I had a great time on Sunday in the north end of Central Park.
The Pool had two unusual ducks for this time of year, a female Hooded Merganser and a female Wood Duck. The Hooded Merganser was unusual as we usually see them later in the fall on the Reservoir.
The Black Locusts at the Compost Heap, had both a Prairie Warbler and a Blackburnian Warbler.
Bryant Park is a small park by the New York Public Library. It is a green space near the brightly lit buildings of Times Square and ends up attracting many migrating birds who end up making a stop in the park. Rarely, a few of these birds stay the summer, as did two Mourning Warblers this year.
Over the last few days, the park has had two rare visitors, a Marsh Wren and a Yellow-breasted Chat.
While difficult to see with binoculars, if you have a spotting scope, from the western side of the park, you can see the Peregrine Falcon nest box at the top of the MetLife Building at 200 Park Avenue. On the three days, I visited the park, a Peregrine Falcon was perched on the nest box each day.
Thanks to a report from Pat Durban scores of birders got to see a perched Eastern Whip-poor-will in the Locust Grove of Central Park on Labor Day. About fifteen of us waited around for the fly out, where after a brief flight to nearby branch, the bird flew quickly out of site.
With the weather getting cooler and fall migration having already begun, I’ve resumed making trips to Central Park. On my last trip to the park, I was delighted to see this Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Shakespeare Garden.
I kept track of the Barn Swallow nest on the reservoir going back a few times over three weeks. Only one nest was visible, but it was clear there were more nests under the arches of the eastern gatehouse of the two north gatehouses.
All of the nests appeared to have fledged by the third week of July. Then for a few days, the fledglings hung out on the gatehouses. By late July they were spending the day primarily on the North Meadow.
The summer months in Central Park can be slow for birding. Spring migrants are long gone and fall migrants don’t arrive until mid-August. So, my attention shifts to our nesting birds and their fledglings.
The reservoir has been fairly quiet although there have been two highlights. A group of Laughing Gulls that have been cruising around the edge of the reservoir and nesting Barn Swallows.
The nesting Barn Swallows are concentrated around the smaller, northern gatehouse. This year, most of the nests are under arches on the south side of the gatehouse and are out of view. But one of them is under a balcony on the south side and can be seen from the NE corner of the larger northern gatehouse.
The view isn’t great but you can see the parents feeding and sitting on the nest. The chicks are too small to see just yet, but they grow quickly and I hope to see them in a few days.
