Couch's Kingbird to Close 2014!!!

Today I went to the West Village to try to find a rare Couch's Kingbird that has been hanging around there for about a month, only first reported about a week ago. This bird from Texas and Mexico would be a first state record. I have previously looked for it twice with no success (I did get to meet the director of A Birder's Guide to Everything, though). When I got to the spot that the bird was being seen on W 11 st and W 4 st (the West Village is confusing) I came across a few people looking at the bird. I got great views of it. Just a few minutes later it flew away and came back a few minutes later. After over 20 minutes of waiting it was reported at Abbington Square, where it was actively flycatching on Bank St. About 5 minutes later, it flew down Bank St and around the corner onto Greenwich St, where it went out of sight. I soon refound the bird on my own at Washington and Jane St, the original site of the bird's discovery. The bird was not reported there for the last few days, so this was quite a surprise. The paparazzi and I then chased it to Abbington Square and then W 4 st. After a few minutes there it went back to the spot at Bank St, where it stayed for at least a half hour. It often hung out on fire escapes (or terraces at Washington and Jane) and hunted for insects there. Despite the cold weather, the insects seem to still be somewhat active, as the bird caught several of them. I also saw it using a technique in which it would glean the windowsills for insects, with some success. The bird also ate berries from a small tree for about a minute before resuming hunting. Shortly after noon, I left the kingbird to get lunch. What a great way to end the year!

Bird of the Week #11

This week's bird of the week is Bufflehead!

Buffleheads are small ducks. Males have a head that's black in the front and white in the back, black wings, and a white belly. Females are all brown with a white cheek patch and belly. They prefer to live in lakes as well as saltwater bays and estuaries. They dive underwater to find food such as insect larvae and small fish.

Bufflehead breed in Canada and Alaska and winter over much of the United States and Mexico. In New York City, they can be regularly found from October through April. One of the best places to find them is the Central Park Reservoir, where flocks sometimes congregate.

Christmas Birdwalk

I went on a birdwalk in Central Park on Christmas Day. At the Point, we found a few Wood Ducks, Black Ducks and a Hooded Merganser resting on some logs. We then went to the feeders, where we found 3 species of woodpecker (Downy, Red-Bellied, Sapsucker) that visited the same feeder as well as a few House Finches. Nearby we found a Carolina Wren and a Fox Sparrow. When we went to Turtle Pond, we found a few Buffleheads and a pair of Hooded Mergansers there. After that, we went to Triplets Bridge to see if anything might be bathing there. We were surprised to find a very late RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET foraging for insects there. Quite a few were seen on the Christmas Bird Count just a week and a half prior, so it seems likely there could be a lingering bird or two. At the Reservoir we saw the usual waterfowl, the highlight being a single Gadwall there. After that, I saw a Red-Tailed Hawk as I went to lunch.

Species: 35

Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Red-Tailed Hawk
American Coot
Ring-Billed Gull
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Black-Capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-Breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
RUBY CROWNED KINGLET (1, Triplets Bridge)
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Fox Sparrow
White-Throated Sparrow
Dark-Eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Throwback Thursday #3: Barnacle in Canada (Geese)

On December 23rd, 2012, I went to Van Cortland Park with my dad to chase a Barnacle Goose there. This rare vagrant lives in Greenland and Scotland, but occasionally a bird may stray into the Northeast. This bird was reported consistently over the past month. When we got there we saw thousands of geese on the ball fields. Much closer to us, there was a flock of about 50 geese and 2 birders. At first it was hard to pick out the Barnacle Goose from the Canadas because they never kept their heads up. I then tried to look at the bodies to see if I could find one that looked different. This made it very easy to find the goose. It was much smaller than the other geese, so much that some people had mistaken a rare Cackling Goose there for the Barnacle. I also noticed it being chased around by the larger subspecies (they vary a lot in size) of Canada Goose. This chase was a success.

Central Park CBC Results

I was a participant in the 115th Central Park Christmas Bird Count on December 14th. My sector was the Ramble Sector, in which there were more than 30 other people. It includes all of Central Park between 72nd and 79th st. We saw about 35 species in our sector. I was not able to see Winter Wren, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Mockingbird, and Pine Siskin. Here are the highlights of the count. There were about 55 species seen in the park that day. The biggest miss of the day was Pied-Billed Grebe.

Highlights/Surprises

Ring-Necked Duck ( 4 continuing birds at the Reservoir)
Great Blue Heron (1 flyover first seen at the north end landing at Turtle Pond. Not seen every year)
Red-Breasted Nuthatch (1 late migrant at the Great Lawn)
Winter Wren (1 in the Ramble seen by a person outside the group)
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet (Several seen, including 3 in the Ramble. Not seen every year)
Hermit Thrush (Several, including one seen in Strawberry Fields)
Purple Finch (Rare, 1 late migrant seen at the north end)
Pine Siskin (Rare, 1 in the Ramble seen outside of the group and 1 at the north end)

Bird of the Week #10

This week's Bird of the Week is Tufted Titmouse!

Tufted Titmice are about 6.5 inches long. They are close relatives of chickadees and have a bluish-gray back, wings and crest, a white underside, orange sides, and a black forehead. They live in forests and eat mainly insects in the spring and summer and mainly berries, nuts and seeds in the fall and winter. They also are attracted to birdfeeders and sometimes can be hand-fed.

Tufted Titmice can be found throughout most of the eastern half of the United States year round. In New York City, they can be found year round but are much more common in the winter. They can be found in nearly every green space in the city in winter, especially in Central Park. The titmice there were much more common than usual 2 years ago, then were basically nonexistent then next winter. No one knows why it happened, but they are about as common as they normally are

CBC Announcement!

I am happy to say that I was one of the many participants in the 115th Central Park Christmas Bird Count. Many great species were seen. Just giving you a heads up. And yes, I did see the Ring-Necked Ducks at the Reservoir! I will post about it this weekend