Look! A bird!

[namazu]

Oh, how cool, TC!

The barred owlets on the Cornell/WBU webcam are close to fledging.

I finally removed the wren or sparrow nest from the garage after no sign of activity for over a month.

[apl68]

Yesterday morning I was about to approach a metal footbridge on the trail at the city park when I saw something odd.  One of the park's resident pond ducks was perched on the narrow metal rail.  I've never seen a duck perch on a narrow spot like that before.  That their feet would even make it possible for them to do so was a surprise. 

The duck perched there and watched me as I crossed the bridge within arm's reach of it.  I was glad I didn't spook it as I passed.  This morning the ducks were all on the water or on the bank as usual.  I wonder if that duck finds a higher perch on a regular basis, or if it just figured it out that one time?

[Langue_doc]

It's migration season so there are bird walks galore.

This morning, the bird walk was in Greenwood Cemetery, in pouring rain. The forecast did call for rain all day, and the organizers reminded those of us who had registered that these were "rain or shine" walks, and so would not be rescheduled.

We saw around 55 species. In addition to the usual cardinals, catbirds, robins, and mockingbirds, we saw a couple of black-throated blue warblers, rose-breasted grosbeaks, Cape May warblers, magnolia warblers, yellow warblers, yellow-rumped warblers, black and white warblers, one brown-headed cowbird, obviously female, two or three ovenbirds, a few chipping sparrows, a ruby-crowned kinglet, a veery or two, a solitary spotted sandpiper, a lone great egret, several chimney swifts flying overhead, a red-tailed hawk on a tree, and a couple more soaring overhead.

This was my first bird walk wearing a long rain coat and a waterproof hat, trying to see birds with an umbrella in one hand, and binoculars in the other. The other birders likewise had their hands full, with some of them setting their fully open umbrellas on the paths while they tried to look through their binoculars.

This was my first visit to Greenwood Cemetery, which is one of NYC's birding hotspots. The cemetery predates Central Park by about 30 years. You can park on any of the roads inside the cemetery, so I will be going on some more trips to explore the art, see more birds, and just walk.

[namazu]

Sounds like a lovely bird walk, Langue_doc!

We found an inhabited cardinal nest with eggs in our coral honeysuckle.  Yay!  I hope they do well.

[mamselle]

I saw a blue jay building a new nest in the place where there was an nest last spring--that had blown down by the end of the winter.

He (?she, but it was fairly bright) even let me get a quick photo, at a distance.

M.   

[nebo113]

Raccoons are back, so must remove feeders from back porch at night.  They never clean out the feeders on the front porch or in the yard......selective!

[mamselle]

Pair of swans, definitely nesting at the confluence between the brook and the small river near me.

The water is low right now, I hope 5he nest is high enough not to be washed out as the one in the same place last year was.

It looks like it's been built up a bit, but I gather swans can be both dumb and stubborn about nesting sites.

M.

[Thursday's_Child]

Pair of Summer Tanagers in the feeder this morning!  He managed to figure out how to eat from the suet, she may not have; both got drinks.  I hope they stay around!!!

[Langue_doc]

Today's bird walk was on Governor's Island which is a short ferry ride from the Battery.

According to the list posted on ebird, we saw 44 species and 381 individual birds (approximate).

The interesting birds were an egret flying overhead, a couple of hawks sitting on two branches of the same tree, tree swallows, barn swallows, American crows, fish crows, catbirds, mocking birds, a wood thrush, a song sparrow, a brown-headed cowbird, a couple of vireos (warbling and red-eyed), American goldfinch, Baltimore oriole, black and white warbler, American redstart, common yellowthroat, yellow warbler, blackpoll warbler, Northern parula, killdeer (I saw these a couple of weeks ago in the same spot), American black ducks, terns, and the usual cormorants. I was also surprised to see a large flock of brant geese as these usually go home north much earlier in the season. Several red-winged blackbirds, mostly male, but a few females as well. A pair decide to mate in front of us. Not far from this area, we were chased by a male who obviously had a nest in that area--apparently these birds nest on the ground. Several of these birds were quite close to us, sitting on trees and bushes along the paths and also at eye level. The yellow birds were just so colorful, as also the other birds that we could see quite clearly. This is one of my favorite birding spots--it takes a couple of subways and a ferry ride to get there, but it's worth the trip, especially in the off-season (not summer).

[apl68]

The bluebirds that have been nesting in the neighbors' yard in recent years are back.  I get to seem them forage in my back yard.

[AmLitHist]

We have at least a pair-and-a-spare of hummingbirds so far.

Kid #2 was talking to me in my home office over the weekend when a robin flew up and tried to make itself at home in my hanging basket, along with the white geranium and 4 red begonias already there.  Pushy!  Kid rapped on the window, which made Bird snuggle in more firmly; he took off when she opened the window and shooed him.

 

[Langue_doc]

Went on a spring migration walk yesterday in Central Park. You have to get there before 7:30! That's the only downside.

We saw now-familiar-to-me birds such as the following:
veery, Swainson's thrush (I can identify both now), red-eyed and warbling vireos, Baltimore thrush (one was spectacularly colored, sitting in the middle of green branches), an egret, another one flying overhead, Eastern kingbirds, downy woodpeckers, cedar waxwings, mockingbirds, catbirds, cardinals, and several other common birds

warblers: several American redstarts, male and female, ovenbirds, red-winged blackbirds, northern parulas, yellow-rumped (aka myrtle), black-throated blue, magnolia, blackpoll, blackburnian, chestnut-sided, black and white, yellow, and a couple of other warblers that I don't recall now

uncommon warblers: Wilson's, Canada (I took a good look at several of both) and bay breasted warblers

Sightings reported, but we didn't see: a Tennessee warbler or two, and a great horned owl

On one of the paths we came across a hatch out (my first encounter with this word), with newly hatched insects swarming out of a dead log, which attracted several birds. We stood there for a while, looking at (and identifying) the various warblers feasting on the termites. We heard that there were three or four other hatch outs that morning in other parts of the park.

It was a productive four hours.

I'm registered for next Tuesday's walk, so hope to see other migrants, and also be able to identify some more birds.