Urban Hawks

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.

Three Green Herons were seen high in a Amur Cork tree on the southern path of the Azela Pond in Central Park on Sunday. It was an amazing sight to them high in the tree, and not alongs some shoreline. Plus three seems to be a record number all in one tree for Central Park.

A Common Nighthawk was in the same River Birch tree, presumably the same bird that was there Tuesday, on Thursday. The best view was from south of the 79th Street transverse, and while thermal distortions interfered with my images I got to see some great behavior.

Tonight four Common Nighthawks flew over the Ramble and Turtle Pond. It was nice to see them eating insects after watching two of them perched on Tuesday.

After watching two Common Nighthawks at Belvedere Castle on Tuesday evening, I went over to watch the 230 Central Park West Chimney Swift roost. I detailed where and how to watch them two years ago in this post.

I didn’t have the patience to count them all going in, but I suspect there were somewhere between 500 and 1,000.

I’m posting three videos, one at normal speed, one at 50 times speed and one in 1/4 speed in case you want to count them!