Despite this deep freeze, about ten % of Prospect Lake remains open, quite surprising with this really cold spell. And when you wouldn't expect much, a quite nice surprise to see a drake Common Merganser right smack in the middle of the lake while nearby 3 Pied-billed Grebes huddled together by Three Sisters islands. Seems like everything is managing OK .With some precipitation on the way, it nevertheless will be a predicted "balmy" 38 degrees Sunday for the waterfowl count. Otherwise, i am glad i restocked the suet feeder last nite after running out of it , in which i made a hurried errand to Lowe's for the 92 cents per cake compared to the ridiculous 2.50 per at a local pet store. The suet's high fat /protein content is a critical staple for the winter challenged birds with this deep freeze. In the meantime,enjoy winter's beauty in this quacky weather.
P.
Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 1/17/09
Notes: main 60 acre lake 10 % open during current deep freeze
Observers : Peter Dorosh and Rob Jett
Number of species: 32
Canada Goose 7 lake
Mute Swan 2 lake
American Black Duck 1 lake
American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) 1 lake
Mallard 152 lake
Northern Shoveler 234 lake
Common Merganser 1 lake middle;drake
Ruddy Duck 2 lake
Pied-billed Grebe 3 three sisters island north shore
Great Blue Heron 1 lake middle,then peninsula shore
Red-tailed Hawk 1 perched Duck island
American Coot 45 west shore lake
Ring-billed Gull 300 lake
Herring Gull (American) X lake
Great Black-backed Gull 3 lake
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Downy Woodpecker 1 feeders
American Crow 1 f/o lake
Black-capped Chickadee 2 feeders
Tufted Titmouse 1 feeders
White-breasted Nuthatch 1 feeders
American Robin 1 three sisters
European Starling X
Fox Sparrow (Red) 1 feeders
Song Sparrow 2 west island
White-throated Sparrow 20 feeders
Dark-eyed Junco 6 feeders
Northern Cardinal 3 feeders
Red-winged Blackbird 8 feeders
House Finch 12 feeders
American Goldfinch 2 feeders
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/)
**************************************
From Rob Jett:
Subject: eBird Report - Prospect Park , 1/17/09
Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 1/17/09
Number of species: 33
Canada Goose X>
Mute Swan X>
American Black Duck X>
Mallard X>
Northern Shoveler 245>
Common Merganser 1>
Pied-billed Grebe 2>
Great Blue Heron 2>
Red-tailed Hawk 2>
Merlin 2>
American Coot X> Ring-billed Gull X>
Herring Gull X>
Great Black-backed Gull X>
Rock Pigeon X> Mourning Dove X>
Red-bellied Woodpecker X>
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1>
Downy Woodpecker X>
Blue Jay X>
American Crow 2>
Black-capped Chickadee X>
Tufted Titmouse X>
White-breasted Nuthatch X>
Carolina Wren X>
Fox Sparrow 2>
Swamp Sparrow 1>
White-throated Sparrow X>
Dark-eyed Junco X>
Northern Cardinal X> Red-winged Blackbird X>
House Finch X>
American Goldfinch X>>
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/)
************************************
From Alex Wilson:
Hi Peter. BTW, I posted some photos of the Lesser Black-backed Gull from 1/2/09 at: http://www.digitalmediatree.com/arboretum/LBBG/
The point-and-shoot pictures are not great, but interesting in terms of what it’s like to pick out one gull among hundreds on the lake.
Best,
AW
Begin forwarded message:
Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 1/17/09
Notes: 8 degrees at dawn.
Number of species: 48
Canada Goose X
Mute Swan X
American Black Duck X
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler X
Common Merganser 1 (Drake, central Lake.)
Ruddy Duck 5
Pied-billed Grebe 4 (1 on ice at west edge of Lake; 3 by Three Sisters Islands.)
Great Blue Heron 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 (Terrace Bridge flyby.)
Cooper's Hawk 1 (Adult, made a pass along the west edge of the Lake.)
Red-tailed Hawk X
Merlin 1 (Around Center Drive/Nethermead Arches.)
Peregrine Falcon 1 (On signal tower at east corner of park.)
American Coot 40 (Crowded into small hole in ice along west side of Lake.)
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Red-bellied Woodpecker X
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 5
Downy Woodpecker X
Hairy Woodpecker X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Black-capped Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 (Breeze Hill feeders.)
White-breasted Nuthatch X
Brown Creeper 1
Carolina Wren 3
Hermit Thrush 3
American Robin X
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
Eastern Towhee 2 (2 males, Lookout Hill SE slope.)
Fox Sparrow (Red) X
Song Sparrow X
Swamp Sparrow 3
White-throated Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) X
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
House Finch X
Pine Siskin 1 (With small group of Goldfinches in Sweetgum, Center Drive near Nethermead Arches.)
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X
