On Halloween evening, there was a Great Horned Owl in Central Park in a tree just east of the bridle path between the Locust Grove and Sparrow Rock. I didn’t arrive until just before fly out. It was a joy to watch this owl which was only seen for one day.
It flew out to a nearby pine, and then to a tall tree along the West Drive but quickly disappeared into the night.
On the roof of the open building to the west of Belvedere Castle in Central Park was a Merlin late in the afternoon today. It was seen earlier in the week in the same spot, and has also been seen hunting on around the Great Lawn. It stayed perched for over half an hour.
I was walking with a fellow birder to Central Park’s Reservoir, and we saw about 50 gulls in the air moving west. I said, “something must have spooked the reservoir gulls”. When we got to the SW corner of the reservoir, this was understatement. Two Bald Eagles were sitting along the divider of the reservoir which is currently covered by only an inch or two of water. in 2022, we had daily visits by Rover when we had ice, and I’ve seen single eagles before on the divider was fully exposed, but I’ve never seen two Bald Eagles on the Reservoir, nor have I seen them wading in the water.
They were both far away from me, and I had to use my scope to take most of the pictures, so the highlights are washed out in most of my photographs. But it was a thrill to see both eagles. One left about a half hour before the other. The one that stayed the longest was banded, but I only saw the bands when the bird flew off, so I couldn’t read them.
On Thursday afternoon, The Linnaean Society of New York hosted a hawk watch on the steps near Belvedere Castle. While it was a bit too late in the season to get Broad-winged Hawks, we had lots of raptors, Turkey Vultures, Canada Geese, and one Bald Eagle.
A local American Kestrel showed up on a tree on the opposite side of Turtle Pond and eventually perched on an antenna on Fifth Avenue.
A Nelson’s Sparrow was found up at the Pool of Central Park on Saturday. It’s a bird I’m used to having other trek out to the Bronx Kill on Randalls Island to see, so it was nice to have one closer to home.
A Yellow-billed Cuckoo was feasting on Spotted Lanternflies in the late afternoon by just north of the Swedish Cottage in Central Park. The bird must have caught at least eight, while I was watching it.
