroica striata | LIFE: 5/10/99, Oven | |
| Canada Warbler | Wilsonia canadensis | LIFE: 5/10/99, Oven | |
| Swainson's Thrush | Catharus ustulatus | LIFE: 5/10/99, Ramble | |
| Olive-sided Flycatcher | Contopus cooperi | LIFE: 5/18/99, Ramble (Swampy Pinoche) | |
| Cape May Warbler | Dendroica tigrina | LIFE: Cherry Hill 9/18/99 | |
| Tennessee Warbler | Vermivora peregrina | LIFE: 9/19/99, Cherry Hill | |
| Sora | Porzana carolina | LIFE: Bow Bridge, 9/23/99 | |
| Gray-cheeked Thrush | Catharus minimus | LIFE: 9/26/99, Ramble | |
| Purple Finch | Carpodacus purpureus | LIFE: Tanner's Spring 9/26/99 | |
| Eastern Screech-Owl | Otus asio | LIFE: 3/25/00, Ramble | |
| Whip-poor-will | Caprimulgus vociferus | LIFE: 4/30/00 at 5th/74th | |
| Kentucky Warbler | Oporornis formosus | LIFE: 5/5/00, Ramble | |
| Philadelphia Vireo | Vireo philadelphicus | LIFE: 5/13/00, Ramble | |
| Mourning Warbler | Oporornis philadelphia | LIFE: 5/27/00, Ramble | |