Baby's First Progne Sp.!

     Yesterday, Doug G. of Brooklyn announced to the bird world that there is a questionable purple martin that might actually be something else on the lake at Prospect Park. As the day unfolded, it was determined to be undetermined in what species of martin this was. Cuban, Caribbean, Grey-breasted martin? No one seemed to really know. I figured this bird would have likely been gone today, but I was wrong.

    So being that it spent the night, and it was my day off, I figured Kestrel and I would go and see this bird, still today remaining unidentified and only listed as Progne Sp. Progne, being the genus these birds, martins are a part of.

    One needs to be strategic to bird with their baby, so I make sure she has a nap under her belt OR that we get out quick enough that she can nap while I bird. Today I opted for the get in a nap (and lunch) before we go out. Well damn, did this kid nap.... for over two hours. 

After she ate her lunch and I mine, we headed out. The Stroller tires need air, so it took a little extra effort on the hills, but we made it!

While in the park, we'll also be sure to sneak in some year birds, like wood ducks who were acting like mallards, plus (not pictured) a purple finch, tree swallows, and a hairy woodpecker (ty, Ryan!).

While admiring the wood ducks, babies are apparently loved by lots of children (except the child version of me), and inevitably Kestrel was adored by a little girl also looking at the ducks. So I guess in some odd way, everyone was looking at a bird of some sort.

We finally reached our destination and flying birds in overcast light, well gear up for some subpar pictures of the still, unidentified martin.

Apparently it vocalized and some vocals were recorded, hopefully soon the bird minds come together and figure out what this bird is. All the possibilities are not from here, hailing from somewhere far less cold (it was in the 30's today) and far more tropical. The contenders are Cuban, Caribbean, and grey-chested. So as it sits on my ebird list and the ebird lists of many others, it is for now simply a Progne sp.

Apparently the local raptors have been eyeing it and it had a close call with a merlin. 
Now of course at this point I have a quiet, agreeable baby with me. I could stand here for another hour and take endless (crappy) photos of this bird or, I could enjoy a little more birding with the kiddo. I chose the latter, you gotta take advantage of ANY time your tiny human gifts you with.

Of course, all good things must come to an end. We walked well house drive to West Island, then to the Ravine, the upper and lower pools, even part of the Lullwater - that's a pretty good haul, because then the crying began. When the crying starts we usually have to speed walk, find some fun bumpy ground to cover and find our way homeward -- while of course spying anything.
This Eastern Phoebe hunting from the ground was a nice treat and the the phoebe went to chase another bird.

I noticed the phoebe was going after a warbler! While the crying stopped, I finally got a clear view of this pine warbler and the wailing began again. It's not perfectly in focus, but we'll take what we can get. Again, this photo is a gift from Kestrel in that she amused me for a moment but then reminded me what our mission was that I got side-tracked from.
Birding with her is always an adventure, but I do enjoy having time out with her, and hey, whatever this martin turns out to be, she can at least have it on her life list, a gift to her.

...and don't worry, we had a dance party on the ride home.