Nature, red in et cetera, continued

Here's the two crows squabbling over a dead rat, as I mentioned a couple of days ago:



And a link to the crow enjoying his snack.

Crow feast; Northern Flicker; Canvasbacks

Today at Strawberry Field in central Park, I saw three crows fly into a tree. One was carrying what appeared to be a small rat, and set about eating it. One of the others tried half-heartedly to take it away. perhaps I will post a gruesome picture later.

A Flicker had been in the tree when the crows arrived, and split the scene immediately. It took up residence in a sapling nearby and sat there giving alarm cries. As it happens, it was my first Flicker of the year.

Later, I was told of Canvasbacks in the southeast corner of the reservoir. Canvasbacks are rare visitors to the Park, and really to Manhattan in general, so off I went. They were there, two drakes, sleeping peacefully. One woke up briefly when he found himself surrounded by Buffleheads for a moment, and I could see his distinctive sloping profile. But that was a good quarter-hour after sunset, so the photo is not very useful.

That puts me at 57 species in New York County this year.