Lola and Pale Male on Sunday

Lola and Pale Male were both in a tree on the east side of the Great Lawn when I arrived in the afternoon.

Lola
Lola
Pale Male then flew to a tree on the west side of the Great Lawn, leaving a small snack for Lola.  Soon she flew over to join him.  They stayed in the tree for about an hour.
Near dusk they both flew north.  Pale Male stopped in a tree in the west Pinetum.
He was harassed by a number of birds and moved to another tree…
…with a view of the Reservoir and the Police Station.

Blue Grosbeak “Whiskers”

The Blue Grosbeak I photographed on Sunday, had a set of “whiskers” over the inner portion of its beak.  My first guess was that the function of these “whiskers” was that they help the bird position seeds in its beak while husking them.

I’ve done a number of searches on the Internet, to try and learn the scientific name and purpose of these “whiskers” without finding any information.  If you know of a source of information about this anatomical feature, please leave a comment.

Blue Grosbeak Rictal Bristles

Blue Grosbeak

A Blue Grosbeak was discovered on Saturday in the Wildflower Meadow.  I was fortunate to see it and photograph it on Sunday afternoon.

It spend the afternoon eating seed after seed, which it carefully opened with its beak.  It flipped its tail quite frequently and called quite often.   It seemed to enjoying the bounty of the Wildflower Meadow.

Blue Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak

Central Park’s Mr. October

Pale Male was on a baseball backstop on the Great Lawn when I arrived in the park around 6:00 p.m.  He stayed there for quite awhile before attempting to hunt twice unsuccessfully.  He then moved to a tree north of the Met to roost for the evening.

Update: I received an email from a reader worried about Pale Male’s unsuccessful hunting attempts.  Red-tailed Hawks miss their prey frequently.  So, Pale Male missing a few times doesn’t mean anything is wrong.  Pale Male is doing just fine.

Pale Male, Red-tailed Hawk, Central Park
Pale Male, Red-tailed Hawk, Central Park
Pale Male, Red-tailed Hawk, Central Park
Pale Male, Red-tailed Hawk, Central Park
Pale Male, Red-tailed Hawk, Central Park
Pale Male, Red-tailed Hawk, Central Park
Pale Male, Red-tailed Hawk, Central Park