Randalls Island American Woodcock
I was keeping an eye out for American Woodcock in Central Park, but was shocked to find one on Randalls Island out in the open next to the Golf Driving Range. It was a fun discovery.
Category: Other Birds
Windy and Cold Central Park
On Sunday, I spent most of the day in the park trying to see a Common Redpoll without success. However, I did have a good time seeing a group of Red-winged Hawks for the first time this year, a very beautiful European Goldfinch (possibly an escapee rather than a wild bird), Owls and the Common Merganser on the Harlem Meer. While I wasn’t trying for a long species list, I did end up with a respectable 37.
| 180 | Canada Goose | |
| 3 | Wood Duck | |
| 57 | Mallard | |
| 6 | Bufflehead | |
| 8 | Hooded Merganser | |
| 1 | Common Merganser | |
| 2 | Ruddy Duck | |
| 1 | Pied-billed Grebe | |
| 2 | Double-crested Cormorant | |
| 1 | Cooper’s Hawk | |
| 4 | Red-tailed Hawk | |
| 2 | American Coot | |
| 18 | Ring-billed Gull | |
| 1 | Great Black-backed Gull | |
| 4 | Mourning Dove | |
| 2 | Northern Saw-whet Owl | |
| 2 | Red-bellied Woodpecker | |
| 1 | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | |
| 6 | Downy Woodpecker | |
| 1 | Hairy Woodpecker | |
| 4 | Blue Jay | |
| 8 | Black-capped Chickadee | |
| 33 | Tufted Titmouse | |
| 6 | White-breasted Nuthatch | |
| 1 | Brown Creeper | |
| 74 | American Robin | |
| 2 | European Starling | |
| 1 | Song Sparrow | |
| 23 | White-throated Sparrow | |
| 2 | Dark-eyed Junco | |
| 4 | Northern Cardinal | |
| 7 | Red-winged Blackbird | |
| 20 | Common Grackle | |
| 9 | House Finch | |
| 11 | American Goldfinch | |
| 1 | European Goldfinch | |
| 15 | House Sparrow |
Gull and Owl
I’ve been packing a simple camera and a spotting scope rather than my regular setup these last two weeks. I bothered an old knee injury in the snow and need to lighten the weight of my pack. So, I’ve been continuing my goal to stay in the top 10 of the Top 100 New York County 2013 list on eBird.org, rather than just follow hawks this year.
Over the last week, this has meant adding a first winter Iceland Gull to my list for the year. In addition, to the gull this week’s fun birds included a Northern Saw-whet Owl.
American Tree Sparrow
An American Tree Sparrow has been hanging around the large woodchip pile in the northern section of Central Park. Today, it gave me some really nice looks. The American Tree Sparrow has a bi-colored beak, the top and bottom parts are different.
More Florida Photos
A group of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks were a new species for my life list seen at the Wakodahatchee Wetlands (Delray Beach, Palm Beach County).
Another Randalls Island Day
I realized on Saturday that I haven’t spend a real day birding in a long while. I’ve been going after specific birds, but not doing a real walk counting birds for a long time.
So, I birded Randalls Island from end to end on Sunday to see what I could find. Boy, did I feel rusty. Looks like I’m going to be spending lots of time this winter doing long walks…
Photographs are of the Red-tailed Hawk pair and their nest just north of the stadium field, an American Kestrel, Brant, Black-capped Chickadee, and Red-breasted Mergansers.
