Winter Is Coming

The days grow short, and it's getting cold. Ducks are coming in to stay at the Reservoir, and now the Juncos are here, so Fall migration is basically over.

I hadn't been seeing too many Juncos this Fall, but a couple of days ago I found a flock of about 60 on a path behind Tupelo Meadow in Central Park, and more scattered south of there in the Ramble. White-Throated Sparrows are still in relatively short supply.

Meanwhile, on Cedar Hill, I've been watching a female Downy Woodpecker excavating a roost hole. When they feel winter coming on, many woodpeckers dig holes in trees to roost in at night, which is what's happening here in this video clip. (By the way, if anyone can recommend simple video-editing tools for Windows, I'd like to hear about them. Doesn't have to be free, but does have to be really easy. Mostly I'd be looking for something to do stabilization better than the YouTube tool.)

Woodpeckers don't reuse their nest holes for winter roosting, which makes perfect sense when you think about what a nest cavity must look and smell like by the time the young have fledged.

She appears to have finished her roost hole now. Hopefully she can defend it from Starlings and House Sparrows.

Happy Thanksgiving! You stay warm, too.

The Jazz Singer

Here's the jazzy Orchard Oriole from Inwood Hill that I mentioned in an earlier post. Very cheerful.

I'm still sorting out video editing software. I wonder if there's any way to make a video less shaky after the fact. I'm not going to haul a tripod all over creation.

Singers and nesters

My highlight for today was this female Cardinal singing at the Upper Lobe. I had no idea they ever sang.

Sorry for the unsteady (and unedited) video--I don't do video much, and I'm still working it out.

The Ruby-Throated Hummingbird is still on her nest near Oak Bridge. There were singing Robins all over the Ramble.

At Turtle Pond, which last year was a very active nesting area, there seems to be very little activity. The biggest drop-off is the Red-Winged Blackbirds--there were at least six nests last year, belonging to four males. This year, I hear a single RWBB in the area, and I'm not entirely sure he has a mate. I think this is because the Conservancy removed the tall phragmities grasses and replace them with slower-growing grasses; I think the blackbirds did not like the lack of cover at the time they were deciding where to nest.

Other missing nesters are more predictable. Downy Woodpecker--I watched a nesting pair all last June--won't re-use a nest hole, and Turtle Pond doesn't have many suitable trees. The Kingbirds I think are nesting on the other side of Belvedere Castle this year. I am surprised that I don't know where any oriole nests are; they're around somewhere, but probably also in the Ramble.

Grackles are nesting in numbers, of course. Just try to stop 'em.

I heard what I believe is that Common Yellowthroat with the odd pizza pizza song. I think of him as Little Caesar.