I met Brian Rubino at the marsh around first light. We walked right down to the boardwalk. The first signs of good migration the night prior were the sparrows flushed from the path as we walked out to the boardwalk. The light wasn't high enough yet to get good looks at the sparrows in the dark understory. At the boardwalk we witnessed some birds migrating down the Hudson highlighted by a group of brant moving south down the river.

This close relative to the Canada Goose is most commonly seen migrating along the coast, and a treat to see moving along the Hudson River. After a short while we walked back to the Nature Center to meet for the walk. We quickly got the bird group assembled and birded the path to the boardwalk. We got on Ruby Crowned Kinglets, Yellow-Rumped Warblers, and song and Swamp Sparrows. At the boardwalk we were fortunate to see some Wood Ducks flying over the marsh, and a pretty decent Raptor show. Red Shouldered Hawks, Red Tailed Hawks, Bald Eagles, and a Merlin gave appearance. The Merlin was spotted by a member of the group as it dive bombed some poor bird near the Hudson. The highlight was a big group of Brant that the whole group got to see fly down the river, flying right over West Point!

Photographed are Ruby Crowned Kinglet, a large Brant flock, a lone Black Duck flyover, a small group of Black Ducks with Storm King behind them, and some great Blue Herons with Storm King in background.