More street birding

I work across the street from St Bartholomew's Church, which is in midtown Manhattan on Park Avenue. It has a tiny garden which attracts a number of migrants (and which I've written about once before). Recently I saw a couple of new species in the park--rather late in the afternoon both times, so I didn't get any usable photos; I;m going to use that as an excuse to post some old ones.

I saw a dark shape walking by the wall of the church. It was too large for an Ovenbird (which I've seen there once or twice this Fall), but I couldn't imagine a pigeon skulking in the shrubs like that. I went around to the church steps, where you can look down into the garden, and found a Woodcock sitting under an evergreen shrub.

It was an interesting vantage point. The bird was facing straight away from me--I was behind and above it, but it's eyes are so placed that it was staring right up at me. It's a startling thing to see up close. They really do have eyes in the back of their head.

There were a pair of Gray Catbirds in the garden for a while. Last year, one catbird overwintered. However a couple of weeks back, I spotted a Brown Thrasher in the garden at dusk, and both it and the catbirds seemed agitated--the Thrasher was flitting in and out of the shrubs, and the catbirds were sitting in the tree above them and calling loudly. The next day, they had all gone. It's a mystery.

Midtown Birding (2)

In November I started a new job, which moved me away from the pocket park I wrote about before. By the way, recent reports from there say that some Swamp Sparrows, a Towhee, at least one Catbird, and two Brown Thrashers are all still there.

My new location, around Park and 51st, is unfortunately not so interesting, but there have been some birds.

office plaza bird

The first day, I spotted a Common Yellowthroat on the plaza outside the building. I saw that same bird around for several weeks, and other Yellowthroats in the churchyard of St. Bartholomew's Church across the street, and even hanging around a coffee cart near Lexington Avenue.

St. Bart's visitor

Most of the interesting birds were in the tiny St. Bartholomew's yards. A good part of the reason is that they had a water trickle running in the southern part of the yard, in a reasonably protected spot. That combined with a couple of trees and some shrubs, is enough to attract some birds.

just passing through

A few migrants appeared in the churchyard. Besides the Yellowthroats, there were Juncos, Song Sparrows, a Hermit Thrush, and one morning even a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet. There are also the usual city residents--pigeons, starlings, House Sparrows--and the winter-ubiquitous White Throated Sparrows.

in town for the winter

There was a Gray Catbird around, but I haven't seen it since the trickle was shut off in mid-December. That's also when the last of the Yellowthroats departed.

like many New Yorkers, street food keeps the Catbird going

Finally, there's a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker who has been working trees all up and down 51st and 52nd Streets (at least), and also the tree in the St. Batholomew's southern yard.

street scene, St. Bartholomew's Chruch

Since he seems to be teh only Sapsucker in this part of town, he's got a large number of trees to work on, which he does quite diligently. Hopefully, that will be enough to keep him going all winter.

diligent driller of holes

Some Fall migration photos

I'm sorry I've been silent lately. It's been a tiring summer, is all. Also, there hasn't been much going on at once, so it has taken a while for the interesting things to build up to the size of a post.

Still, there's been a steady trickle of Fall migrants, like the proud young Redstart above (a first-Fall male, from the orangy bits), and the very nice male Hooded Warbler below, from Tanner's Spring a couple of weeks back.

The resident birds have held some interest, too. I was quite surprised to see this scene in the Ramble the other day:

That is a Common Grackle killing a mouse. I have never seen a Grackle stalk and kill prey before.I didn't know they even did that. This one kept chasing the mouse into the waters of the Gill--and occasionally grabbing at it with his beak--until the mouse drowned. Then the Grackle ate part of it, with some difficulty. A Grackle's beak is pretty big, but I don't think it's really suited to tearing up meat.

Other birds dined in a less violent manner.

I love watching birds eat berries, don't you? Also, woodpeckers are hard at work as always.

I'll wind up with a couple of more migrants. This shy Canada Warbler was in poor light, but I think it made a nice picture:

And a Great Crested Flycatcher was hanging around Maintenance for several days, giving uncharacteristically close views.

Hanging on

Late in migration season, when the first really cold days come, I start noticing birds that are lingering. As every Fall, there's a stray Ovenbird in Bryant Park.

swept up in the romance of the city

Sometimes they make it through the winter. There's quite a lot of Catbirds in Brant Park this year, as well. I saw seven the other day.

it's a living

Technically, Gray Catbirds aren't actually late yet, but really they should be moving on. The same applies to the American Woodcock who was seen as late as last Thursday hiding out in the Bryant Park lawn border near the entrance to the skating rink. I haven't seen that bird, and I'm really hoping it's found it's way out of Manhattan. Woodcocks seem to have an awful time migrating through the city.

contemplating a long journey

Ruby-Crowned Kinglets are one the likeliest of all the small insectivorous migrants to still be here for the Christmas Bird Count. This one was still around Monday morning near Cleopatra's Needle in Central Park.

enjoying the season

Palm Warblers stay pretty late in the year as well. This one was happily hanging out with a small group of Juncos on Randall's Island on Sunday. The Juncos seemed puzzled by the friendly warbler. "Hey, do you know this guy?" they seemed to be asking each other.

Every year, it seems that something really unlikely overwinters in Manhattan.  I wonder what it will be this year?

Meanwhile, back in Manhattan...

Mourning Dove feeding fledgling, Hudson River Greenway near 24th Street

While I was upstate, I saw a report online from a reliable observer of a Eurasian Collared-Dove on the Hudson River Greenway just north of Chelsea Piers. That's quite a bird--though it's likely that one in this area is an escapee, there are established colonies in Florida, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility that this was a wild bird. So on Monday (6/23), I went downtown to look for it.

Alas, no Collard-Dove for me. There were compensations, though, such as the Mourning Dove I saw feeding a fledgling. Plus, I saw a Raven flying nearby--probably part of the family living on the Chelsea Hotel. That's my 168th New York County species this year.

There were also a lot of Mockingbirds--I saw two adults carrying nesting materials, and several recent fledglings.

fledgling Mockingbird, Hudson River Greenway near 24th Street

Later in the week, the Conservancy opened the Hallet Sanctuary for an afternoon. There wasn't much there--Orioles and Robins nesting, and I heard a red-Bellied Woodpecker nearby. I took a walk around The Pond afterwards, and many of the usual summer residents were in evidence. The first to really catch my eye was a Great Egret.

Great Egret hunting, The Pond, Central Park

There were several adult Black-Crowned Night Herons flying around the pond, and an odd looking juvenile heron roosting near the far shore.

when you stare at the turtle, the turtle also... well, the maybe turtle ignores you

Stripy throat and chest like a juvenal, but not speckled on the back. I'm guessing this is a first-summer Black-Crowned, not yet molted out of its stripes underneath.

Elsewhere, Robins, Catbirds, and Starlings were enjoying the summer crop of berries.

hit-and-run berry snatching

savor the moment