I also spent half a day or so birding in Central Park primarily looking for Red Fox Sparrow but failing. The winter has been exceptionally mild in New York and apparently numbers of this species are well down in the park this year. Time at the feeders at Evodia Field in The Ramble produced good numbers of White-throated Sparrow, Blue Jay, White-breasted Nuthatch, House Finch, American Goldfinch, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, Downy Woodpecker and Mourning Dove. Phil Jeffrey provides a great deal of useful information on finding this and other areas in the park here. Other birds we saw included an Osprey just outside of the city and a Red-tailed Hawk over Central Park but perhaps most unusual was an Ovenbird that had been trapped in the coffee shop (Obica) in the atrium of the IBM building, the bird was walking around under tables feeding on cake crumbs when it should have been tip-toeing in leaf-litter in the forests of central America and the Caribbean.
Blue Jay - Central Park
Common Grackle - Central Park
American Goldfinch - Central park
White-throated Sparrow (tan-striped) - Central Park
Mourning Dove - Central Park
Downy Woodpecker - Central Park
Tufted Titmouse - Central Park
White-throated Sparrow (white-striped) - Central Park
White-throated Sparrow (intermediate) - Central Park
White-throated Sparrow (tan-striped) - Central Park
A proper wild Eastern Grey Squirrel - Central Park
Red-bellied Woodpecker - Central Park
I also spent some time around the reservoir in the north of the park, a flock of around 30 American Robin was a nice site especially as some where in cracking plumage. Birds on the reservoir included thousands each of American Herring Gull and Ring-billed Gull, c.80 Shoveler, 6 Ring-necked Duck, 25 Bufflehead, 2 Hooded Merganser, 2 Snow Goose, 25 American Coot, 2 Pied-billed Grebe, 100's of Ruddy Duck and 20+ Double-crested Cormorant.
American Robin - Central Park
Double-crested Cormorant - Central Park Reservoir
Pair of Bufflehead - Central Park
Bufflehead - Central Park Reservoir
Hooded Merganser - Central Park Reservoir
American Coot - Central Park Reservoir
432 Park Avenue building, the tallest residential building in the world. When measured by roof height this is the tallest building in New York but One World Trade Centre surpasses it in height when the telecommunications mast on its main roof is considered.
American Herring Gull (mainly adult) with Ring-billed Gull to the left and right - Central Park Reservoir
Ring-billed Gull - Central Park Reservoir
Pied-billed Grebe - Central Park Reservoir
Snow Goose - Central Park Reservoir
Ring-billed Gull - Central Park Reservoir
A coarsely marked 1st winter Ring-billed Gull - Central Park Reservoir
Central Park Reservoir
Lower Manhattan City Scape
Lower Manhattan City Scape
Statue of Liberty
The awesome One World Trade Centre (Freedom Tower) is the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere and the 6th tallest in the world. The observation deck on the 102nd floor really does afford the best views of the city
On 17th we had arranged to meet with John Turner of Alula Birding & Natural History Tours for a day trip to Mantauk at the eastern end of Long Island. John was an excellent guide and very knowledgeable on the birds, natural history and nature conservation of Long Island. I would definitely recommend John as a guide on the island. Unfortunately, I had contracted fairly severe food poisoning the night before and my stamina for birding and ability to hold a conversation was at a low ebb and at times the trip felt like a tour of the toilets of Long Island. Still, John was very tolerant of this! We caught the 06:15 train from Penn Station and met John at Massapequa Park Station and he drove on from here. First stop was at a Eastern Screech-owl roost site at Massapequa Preserve in the village of Massapequa Park. but unfortunately the bird was not at its usual roost but Song Sparrow and American Crow were new for the trip. Next we went to Southards Pond Park in the village of Babylon where a Dickcissel has been overwintering. A small group of six Fish Crow flew over giving their distinctive nasal croaking call, a new bird for me. There were many Song Sparrow and a singing Carolina Wren. And then a strange metallic call and I found the Dickcissel perched atop the fence around the tennis court, reminiscent of a chunky bunting with a distinct yellow wash on the throat and a hint of a black moustachial stripe and throat spots. Another new bird. The bird flew and we followed it, I wanted some pictures but when I raised my camera (I had taken my 7d Mark II) I found there was a card read fault and whatever I tried I could not get the thing to work - bugger! Not a great day. Onwards and we stopped at a Capri Lake in West Islip where there were several hundred Lesser Scaup plus large numbers of American Black Duck, Redhead, Hooded Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Shoveler and Canada Goose. We then pushed onwards to Mantauk Point, we found a sheltered spot and scanned the sea, there were thousands of Scoter, impossible to say how many with Black Scoter the commonest species, followed by Surf Scoter and then White-winged Scoter. Amongst the scoter were smaller numbers of Common Eider and Long-tailed Duck, Great-northern Diver and Red-throated Diver but no sign of King Eider or Harlequin Duck which had been seen here recently. But it would take some luck to have found these amongst the thousands of scoter.
Montauk Lighthouse
Mixed Scoter flock with Black Scoter and Surf Scoter visible and a Great-northern Diver in the background
We left the chilling headland and retraced our steps back to Deep Hollow Ranch in Montauk and birded a short distance along the dirt road that accesses the former estate of Andy Warhol. A flock of 500 Canada Goose with 4 Snow Goose were present in the paddocks and White-throated Sparrows hopped in the scrub and then John called our main target Red Fox Sparrow and there on a bramble was a stunning bright red, speckled monster sparrow. I was very pleased with this and almost forgot about my churning stomach. Our next stop was the marina and mouth at the eastern edge of Montauk harbour we scanned the sea an picked up 6 Great-northern Diver, 2 Red-throated Diver, 4 Long-tailed Duck and 10 Surf Scoter. We scanned the gulls, a small flock of 8 Bonaparte's Gull and a white-winged gull roosting on the beach which turned out to be a very pale 1st winter Glaucous Gull, we got great views as it roosted on the beach. I then picked up another white-winged gull this one a 2nd winter Kumlien's Gull. We finished our birding in the harbour by watching a pair of Grey Seal biting and cavorting in the shallows, this apparently a sign of mating behaviour.
We then drove around to the western side of Napeague Harbor near its inlet with Greater Peconic Bay where a Snowy Owl had recently been recorded but apart from a Northern Harrier, 30 Bufflehead, 7 Great-northern Diver and 4 Long-tailed Duck we recorded little. Our final stop was a barrier island accessed via Dune Road, we birded from the Shinnecock Inlet on the east several miles before turning back to the mainland in East Quogue, however, the clouds had built and the light levels had fallen significantly we saw a Great Blue Heron, a few Buffleheads, American Black Duck and five Dunlin feeding on a pile of discarded scallop shells extracting the remaining meat. It was time to head back west and in to New York as the snow began to fall from the sky eventually to settle to a depth of around 2 cm. It had been a great day but I was very let down by my camera and by my very poorly stomach!
Times Square
Central Park
Empire State Building from the Rockerfella Building
New York Stock Exchange
Flatitron Building
Central Park
View of Lower Manhattan from Rockerfella Building
