Bat over Turtle Pond
The warm weather had brought out the bats. This bat was over Turtle Pond at dusk.
Sunday, 3-26-06 through Saturday, 4-1-06
Sunday was a fairly standard fly out.
Monday, an Eastern-Screech Owl and a Saw-Whet Owl were found dead in the park. The Eastern-Screech Owl was banded. Our owl takes a long time to appear which starts me worrying. She finally appears around 6 p.m.
On Tuesday we learn that the Eastern Screech-Owl found dead was a Red Morph. Sadly, this means the Eastern Screech-Owl we’re watching may now be the only one in the Southern section of the park. This evening we are led by constant calling on a long trip up into the Humming Tombstone area of the Ramble. It looks like the owl is insect catching (moths?), high in the upper branches of budding trees.
Wednesday, she quickly gives us the slip.
Thursday, her standard perch, then her next favorite perch and then she give us the slip.
Friday and Saturday, I spend in other areas of the park.
Wild Turkey
On Sunday around 5:30 p.m. I ran into Bob Levy, who said there were reports of a large bird west of the Lake. We went to see what was there and within minutes saw a Wild Turkey. After about 40 minutes, it flew up into a tree and roosted for the night. What a nice ending to a day of very mixed weather.
Sunday, 3-19-06 through Saturday, 3-25-06
This week continued with the same regularity as the previous week. Only one owl, which we presume to be the female, was seen. As the days get longer, the fly outs are now around 6:25-6:30 p.m.
If the young survived single parenthood, they should have fledged by now, so at this point we must assume the father perished a few days after his automobile accident, and the hatchlings five to seven days later.
The female was observed in the Ramble on Saturday, catching and eating a mouse.
Merlin and other birds
One goes through periods where one doesn’t see anything special while birding, and then all at once you turn a corner and see lots of interesting birds. This happened to me on Thursday evening around 6 p.m. I photographed four birds, including a new bird for my Central Park list, a Merlin on a ten minute walk from the East 70’s to the West 70’s.
Saturday, 3-18-06
Yet another day with only the mother being seen at fly out. Birds have very high mortality rates. As each day passes, we realize we must consider that it is more than likely that the father has passed away and that the mother was unable to raise her chicks on her own.
