On a rainy weekend, I was able to catch up with the young male turkey that has been in the Ramble this summer, and now fall.

It’s starting to grow back many of its molted feathers and is starting to look a lot more normal.

If you look closely, you can see how the feathers are growing in.

The young Wild Turkey that has been spending time this summer in the north part of the ramble is is now looking mighty scruffy.  September is when a juvenile turkey would have a complete, post juvenile molt, so the scruffy appearance of the bird may not be cause for alarm.  The bare patterns seems symmetrical and the bare patch on the neck may be a sign that we have a male bird.

I guess we’ll know for sure in a few more weeks.

The “Upper Lobe” of The Lake in Central Park has been renovated over the last year, and most of the work has been completed except for a replacement bridge, which is experiencing an engineering delay.

When I first saw the new immature plantings, I missed the old over grown brush and trees.  I was afraid birds would never return.  My fears, however have been short lived, as many birds are greatly enjoying the new native plantings.  Except for a shortage of march grasses which attracted Red-winged Blackbirds and the now empty Green Heron nest, the area is much improved.  It also has much safer landscaping, discouraging the nude sunbathing and sexual activity that was once rampant in the area.

On Saturday, the area attracted a number of birds, including this Hummingbird.

Both the East and the West Ponds out at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge were very high after the rain on Saturday.  A Red-necked Phalarope was at the south end of the East Pond.  It was a life bird for me.

I missed by a half hour, two Bald Eagles, who had flown over the pond before I arrived.  Win some, lose some!

The most common warbler, I was missing from my Central Park list was a Cape May Warbler.  Luckily, there were a number of them on Saturday near Sparrow Rock (or is it Sparrow Ridge?, the area west of the Locust Grove and east of Tanner’s Spring)

In any case, this just leaves me with a Blackburnian, Cerulean, Golden-winged, Kentucky and Worm-eating missing from my list.  (I’ve seen a Worm-eating Warbler about five times, but have never captured a photograph.)

A Downy Woodpecker goes after Crab Apples!