I was walking out of the park around 8 p.m. this evening via The Pond at 59th Street. Looking out on the ice, I saw a group of Mallards sleeping on the ice, when one of the ducks caught my eye. It was one of the two Wood Ducks that have been hanging out on The Pond this winter.
I was looking for owls Friday night in the north of Central Park. The hunt was unsuccessful but I did get to watch the activity that occurs after darkness falls.
Around the Loch and The Pool this means Raccoons and Rats coming out for the night, and ducks figuring out where to sleep for the night.
What surprised me this evening was a Great Blue Heron that flew in fifteen minutes after dark. While each winter, a sighting of a Great Blue Heron in The Loch, especially when most surounding water bodies are frozen isn’t unusual, it always surprises me.
The “lost its way” Varied Thrush continues to be found by the Maintenance shed in Central Park.
Although the vacation started a few days late due to a snow related flight cancellation, my trip to Fort Myers turned up some new birds for life list.
A Limpkin was on my list because all of my friends had teased me about this noisy bird. I saw the species on December 31st at Harns Marsh in Lee County. An off the beaten trail place that has lots of Apple Snails.
There were two pairs of Limpkins in easy viewing distance.
The annual Central Park Christmas Bird Count was on Sunday. It’s a great event that brings together the Urban Park Rangers, the Parks Department, Audubon NYC and lots of amateur birders to take a census of the birds wintering in the park.
After a series of bad weather counts with snow, rain or bitterly cold temperatures, this count had enjoyable, if chilly weather.
The day before, I looked for the two unusual birds that have been around, the Varied Thrush and a young Red-Headed Woodpecker (which at this age, has yet to get a red head.) Along the way I had nice looks at a Cooper’s hawk.
On Sunday, I joined the Northeast team. Highlights for me were a Carolina Wren and young Red-tailed Hawk at Mount Sinai Hospital. After our counting was done, our team saw a Merlin in the Northwest team’s area, I saw a young Red-tail being harrased by Pale Male at 63rd and Fifth, and at dusk I watched the park’s surviving Eastern Screech-Owl’s fly out.
The count had 62 species of birds, including birds from the count week. There are lots of birds in Central Park, even in the winter! The count had 11 Red-tailed Hawks, 9 Cooper’s Hawks, 2 Merlins, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 Peregrine Falcon, and 1 Eastern Screech-Owl.
Some Cedar Waxwings from Sunday, about an hour before I saw the Saw-Whet. I was 15 feet from the owl, but it was too well hidden to find on my own!
