Kingbird vs Hawk

Earlier in the summer, soon after the young Red-Tailed Hawks from Pale Male's brood had fledged, I spotted one of them in a tree along the 79th Street Transverse. It called occasionally, a creaky version of an adult hawk's scream. As I drew nearer, I realized that the young hawk was being mobbed by a single Eastern Kingbird, who I knew was nesting nearby.

This is the only time I've seen the red crown on a Kingbird. It's usually hidden, but this was one angry bird.

The Kingbird made pass after pass at the hawk, sometimes going away for a few minutes then returning again. On every close approach, teh hawk would screech.

The Kingbird was actually striking the hawk occasionally, though I didn't manage the catch that in camera.

The hawk eventually decided he'd has enough, and flew off. The Kingbird's young fledged a couple of weeks later, and you'd see the parents feeding them around Turtle Pond.

Stepping into Spring with a spring in your step, or something like that

in spring a young hawk's fancy...

Spring is here! And resident birds are at various stages of family life. Some of the lcal Red-Tailed Hawks were already sitting on eggs by the beginning of April. Others, like the pair above that I ran across one morning in the Ramble, were just getting started on the process.

Great Horned Owls, not big on nest concealment this year

Some birds were even farther along. The Great Horned Owls at the NY Botanical Garden in the Bronx nested in a very prominent place this year and had nestlings by mid-March, who should be about ready to fledge by now

not just one but two adorable slaughterfloofs!

Once the slaughterfloofs are ready to leave the nest, they will flutter down into nearby trees. The parents will feed them there until they can actually fly. The Botanical Garden folks are prepares to rope off the whole area while that's going on.

Jay chillin'

Other residents, like this Blue Jay, will be breeding a bit later in the Spring and are just chilling for now. I've only just started seeing Robins building nests this week, though they've been singing for a month or more.

"Rusty Blackbird" always sounds to me like a baseball player's name from the 1930s

Many birds who spent the winter in the NYC area will be moving north to nest. Rusty Blackbirds were at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx all winter as usual, and are now headingfor their mysterious breeding grounds in somewhere in the boreal forests.

American Wigeon, swim away from me

Our wintering ducks will also be nesting somewhere in the north. THis female American Wigeon spent a good deal of the later winter at Harlem Meer.

male Golden-Crowned Kinglets have the orangey racing stripe on their head

Meanwhile the first spring migrants have started moving through the area. Both kinds of Kinglets have been around, along with Chipping Sparrows. Fox sparrows have basically all left already, and the bulk of Song Sparrows have passed through, though some will stay and nest here.

very confiding Chipping Sparrow behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Phoebes came in in a big rush around the end of March and have also mostly left by now. Still waiting to see the first Pewees and Empidonax flycatchers.

Phoebe, here today gone tomorrow

The first warblers have arrived--Pine, Palm, Yellow-Rumped, and now Black-and-White--but I don't have good photos yet. Also there have been several reports of Yellow-Throated Warblers, which is unusual.

Fluffed up

January: it's cold, it's snowy, and the birds fluff up.

Fox Sparrow

Little birds fluff up:

White-Throated Sparrow

Birds fluff up while working:

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker at the feeders in Evodia, Central Park

Birds fluff up in company:

that dove in the middle has had a hard life, but at least he has friends

Even really big birds fluff up:

Red-Tailed hawk, hanging out over the Evodia feeders, Central Park.

Hope you're all keeping warm.

Warm day, bath day!

Wednesday morning came up sunny and unseasonably warm, and the birds took advantage by getting nice and clean. Pale Male took a dip at the southeast end of Turtle Pond, while a few Mallards dabbled nearby and a single Bufflehead fished.

the royal bath

Over at the other end, starlings splashed around in a puddle.

splish-splash!

Downtown, at Bryant Park, I was looking for the Ovenbird (didn't find it) when this weird apparition popped up in front of me.

fresh from the bath

It took me a minute to figure out it was a Common Yellowthroat dripping wet from a dip in the park's fountain. People have been reporting a Common Yellowthroat in Bryant Park all autumn, but I hadn't seen it before. A very friendly bird--it accepted a few sunflower seeds and hopped all around me for a minute.

fluffing dry

You can see it was drying off pretty quickly.

Birds still coming in

Over the last week or so, the Fall migration has brought me a couple of new birds for the year. On the 26th, there were a flock of Pine Siskins in the Shakespeare Garden in Central Park.

Siskin irruption!

Usually, Pine Siskins stay well to the north, but in some years when the pine cone crop is scarce, they irrupt into the US to find food. There have been a lot of Siskin sightings this Fall. I had missed them until now, and they became my 185th Manhattan species of the year.

While I was in the Park that day, I spent a pleasant hour at Belvedere Castle looking for migrating raptors. I didn't have much luck with the migrants, but I did watch a local resident Kestrel hunting over the Great Lawn. Eventually it roosted in a tree top, and a bold Blue Jay made it known that he found the Kestrel's presence unsatisfactory.

off with you, I say!

The Kestrel was not too impressed.

During the week I saw my first brown creeper of the autumn in the Park, bathing at the east end of Turtle Pond.  It was the most birdlike I've ever seen a Creeper--they usually act more like some kind of acrobatic mouse.

fluffing dry

Last Sunday was the NY Marathon. I live east of First Avenue, so usually the Marathon traps me at home all day. This year, I got moving early to take a bus north before they closed the streets, and went over to Randall's Island.

I once again failed to see a Nelson's Sparrow in the salt marsh area at the northern tip of the island, although an older gentleman there told me he had seen one. Well, they're notoriously hard to spot. I gave up after an hour and a half and went off to see what else was on the island.

sign of winter

There were a lot of Brant in the East River, a sure sign of impending winter. I noticed two very small brownish ducks swimming with them. Green-Winged Teal! (Species 186 for the year in New York County.)

our smallest duck

Down in the Hell Gate Inlet salt marsh there were Yellow-Rumped warblers, and a very pale bird with streaks on the sides of the breast that was either a very pale Yellow-Rumped, or maybe a Blackpoll.

Along the "Water's Edge Garden" on the east shore of the island, Palm Warblers frolicked in the flower beds. Then I saw a Red-Tailed Hawk flying hard and low across the grounds of the mental health center. He was carrying a squirrel, which he carried up into a tree. There was a dense chain-link fence between us, but I got a couple of decent photos.

hawk and dinner

I hear there are Green-Winged Teal on the Central Park Reservoir, and someone saw a Woodcock in Strawberry Fields the other day. There was a report of a Varied Thrush in Madison Square Park as well, but the reporter wasn't sure of the ID and as far as I know the bird was not refound. among more common but still very nice birds, there are Kinglets all over the place. So it's still quite birdy out there.

It's a hard life being a bird

It's a hard life, being a bird. On Saturday came the news that the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird nest near Oak Bridge had been raided and destroyed by a Baltimore Oriole.

Photographer Roman Brewka was there when it happened and photos are on his website at birdsofnewyork.com in the "Recent Photos" gallery. They may be a little disturbing (or I may be too tender-hearted towards small birds), but he's an excellent photographer and you should check out his other galleries at least.

On a cheerier note, the latest set of Pale Male's offspring has fledged and today the area around the Toy Boat Pond was full of the cries of the young Red-Tailed Hawks. One remained perched in one place, taking a lively interest in passing small dogs.

don't let your dog run off-leash, OK?

One of his siblings flew in and rested in the grass awhile.

hawks on the grass, alas

People passed by; some noticed, some didn't.

just another New Yorker

The third was calling frequently somewhere to the north, but eventually flew into another nearby tree.

this must be the place

I say this was "cheerier", but the squirrels, and especially the Grackles, didn't really agree. The Grackles especially were very unhappy about the hawks hanging around their nesting area.

In the Ramble, things were quiet. A strange thing happened while I watched this fledgling Blue Jay.

they grow up so fast

Once in a while an adult jay would come by and smack the youngster on the head. Is this parental affection among Blue Jays? Was the young bird too close to someone else's nest? It wasn't a mobbing--the adults weren't hanging around to harass the youngster, just coming around every couple of minutes, peck, off again.

Rainy day

Heavy rain all day, so I didn't get out. Monday I stopped in the Ramble briefly on my way to the Bronx. I failed to spot the Hooded Warbler who was seen on the Point and also in the Captain's Bench area, missed the Spotted Sandpiper in the Oven by mere minutes, and didn't have time to try for the Yellow-Throated Warbler seen around Sheep Meadow and then south of Tavern on the Green. I did see my first Northern Waterthrush and Chimney Swifts of the season, which brought me to 109 species in Manhattan this year. The Chimney Swifts retruning is my marker for the real beginning of Spring.

The southwest part of Van Cortlandt Park was not as birdy as I expected. A lot of red-Winged Blackbirds are around, and I had a nice look at a female RWBB in the wetlands area south of the mansion.

Female blackbird calling

She was calling, rather sweetly for a blackbird. I also saw a lingering Rusty Blackbird there. There was a Ring-Necked Duck on the lake; I wonder if he was the same drake I saw there a month ago. A number of singing Yellow-Rumped Warblers were around, and also Tree Swallows, Barn Swallows, and (yes!) Chimney Swifts.

Tuesday, I saw a report early in the morning that the Yellow-Throated Warbler was seen just south of Sheep meadow, so I headed straight down there...and struck out. I spent an hour and a half getting "warbler neck" from scanning the trees between the 65th Street Transverse and the Bandshell. No dice. I did get a nice addition to my photo collection of House Sparrows nesting in interesting places:

Sparrow at her nest in a street sign

And a good look at the male Red-Tailed Hawk of the pair that is nesting near the Sheep Meadow.

I think that's a bit of his breakfast still in his beak.

Reaching the Ramble, I saw a Yellow Warbler right near Bow Bridge. Poor thing seemed to be missing its tail, but it was flying pretty well anyway. The other newly-arrived warbler species I didn't see, nor had anyone seen the Hooded Warbler from the day before again.

On my way out, at Maintenance meadow there were some Chipping Sparrows and one Field Sparrow.

Field Sparrow, ohsocute

There haven't been a lot of Field Sparrows this Spring. I think they're about the cutest thing going.

The yellow Warbler was my 110th species in New York county this year. Tomorrow it's supposed to stop raining in the afternoon, so I'll go see what's around after the storm.

Watching you like a hawk

Pale Male on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Might as well be Spring

What does the Fox sing?

Everything has started singing, it seems. Tuesday, a Fox Sparrow sang near the Humming Tombstone while I searched for Woodcocks. I eventually found them. They aren't singing, but I'm told they've been doing flight displays around 9PM in teh Maintenance meadow.

At Evodia, the male Baltimore Oriole who overwintered was singing. The female Oriole did not seem impressed yet. Considering what a hard time he gave her over the last couple of months, I don't blame her.

There's a Rusty Blackbird who's been hanging out near Azalea Pond. He's singing too, in the Rusty's rusty-hinge way. Song Sparrows were singing everywhere, and White-Throated Sparrows, and Cardinals. Jays were making a variety sounds, some of them joyful.

The first Black-Crowned Night Heron of the season was asleep in a willow at the Point, well-screen by branches.  (That's species number 79 for me.)

Today I started at the Reservoir. There wasn't much singing, but the Red-Necked Grebe is still around, it's neck getting more breeding-plumage red every day. Buffleheads were plentiful, and Shovelers.

More Buffleheads at the Pool, and a lovely warm red-brown Swamp Sparrow on the Loch, and more Song Sparrows singing.

On Fifth Avenue and 105th, a pair of Red-Tailed Hawks is building a nest. I saw them carrying nesting materials.

Off to find more sticks!

They better get with it--I hear Octavia has laid her eggs already.

I saw on the internets that a Lesser Black-Backed Gull was in the middle of the Reservoir, so I went back there.  I don't have a scope, but I scanned the gulls as best I could; also took some photos and zoomed in on them.  Nothing promising.  Then I took another look at the reports, and saw they were about a first-cycle Gull.  There's no chance I'd tell a first-cycle Lesser Black-Backed from a young Herring Gull.  Wrong equipment, wrong birder.

I got home before the rain.  Spring tomorrow;  warblers soon.  Those I can recognize.

More things I hadn't seen before.

Every time I go out birding, I see something I haven't seen before. Monday, there was a Cooper's Hawk around at Evodia in the Ramble. It was pretty restless, kept switching perches every few minutes. Eventually it moved off past Azalea Pond toward the pin oak swamp.

A little later, a Red-Tailed Hawk flew in, a little east of Evodia. He was a very pale morph, possibly Pale Male himself, though he seemed like a younger (and even paler) bird. he sat fairly low in a tree, giving a good view.

After a few minutes, I saw the Cooper's flying low and fast north from Azalea Pond. The Red-Tailed took off after him! I got my binoculars on the Cooper's and saw it had a bird in it's talons--probably a Starling, maybe a small Grackle. The hawks disappeared over Tupelo Meadow, heading toward Belvedere Castle. The Red-Tailed was in surprisingly close pursuit.

I think the Red-Tailed figured the Cooper's would be slowed down from carrying off prey, and the he had a chance to harass it enough to make it drop its meal. Anyway, I'd never seen that before.

There was a Carolina Wren at Evodia--I'm not sure if the rescued wren was released already or if this was another bird. Word is the rescue was just dehydrated and will be fine. Another Carolina was near Willow Rock; didn't spot the Woodcock in the Oven. I was told the Pine Warbler was over at the Upper Lobe in the morning, but I didn't see it, though two Black-Capped Chickadees and a Brown Creeper were there.

later, I saw two Red-Tailed Hawks soaring over Central Park West around 81st Street. I thought it might be a mating flight, and watched for a while. Suddenly the male dove toward the building on the corner, flushing out another male Red-Tailed. It looked like he might actually have hit the third hawk. The female joined in the pursuit, and the three disappeared southwest behind the Museum of Natural History.

So that's two new things.

Bird and Moon

Pale Male perched over Fifth Avenue and 79th Street

I wasn't in Central park very long this afternoon; still weary from a trek to the Bronx the previous day, I made a brief trip through the Ramble, and then headed out via Cedar Hill. There I met Karen Fung, who told me that Pale Male was perched on an antenna atop the building at Fifth Avenue and 79th Street.


When I got him in sight, I realized that the rising moon was visible in the late afternoon sky, and I found an angle where bird and moon were well-framed. And of course I thought about Rosemary Mosco's excellent nature comics, Bird and Moon.

What I learned today

I'm sentimental. I worry about the little birds in the cold weather. Especially, I've been worried about the Carolina Wrens in Central Park this winter, so today I trudged out in the mid-teen temperatures to the Ramble, with a bag of blueberries.

Blueberries? Yes. Wrens are basically insectivores, but will eat fruit (they can use the glucose); nuts or seeds, not so much. Their guts are not set up to deal with extracting nutrition from plant matter (no gizzard, for one thing). In extreme need, they can eat some very oily seeds like sunflower, crunching it up to get the oils. At, least, that's what I'd been told. So, since we had some blueberries...

At Evodia, Sol told me that at least one wren had been visiting and begging food. He showed up in a few minutes.

Hey, buddy, spare some food for a wren?

And I tossed a few berries on the ground in front of him, and Sol threw out--a handful of crushed peanuts.

The bird eyed the blueberries suspiciously, grabbed a hunk of peanut, and retreated.

The same scene repeated a little later. So now I know a Carolina Wren will choose peanuts over blueberries.

Elsewhere in the Ramble, it was pretty much the usual crew. I watched a young Red-Tailed scouting the area for prey.

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.

Things I haven't seen before

One of the joys of birding is that, almost every time I go out, I see something I've never seen before.

Today, as I entered Central Park at Fifth Avenue and 79th Street, I spotted a Red-Tailed hawk in a tree just inside the entrance. That's not unusual. Pale Male famously lives on Fifth, and one of this year's crop of his offspring has been roosting in a pine on Cedar Hill nearby. I think this was that young hawk.

What was unusual is that the tree also contained twenty-odd starlings. Hawk and starlings all sat peacefully together. I've never seen that before.

In the Ramble, I saw a Cooper's Hawk chase another Cooper's away from a Willow Rock. I don't think I've seen that, either. They were roughly the same size, and seemed rather large for Cooper's, so I guess both were female.

Two Carolina Wrens were among the birds at the Evodia feeders. Yay, the wrens didn't freeze to death! The Baltimore Orioles were there as well.

In with the new

We were out until 4 AM on New Year's Eve, but I still made it to the Park by 9:15. The continuing Ring-Necked drake was almost the first bird I saw when I got to the Reservoir.



I circled the reservoir and then headed down the west side of the park to the Reservoir. Across the street from Summit Rock, an American Kestrel surveyed the world from a balcony.



In the Ramble, A young Red-Tailed Hawk flew in and perched only a few feet from me.



Later, I saw a young Sharp-Shinned Hawk attacking squirrels. I think this was the same hawk I watched making passes at the ducks on Turtle Pond a few days ago. It's not having much luck.



Other park birding news: the Baltimore Orioles continue around Evodia. There's supposed to be a Winter Wren along the Gill between Azalea Pond and Laupot Bridge, but I didn't see it. Now you know as much as I do.



I ended 2013 with 176 species in New York County and 179 overall. That's counting the European Goldfinch, the Budgie, and the Yellow-Fronted Canary. So, really, three less without the escapees; though I'm inclined to count the Goldfinch, who was flocking with finches. I don't expect to get anything close to that in 2014, but I do start the year with 36 species, only two less than last January 1.