Tufted Titmouses, hurrah!

Saturday I took a pleasant walk across Central Park. At Tanner's Spring I saw two warm brown thrushes with very blurry spots on the breast. First Veerys of the season!

Turtle Pond held ducks--mostly Mallards, including a mama duck with five ducklings in tow, plus a couple of what seemed to be American Black Ducks and one male Mallard/Black cross. All the male Mallards were transitioning to or already in eclipse plumage, which didn't happen this early last year. Across the pond, a Black-Crowned Night Heron stalked through the tall reeds. There were also a couple of male Wood Ducks, one in eclipse and the other in breeding plumage.

Wood Ducks, breeding and eclipse plumages

The Ramble held the usual summer residents--Evodia had the first female Red-Winged Blackbird I've seen since Spring--and at Willow Rock, I had a nice surprise.

Tufted Titmouse, fluffing dry

Three Tufted Titmouses were bathing in the Oven--the first I've seen anywhere in Manhattan since early May of last year. They're usually ubiquitous in the autumn and winter, but they disappeared last year, and I missed them. I'm a little excited to see them again. They're my 171st species this year in the county.

Cedar Waxwings also bathed in the Oven.

Waxwings taking a dip

I also saw a Black-and-White Warbler there--they're in early this year--and a Northern Waterthrush on the Gill near Laupot Bridge. On the way out of the Park, there was a Black-Capped Chickadee at Triplets Bridge.

So even in the deep summer doldrums, there are birds to see in Central Park if you care to look.

Nature, red in beak and talon

The Canvasbacks were gone from the Reservoir today. The group of Wood Ducks was still around, minus one drake:



And the Ring-Necked Duck is still around:



On the northern end of the Reservoir, I watched a female Hooded Merganser dive and come up with a crawfish:



And then I headed over to the Pool. On the way, I spotted a red-Tailed hawk perched high in a tree. I took a couple of photos, and then looked around and saw Karen Fung photographing something in another tree. She has followed a diving Red-Tailed Hawk from the Reservoir, and it was now enjoying a meal on a low perch:



I got a bunch of great shots of him dining, but some are not for the squeamish.

At the Pool, I had two first-of-year sightings, a Swamp Sparrow and a Brown Thrasher.



The sparrow was too deep in the shadows for a decent photo. Those two, plus a female Towhee on the eerily quiet Great Hill, get me up to 60 species for the year in New York County.