The week in review

Ok, ok, so I missed a few days. I'm in Jacksonville, Florida now, but I'll get to that in due course. First I need to tell you about the days in between. I'll lay it out in several posts (some bird-themed, some not). I've been sick as a dog the last four days or so, which isn't so much fun when the daily maximum is below freezing. However, I didn't let that stop me from getting out and about. I spent some time in Central Park with family and birding. At this time of year the park is a mix of green and brown, mostly brown. The trees have nearly all lost their leaves. On the cold days the puddles of water on the pavement turn to ice, which can be dangerous if you aren't watching where you put your feet. We were very lucky and had bright sunny mornings, though there was still ice on the paths despite the sun. Sorry Bonnie, this is going to get birdy for a while.

For those who know the park, the best birding was in two main areas. The Ramble, which is about level with 72nd St, was really great for woodland birds. The highlights for me were seeing woodpeckers (we don't get any in Australia). The Red-bellied Woodpecker and the amusingly named Yellow-bellied Sapsucker were obliging on the first day and I got some nice photographs. It's fun watching woodpeckers work up, down and around the branches of the trees - the pecking motion and the tapping noises on the tree when they "drill" for insects is somewhat surreal. It's hard to imagine headbutting a tree to get your food, but I suppose they must be used to it. I was also very happy to see a White-breasted Nuthatch - the first bird I managed to track down by call (not that I knew what was calling!). Nuthatches seem to be a lot like our Sitella - in both behaviour and shape. As I mentioned they have crazy sounding calls too - as famously mentioned in Charlie's Angels the movie (10 points if you remember the species mentioned without having to look it up). Bluejays and Northern Cardinals provided a splash of colour to the otherwise drab forest. For such a pretty bird, Bluejays have a horrible-sounding call. I visited the Ramble twice and can say that early morning is considerably better for birds, despite the cold.



A bit further north of the Ramble there were some trees with ripe berries that birds were going nuts over. We had many American Robins and Common Grackles foraging in the area, and a Downy Woodpecker a nd more Nuthatches scouring the tree trunks. There were lots of Tufted Titmouse (titmice?) in the area, which despite the name are actually a very cute bird, not a kind of rodent. Speaking of rodents there are thousands of Grey Squirrel in the park. While they are commonplace or even annoying for the locals, it was a real thrill to see them scurrying around, burying or digging up acorns and generally being playful.

The other spot that was great for birds was the large lake up near the Metropolitan Museum. There were many kinds of ducks, with my favourites being the Hooded Merganser and the Bufflehead. There was also a female American Wood Duck which probably should have migrated by now. My big day out birding involved a lot of waterbirds too, so I'll save some pictures for that post. More to follow.

For those who are interested, the list of birds I saw in Central Park was as follows:
Canada Goose
Gadwell
Northern Shoveler
Mallard
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
American Wood Duck
Ruddy Duck
American Black Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
American Coot
Mourning Dove
Town Pigeon
American Kestrel
Red-tailed Hawk
Hawk sp (Probably Cooper's)
Herring Gull
Greater Black-Backed Gull
Bluejay
Northern Cardinal
Northern Mockingbird
American Robin
Hermit Thrush
Common Grackle
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Tufted Titmouse
Common Starling
American Goldfinch