Right back at you

The pace of migration is picking up. In Central Park, many Pine, Palm, and Yellow-Rumped Warblers continue, some singing. There's been some reports of Blue-headed Vireos, and I saw my first Black-and-White Warbler on Sunday. The day's highlight, though, was this very late Pine Siskin at the Evodia feeders.

With the warming weather, the birds are all quite busy, and I've gotten very good looks at some. This White-Breasted Nuthatch has been around Laupot Bridge all winter, and still seems to have a lot of food stashed in the bridge posts.

He was making curious little grumbling sounds as he worked around the area, on occasionally giving out the typical brash "henk! henk!" call Nuthatches are known for.

The cardinals in Central Park tend to be quite tame, and will often get up close to people, like this one:

And why not? People sometimes have peanuts and stuff.

Nesting season is already starting for some resident birds. I've seen some Robins on nests, and others gathering nesting material.

Cardinals and Grackles have been carrying around nesting material as well.

I've seen all three of the common swallow species (Barn, Tree, and Northern Rough-Winged) at Turtle Pond in the last week, and a bunch of cormorants has been hanging out there as well.

Sometimes you can see why the Cormorant is called the devil's bird.

Some species have already passed through. The Fox Sparrows are gone. and the bulk of the Song Sparrows and Juncos as well. White-Throated Sparrows are still plentiful at the moment.

They'll be moving on soon, but I'm enjoying them while they're still here.

The beginning of Spring

Watch this! I am going to eat these seeds, and not get eaten!

Spring began this weekend. It was a long winter, and Elena had some knee trouble and couldn't get out much. We were finally able to go birding in the Ramble Sunday, and it was a fine outing.

The first order of business was to feed the Titmouses and Chickadees at the Upper Lobe. The Titmousen were characteristically fearless; the Chickadees were a bit more standoffish. One was at least interested enough that it actually sat still for many seconds at a time, and I was able to get some of my best Chickadee photos ever.

I'm not sure I want to do that

We didn't neglect the otehr little birds, though they never come to hand.

that's right! never neglect the Sparrow, for he is puissant and fierce

All the usual late winter birds were around.

I'm not going to show you where I've stashed the seeds

And there was singing everywhere. This Cardinal gave a concert about 4 feet from a path and just six feet up.

I call this number, "Get Out of My Territory, Fool"

The best birds of the day (in the birding sense) didn't yield any good photos: two American Woodcocks deep in the brush near Azalea Pond; a Merlin perched briefly atop a tree at the south end of Maintenance, then flying fast and hard toward Belvedere Castle; a Turkey Vulture high, high overhead. Fine things to see, though.

I hope you had a good first weekend of Spring, too.

Winter woodpeckers and such

There's quite a variety of woodpeckers in Central Park this winter. To start with, there's a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers, who I've mostly seen in the Ramble between the Gill and the Ramble Arch. The male is an exceptionally fine-looking bird.

hello, handsome!

Isn't that a good-looking bird?

The hairy's smaller cousins, Downy Woodpeckers, have been all over the place.

ohsocute!

A few Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are overwintering, which I don't think I've seen in Central Park before. I'm told they're fairly common at this latitude in winter, however.

just hanging out

The ones I've seen on my morning walks like to hang motionless off trees. i think they're waiting for sun to warm up the sap.

There are quite a number of Red-Bellied Woodpeckers around. This one likes to stash food in the posts of Laupot Bridge.

clever bird

The White-Breasted Nuthatch isn't a woodpecker, but they also stash food in odd places. They're a little more secretive about it, though.

waiting for me to go away

Busy days in the Ramble

Friday, I got out of work early and visited Central Park in search of a Bluebird reported in the Ramble by Alice Deutsch. I went back on Saturday morning for a longer walk. No Bluebirds, but the Ramble was very birdy. The normal winter residents were out in force. There were Tufted Titmousim (Titmouses? Titmousoi?) in great numbers.

Titmouse in morning light

There were plenty of White-Breasted Nuthatches around, too.

Nuthatch doing the Nuthatch thing

There's usually several Red-Bellied Woodpeckers in the Ramble, but I think there are more than usual now.

finding something to eat in the post on the bridge railing

Red-Bellieds are usually sedentary, but I have read that the will migrate sometimes when conditions are bad on their home grounds.

Among more traditionally migratory birds, there are a lot of Fox Sparrows around.

e pluribus Fox Sparrow

I saw a dozen on Friday and nearly as many Saturday, mostly in Mugger's Woods.

Saturday, there were a couple of Rusty Blackbirds going up and down the Gill between Azalea Pond and Laupot Bridge.

infrequent visitor

They were very confiding. Rustys are not regular visitors to the Park, although we usually get a few sightings.

Among a cloud of Goldfinches bathing near the Gill Overlook, there were four or five Pine Siskins.

blending in with the Goldfinches

Siskins seem to be irrupting this winter, so there will likely be a lot of sightings in the next few months. I wonder if Crossbills will come in as well?

While looking around the Tanner's Spring area just before leaving the Park, I mused that I hadn't seen any Kestrels lately. Of course, I hadn't been searching too hard; I reasoned that if some regularly scanned their usual perches long Central Park West, they could probably see one every day.

Right after that, in the meadow just north of Winterdale Arch, I saw a bird fly onto a low branch of a tree full of Robins and some other birds. It few out again immediately, followed--after a stunned half-second--by every bird in the meadow. It was a Kestrel, and he had just snatched a Junco right off the branch.

Kestrel, Junco prey, and a mobbing Blue Jay

The kestrel was mobbed by Blue Jays, Robins, Mourning Doves, Sparrows, and whatever else was around. They chased him from tree to tree, back and forth across the whole area, the Jays screaming, the Kestrel calling a shrill kli kli kli kli kli. The Kestrel would light in a tree with his prey, still calling, and some seconds later fly off again, Jays and allies in hot pursuit. Two or three times a piercing shriek rose above the general clamor. I don't know if it was the Kestrel screaming, or the world's angriest Jay, or perhaps even the unfortunate Junco.

I wish I were good at photographing birds in flight, it was quite a sight in my binoculars. After five minutes or so, The Kestrel finally flew far enough away that many of the pursuing birds gave up. Unforgettable!