With all my trips away recently, I thought it was time to take Paula somewhere and New York was on our lists of places to visit. We were very lucky with the weather and saw all the top attractions this lively city has to offer.
Scrolling further down will reveal a few bird images. I managed six lifers in the limited time I had birding, and these are highlighted in the list below. All sightings were from Central Park unless otherwise stated.
Blue Jay - many seen and heard
White-breasted Nuthatch - 3
White-throated Sparrow - small numbers present
Northern Cardinal - just about reached double figures
Common Grackle - hundreds
Red-tailed Hawk - three
Fish Crow - a group consisting of ca.20 birds around Statue of Liberty - thankfully calling frequently
American Herring Gull - good numbers
Ring-billed Gull - hundreds
Great Black-backed Gull - small numbers on water bodies
Northern Mockingbird - two pairs in the city
American Robin - 100+
Pale-bellied Brent Geese - 50+ around Statue of Liberty
Bufflehead - 10
Peregrine - 1 drifted over Rockefeller
American Black Duck - 1 first-winter drake & poss 1 female
Lincoln's Sparrow - 1
Dark-eyed Junco - 3
American Coot - 2
House Finch - 3
Mourning Dove - 4
Northern Flicker - 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Ruddy Duck - 50+
Time Square
the view from Empire State looking towards the One Trade Centre
flat-iron building
Natural History Museum
the birdlife of the Congo Rainforest was well worth the twenty minutes trying to find all the species labelled from the outside. Most relevant to my Uganda trip coming up in June was this Rufous-sided Broadbill, a much wanted bird for me, and has been since I first looked at 'The Birds of West Africa' a few years ago.
the view from Statue of Liberty looking north
view from the Rockefeller looking south - incredible view!!
on our last afternoon after miles of walking over the few days, a spot of ice-skating to completely ruin the legs was a fitting end to a superb weekend
Northern Cardinal in Central Park - a few of these beauties were spotted around the park only
American Robin in Central Park - at least 50+ were seen on our last day walking through the park. All were very tame and some in sub-song.
drake Bufflehead on the main reservoir, Central Park
Red-bellied Woodpecker in Central Park - my hoped for Sapsucker didn't emerge, but this certainly compensated
first-winter male (?) Black Duck - at the time of watching this dull species I was confident on this being a bog standard Black Duck, however when consulting the field guide back home the pale edges to most feathers as well as a lack of streaking on the cheeks and throat made me wonder if this was potentially a hybrid but with the main trait being Black Duck. Fortunately Mottled Duck is out of range, so scrolling through images of first-winter Black Ducks, this bird was a very close match, and the bright yellow bill indicative of a male, I'm fairly satisfied with my original id., although an adult male would have been more welcome. Worth noting that the main body of water here also held many Mallard, Shoveler, Ruddy Ducks, Buffleheads etc.
