Snowy afternoon on Randall's Island

The weather forecast for Saturday was pretty nice, so I went off to Randall's Island to look for the American Pipit that had been reported at the Little Hell Gate salt marsh a couple of days previous.

The paths were in even worse shape than I had expected, but I slogged through the snow and ice. As I crossed the footbridge, I was visited by a very confiding Mockingbird, who popped up to forage several times as I crossed.

Then it began to snow. It snowed, thick and fast, for the next hour and a half.

On the southeast corner of the marsh, the path runs partly under the approach roadway for the actual Hell Gate Bridge. There, s mixed flock of sparrows foraged on a pile of sand, occasionally flushing to the bushes at the edge of the marsh.

The flock was about half Juncos, and most the rest were White-Throated sparrow. There were three or four American Tree Sparrows, a couple of Song Sparrows, and a Swamp Sparrow. Associating loosely with the sparrows were a pair of Cardinals, and a Yellow-Rumped Warbler.

Yellow-Rumped Warblers are known to winter at this latitude, and in fact eBird doesn't flag winter reports of them as unusual. But I always wonder what such a bird is thinking:

"New York will be balmy, he said. Global warming, he said. Probably never get much below freezing, he said. Hardly any snow these days, he said. That moron. And I believed him. I gotta get a new travel agent."

Anyway, after watching the flock for a while--the warbler always flushed to a tree on the opposite side of the road from the bushes the sparrows went to; I have no idea where the Cardinals went--I moved on up the northeast shore. The paths were actually sholveled there--probably has to do with the golf center and Icahn Stadium being along that stretch.

A flock of a hundred or so Canada Geese was swimming up the river in a long loose line. Snow was accumulating on their backs.

It was tempting to laugh about the silly geese not seeking shelter or even flapping to get the snow off. But then I thought, what exactly was I doing, anyway?

Miscellany

Dragon

Here's a few photos from my Sunday jaunts in the parks. The Red-Breasted Merganser above was preening in the river, and I caught her at a good angle.

listen to the Mockingbird

This Mockingbird--one of a half-dozen I saw on the river walk north of Dyckman Street--was giving a rusty little call in a bush by the river, and a Song Sparrow sang in a tree nearby.

singing out

The last two photos didn't quite fit in earlier posts. The Common Redpoll--who is still in Central Park at the Evodia feeders--gets along OK with the Goldfinches.

best buddies

The Chipping Sparrow is still around as well.

Chipping Sparrow and fungus

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?

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

Mockingbirds

Sunday afternoon I took a long walk and found myself at the Mount, a big hill in northern Central Park overlooking Harlem Meer and the Conservancy Garden. The top of the Mount is used as the composting area for the park. All the leaf litter swept from the paths and raked from the lawns, all the downed tree limbs and felled trees, are brought there and turned into wood chips (spread on many of the unpaved paths of the park) or mulched. It's a good area for sparrows and warblers, and Palm Warblers had been seen there on Saturday.

There were a couple of Song Sparrows around, and a lot of Mourning Doves. A Carolina Wren popped out of a pile of logs. The recent rains had made a pool between the heaps of compost, and a pair of Mallards swam contentedly in it. Mallards will go to some lengths for a little peace and quiet. No warblers.

I heard a medley of sparrow songs--White Throated, Junco, Song, Fox, one right after another--and scanned the trees until I spotted the Mockingbird. He flew off, but a few minutes later he was back, on top of a low fence, standing guard over his mate foraging around the base of a tree. They called to each other softly, a sort of sputtering cluck.

Mockingbird, poised for action

I was standing on ground a bit below the tree, so I got some close-up photos at nearly eye level before I withdrew and left them to their business, wishing them the best of luck.

Mockingbird, foraging

---

Last year, in the late winter and early spring. I walked up Cedar Hill almost every day on my way to work. There were a pair of Mockingbirds; I saw them both as late as Friday March 15. On Monday March 18, I saw one. He was being harassed by Blue Jays in a line of Cedars on the hill, and I watched as he chased them off and remained, sentry-alert on a treetop. I surmised that the Mockingbirds had nested somewhere in those trees.

Every morning for the next three weeks, I watched the Mockingbird chase two or three, or four Blue Jays the hell away from his trees. The jays would fly in to rob the nest and--a flurry of wings, a blur of birds chasing each other through the vegetation, and finally--a Mockingbird surveying the scene from a high branch.

I can only imagine that this must have gone on all day, every day.

On April 8, I saw a very annoyed-looking Blue Jay poking around those cedars. No sign of any Mockingbirds. Mockingbirds take about 23 to 25 days from egg-laying to fledging, after which the young birds are fully independent. If the eggs were laid on March 16th, there was just enough time to get the family airborne. I think they made it.

I have great respect for Mockingbirds.

the hero of our story

The Wren Rescue

Our Carolina Wren, the day before

I went to Central Park this afternoon. It was blustery and cold, though sunny. As I left Maintenance meadow in the Ramble, I ran into Ranger Rob Mastrianni and two other Park workers. "I have a wren in my bag", Rob said.

One of the Carolina Wrens who has been around the Evodia feeders this winter was acting listless--not feeding and seemingly unable to fly--and the birders watching the feeders called Rob, and Rob spirited the little bird away to the Wild Bird Fund. Hopefully our little friend will recover well. At least he's somewhere warm now.

The afternoon was otherwise pretty uneventful. An American Tree Sparrow was at the feeders with the usual residents, but I didn't see the Pine Warbler who was observed earlier in the day. I walked around a while, looking at likely spots for Woodcocks, but none presented themselves.

Mockingbird, come out to glare at me

When I first entered the park at Cedar Hill, I heard an odd song--a phrase of two high notes, repeated at intervals of a few seconds--coming from Near the Transverse, near the path between Cedar Hill and the south side of the Metropolitan Museum. I had a notion of what it was, stopped and approached the trees along the Transverse to see if I could get a look. Eventually the Mockingbird--for that was indeed who it was--came out to glare at me for getting too close to his tree. Hello, bird!