birdspot

The weather yesterday was incredible, and Central Park was mobbed with people. I had to push through tourists at Strawberry Fields and fight my way over the Bow Bridge, but once in the wooded Ramble it was a little more manageable, and I looked for birds. It is amazing how much you can see there, even when the paths are crowded. There were two Black-crowned Night Herons sitting on the path at the Riviera, about twenty feet over a boat with two teenage boys who were pulling at the branches and trying to push each other overboard. I assumed the fracas would flush the herons, but this guy just opened one eye, looked down, scratched his cheek and let out a huge yawn.


There were sparrows and finches for all seasons: many of the winter birds are still here, and are temporarily joined by migrants and summer residents. The feeders are pretty maniacal right about now. There was proof positive that Juncos and Chipping Sparrows are not weird metamorphoses of the same specie because they were both present at the same time. There were a number of Swamp (top photo) and Song (bottom) Sparrows acting like feeder trash birds at both Evodia Field and Willow Rock. For sparrows: Eastern Towhee, Chipping, Fox, Song, Swamp, White-throated, and Dark-eyed Junco. For finches: Purple, House, Pine Siskin, and American Goldfinch.


And finally, I found a quiet spot where I followed a Ruby-crowned Kinglet around and amused myself with tangles for a while.