Carolina Wren
Among many White-throated Sparrows in the Shakespeare Garden of Central Park was this Carolina Wren. A nice colorful bird for a gray winter day.
Category: Other Birds
Last weekend
I haven’t been able to spend much time birding this December. During the week, it’s too dark to bird after work, and the weekend before last, I was away on business.
This last weekend, I only had a few hours on Saturday to go birding. Sunday, I participated in the Christmas Bird count in Central Park, but didn’t have time to photograph much.
So, here are the few photos I got last weekend.
Cooper’s Hawk and then Pale Male
Despite all of time I’ve spent looking at owls, I have been keeping an eye out for Pale Male. Today, I started my birding near Pale Male’s nest. My first views were of a Cooper’s Hawk chasing some European Starlings.
Then Pale Male arrived. He broke off a tree branch and took it to the nest. He then perched a little south of the nest on a fence, then a water tank and then a railing. He kept looking south. I think his new mate may be spending her time below 72nd Street.
Eastern Bluebird
A gorgeous Eastern Bluebird was north of Winterdale Arch in Central Park today. Although it was near lots of fruit trees, it spent its time catching insects from the lawn. I spent an hour waiting for it to arrive, and was just about to give up before it showed up. It’s nice to have patience rewarded.
Weekend In Central Park
I spent time watching American Crows, waterfowl and American Kestrels on Saturday and watched Pale Male on Sunday. The Harlem Meer had a nice selection of birds, including Buffleheads, Ruddy Ducks, Gadwalls, Mallards, Northern Shovelers, Wood Ducks, and a Mute Swan.
Sandy made a mess of the park, and there are still sections closed. The clean up may take longer than usual as resources are being sent to hard hit areas of NYC rather than Central Park. Sadly entitled Upper East and West siders are complaining about how they suffered because they can’t walk their dogs in the park or use the bypass road in the north of the park, which is now a staging area for the clean up. Get a life folks!
Fall Bird Watching
In the fall, winter birds return to Central Park and drab adults or juveniles confuse birders used to watching brightly colored spring migrants. On Sunday, my winter bird was a cute Tufted Titmouse. My confusing birds were a flock of Cedar Waxings, which had only one adult among a number of drap juveniles who were sharing a tree with a number of Mourning Doves.
