From my Manhattan Window (4 Viewers)

[Pinewood]

What is that doing in the Park, now?

Hello,

Yesterday, I met a father with an eight year old son in Central Park. The child was very sharp eyed and located a brown creeper., which should have gone south by now. That day, I also saw a female black duck on the Lake. Last week, I was still seeing hermit thrushes. Those owls are still in the Park.
Today, I saw a great blue heron land on a rock near the shore of the Lake. I also saw a Cooper hawk near the bird feeders. However, shortly afterwards, I saw a red shouldered hawk swoop over Turtle Pond to land on a tree on an island near the Delacorte Theater. That would be a lifer for me.:king:

Happy bird watching,
Arthur :hi:

 

[KC Foggin]

Sounds as though you had a good birding day Arthur.

 

[Pinewood]

Sounds as though you had a good birding day Arthur.

Hello KC,

I neglected to mention that immediately before seeing the red shouldered hawk, I saw my first male bufflehead of the season. I usually see them earlier on the Reservoir, but lower back pain had prevented me from walking up to the Reservoir. I am over that bout of trouble but I had still not gone the extra 600 metres.

As I have written before, I never have a bad day watching birds.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur :hi:

 

[KC Foggin]

I guess none of us have a bad day of birding Congrats on your first sighting of the season and glad to hear your back is feeling better.

 

[Pinewood]

a three woodpecker day and a five duck day

Hello,

Wednesday, I had a three woodpecker day: downy, red bellied and a northern flicker. Yesterday, I was told that the great horned owl would be on my route. I arrived at its reported location and did not see it. Obviously, I had to exercise my best fieldcraft. So I carefully looked about for bird watchers or photographers lifting their optics upward. Sure enough, I found five such people only 30 metres from me, beyond some bushes. Yesterday, the owl was not harassed by crows but was having a sleepy morning. I also was able to approach a great blue heron on the Lake's shore

Today, I visited the Reservoir, where I saw four species of duck: buffleheads, shovellers, ruddy ducks in winter plumage, a pair of black ducks and mallards. I have also seen Cooper hawks more frequently than usual.

The heron was photographed with my iPod Touch.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur :hi:

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi Arthur!

Fingers crossed for you to come upon the Owl and that's a neat image of the Heron Arthur!

 

[Pinewood]

nothing special

Hello,

Since my last posting, the only birds of note were a female purple finch, a Carolina wren,and an American coot on the Reservoir.

Today, a Swedish tourist thought he had seen a northern flicker, which would have been unusual. When I suggested that he had seen a red bellied woodpecker, he flipped through a field guide and agreed with me. A little later, some bird watchers were having difficult identifying a raptor. When I said that it was an immature red-tailed hawk, I was met with scepticism because it lacked a red tail. I had to repeat that it was immature and they lacked red tails, but had striped tails. I hope that I did not seem too overbearing.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur :hi:

 

[KC Foggin]

I'm sure you weren't. Some people are skeptics no matter what you tell them Arthur.

 

[Pinewood]

A happy new year

Hello all,

I hope that you may have a happy new year of good bird watching, of good health and of peace.

I hope to keep my celebrating within limits, as I do not care to look like this fellow.

Arthur

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi Arthur and a Happy and Healthy New Year to you. Not sure which fellow you are talking about but stay safe.

 

[Pinewood]

Hi Arthur and a Happy and Healthy New Year to you. Not sure which fellow you are talking about but stay safe.

"This fellow" is a link to someone who must have been overdoing his celebrations:
The Merry Drinker.

With warm regards to all,
Arthur

 

[KC Foggin]

Ah, I missed it in your original post

 

[Pinewood]

Three woodpeckers + and five waterfowl

Hello all,

On New Year's Day I saw my first mature Cooper Hawk, my first in a while, and I has another glimpse of that great horned owl.

On January 3rd, I saw five different waterfowl on the Reservoir: mallards, shovellers, ruddy ducks, a female hooded merganser and American coots.

Today, I saw three live woodpeckers, red bellied, downy and a northern flicker. Additionally, I saw an immature red-tailed hawk finishing off a breakfast of a hairy woodpecker. I also got a glimpse of a brown creeper.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur :scribe:

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi Arthur!

Sounds as though you've had a good beginning to your new year. When you said you saw "three live woodpeckers" I kind of raised my brows until I got to the part about the Hairy Woodpecker.

 

[Pinewood]

I can see the raptors

Hello all,

New York is preparing for a snowstorm: all the supermarkets are crowded with those apprehensive over twelve so cm. of snow. However after the snow, temperatures my drop to -13ºC. If it gets much lower than that, my central heating becomes inadequate.

Of late, I have seen nothing new but the various raptors in Central Park have become more visible. I have seen both mature and immature red-tailed hawks and Cooper hawks, and I am fairly sure that I saw an immature sharp shinned hawk but I had trouble deciding if the tail was rather long.


I had a couple of good looks at that great blue heron.

There are still plenty of American crows about.

All illustrations are by Louis Agassiz Fuerte from Birds of New York.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi Arthur!

Yeah, my son is looking forward to the snow We'll be plenty cold here on Monday (wind chills in the teens) but no snow. Stay safe.

 

[Pinewood]

An odd one

Hello all,

On Monday of this past week, I awoke to -16ºC. Thursday, we received nearly 3 cm of rain, at least it was not 25 or 30 cm of snow. The recent rain washed away ice from the previous downpour and subsequent freeze, which was welcome. So the weather has been variable.

At the feeders, I met a couple from the UK. Within five minutes I pointed out three species of woodpecker: downy, red bellied and a northern flicker. As theu were not bird watchers, I doubt that they realized what a treat that was.

Since my last posting I have seen a northern mockingbird, which is not uncommon for the colder months, more American robins, an eastern towhee, a hermit thrush, unusual for January 21st. I also spotted a bird on the ground, which at first I thought might have been an American goldfinch, but a pale yellow patch on the the tail convinced me that it was a Myrtle warbler, AKA yellow rumped warbler,but in dull winter plumage. I have seen one, once before in the winter but not in Central Park.

All images by Louis Agassiz Fuertes.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur :hi:

 

[Pinewood]

In winter's grip

Hello,

On Sunday, I visited the Reservoir where I saw seven kinds of waterfowl: mallards, shovellers, buffleheads, American coots, female hooded mergansers, ruddy ducks, some with red sides and pie-bliied grebe in non-breeding plumage. The same day, I saw a male brown headed cowbird.

On Tuesday, I had another view of a hermit thrush. As it is the very end of January, it may have been an early arrival.

Wednesday morning I awoke to a temperature of -7ºC. Wednesday's best bird was a sharp shinned hawk.

Tomorrow's early morning temperature is expected to be -15ºC which means I am not taking a bird watching walk. As Pierre Salinger said, "I may be plucky but I am not stupid."

Happy bird watching,
Arthur :hi:

P.S. The National Weather Service reports the six AM Central Park temperature as 2ºF, or close enough to write -17ºC for government work.

 

[KC Foggin]

Stay warm Arthur.

 

[delia todd]

Oooh!!! Bit chilly that Arthur.

-5 c only here this morning LOL. However, we were +5-8 c the previous few week. So a big difference.

Take care my friend.