Nesting season notes

In early Summer, the migration is over, and the main points of interest are the nesting birds. There are twenty or so species nesting in Central Park. In early June, my attention was held by the Warbling Vireo nest I mentioned in an earlier post.

That's one of the probably three nestlings getting what looks like a whole moth all his own, just a couple of days before they fledged. They did it on a weekend I was away, and a week before I thought it would happen. The nest must have been there well before I first saw it.

Right after the Vireos, I noticed a Baltimore Oriole nest near the bathrooms in the Ramble.

This photo, too, was only a day or so before fledging. I don't know how I missed this very obvious nest right over the path, but I didn't see it until I was standing under another tree nearby and Mama Oriole came out and scolded me.

She didn't like anyone anywhere near her nest tree.

One species that has had a hard time nesting in the Park lately is the Canada Goose. The Central Park Conservancy has been on a goose eradication campaign for some years, which has included paying "experts" to go and oil or break eggs and destroy nests.

Despite the efforts of the Goosestapo, one or two pairs do manage to breed every year. I found these lazy half-grown goslings hanging out at the edge of the Reservoir the other week.

On the other hand, everybody loves ducklings. Remember the gang of young Mallards at Turtle Pond that I posted a photo of some time back? They're growing into fine young ducks.

At least the survivors are, anyway. There were ten originally, and it looks like four have been taken by predators. But not to worry, right after I took this picture, I saw this:

That's ten more Mallard ducklings and another busy mama duck.

Elsewhere, the various Red-Tailed Hawk nests have fledged, Ben Cacace reports that the Yellow-Crowned Night Heron on Governor's island has thatched, and I see from photos online that the young Common Terns are doing well.

Things I haven't seen

Almost every time I go out birding, I see things I haven't seen before. Memorial Day weekend was particularly rich.

On Saturday, I went up to Randall's Island for the first time in a couple of months. It wasn't terribly productive, but there was a Killdeer at the salt marsh on the north shore of the island. That's not too unusual, but its behavior was not what I'm used to seeing.

The Kildeers I've seen there are usually transients and quiet; this one was calling constantly, as befits its scientific name (Charadrius vociferus, which is Latin for "loudmouth plover"). The call wasn't the killdeer that given it its common name, but a several long high peeps followed by a descending series of short notes.

And then it flew off the rocks in the saltmarsh to the baseball field, ran several steps, and flung itself in the infield dirt with one wing stretched out.

distraction

A distraction display! I'd never seen one. It must have a nest in the marsh area. I hope that works out OK, but between the starlings, the grackles, and the gulls, I'm a little dubious.

There was also a Laughing Gull, my first of the year, hanging out with some Ring-Billed Gulls on the outfield of another baseball diamond, and giving me a good view.

gull, Laughing and loafing

Sunday was a glorious day to be out in Central Park, but not if you were a starling who got a little too close to this Black-Crowned Night Heron.

nature red in tooth and claw

I've seen herons eat baby birds before, but this was a full-sized adult, and he had a great deal of trouble swallowing it. He eventually got it down, but looked quite saturnine afterward.

Monday I made an excursion to the northern part of Central Park. at the Pool (about 103rd street on the west side), I saw ... um, well. I saw two male Mallards mating.

well, I never!

I see from Teh Google that this is not rare, but I had never seen it before. It was clearly mating behavior, and not fighting, because they did the typical head-bobbing display at each other before one ducked down in the water and the other mounted.

Things were pretty quiet otherwise. Up at the the compost area on The Mount, where sometimes shorebirds stop off to browse in the ditches, there was a family of House Wrens with just-fledged young begging for food.

baby House Wren

Thinking about it, I don't recall ever seeing baby wrens before.

Back downtown in the Ramble, there's a Warbling Vireo nest. It's one of many in the park this year, but it's unusual in being clearly visible from the ground and not too high up. So with luck I'll have several weeks of rare views of Vireos raising their young.

Warbling vireo on nest

The male sings constantly while taking his turn on the nest, by the way. Quite charming. Also, those are spiderwebs all over the outside of the nest--an excellent structural material. Many thanks to Martin Sandler for pointing out the nest. Although it's fairly out in the open, I still would never have spotted it myself.

Domestic arrangements

While Spring migration is in full swing, some birds are settling in for nesting season...or trying to. At Turtle Pond in Central Park, a pair of Downy Woodpeckers are excavating a nest hole in a willow tree. Saturday, we saw a Hairy Woodpecker come around...and the Downys chased him away. Elena got a photo of the action.

Woodpecker dispute (Photo by Elena Gaillard)

Meanwhile, on the pond's shore directly below, a pair of Mallards was browsing. A second male flew in--and then scooted right back out. The male of the pair chased the interloper all around the pond, hanging onto his tail.

take that, you bounder!

Things were a little calmer away from the water. Singing was everywhere, as males advertised for mates. Passing migrants sang:

it's been a great Spring for Pine Warblers in the Park.

Resident birds sang as well, some not so musically,

whaddaya mean? I sound great!

while others seemed possessed by the spirit of Al Jolson.

I'd walk a million miles for one of your smiles

Quick note - Central Park north end

I saw my first Ovenbird of the Fall season on Friday, at the northern end of the Ravine. It was pretty skulky, so I didn't get a photo.

Up at the Mount compost area, I saw an odd bird flocking with House Sparrows. It was pretty far away, and trying to circle around to get a better look was even more of an adventure than usual, since the path behind the dump is completely overgrown now. In fact there was no view of where the flock was foraging from that side. Examining the awful photos I was able to get from farther away, I think it was just an immature or female Red-Winged Blackbird, AKA "bird most likely to be confused with an interesting sparrow". Oh well, the frustrations of a mediocre birder.

There were a bunch of Mockingbirds around the compost area, at least four adults and four juveniles; probably more. I got a nice picture of one of the young birds.

bashful

I also saw a lot of Blue Jays there, and one came up and posed for me.

why yes, I am a very handsome and noble bird, thank you for noticing

Barn Swallows were swooping all over the place as well. They weren't inclined to pose.

I wound up the day at the Pool, where I saw a group of very young Mallards just past the fluffy-ducking stage.

who doesn't love a picture of baby ducks?