Odds and ends from a quiet day in the park.  Central Park lost a number of trees and there were a lot of broken branches blocking paths after Tuesday’s storm.  On Turtle Pond there was a Belted Kingfisher, a nice bird for early August.  The Gill in the Ramble had two nice sized catfish and lots of minnows.  It’s amazing that such a small stream could have such good sized fish.

In addition to the Red-tailed Hawks, I was curious to see how the Yellow-crowned Night Herons were doing and the Common Terns.  

The old Yellow-crowned Night Heron nest from last year was abandoned and I was unable to find a new one.

The Common Terns were out on Lima Pier.  (I didn’t see any on Tango Pier.)  There seemed to be fewer than last year.  They were concentrated on the middle of the arm of the pier where they nest and this year I didn’t see any on the northern end of the arm like last year.  

But there were lots of chicks getting feed, even if the numbers seemed lower.  

There is a family of Eastern Kingbirds on Turtle Pond this year in Central Park, just like last year.  There are three fledglings, which were in a tree on the Turtle Pond island this afternoon.  A parent was flying back and forth from the island to a set of bushes on the south shore of the lake, skimming the water as it went to and from. It was only when I saw the food being feed to a fledgling did I figure out what was going on.  The parent was catching dragonflies.

Today a pair of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were working the flowers around the Tupelo Meadow in the Ramble of Central Park.

I went over to Riverside Park this afternoon, to look for the Red-tailed Hawk fledglings.  I’ve been sent pictures of one of them who has been spending time on a set of terraces in the 70’s.  But the fledglings can’t be seen from the street.

So, after hearing some noise from two Blue Jays, I found their nest just inside the 72nd and Riverside Drive entrance to the park.

I took more photos of the Cedar Waxwings today.  It’s an easy nest to watch, although it requires some patience as the feedings can be more than half an hour apart.