With morning errands out of the way plus a late morning sleep ( after a physically demanding workweek after a equally like weekend in New Hampshire), an afternoon park trek seemed the perfect antidote for my lackadaisical start. Starting along the south shore of the lake bought on the usual bird regulars though the uncommon drake Red-breasted Merganser was spotted sailing between the Peninsula shelter and Duck Island. A stop at the feeders had its usual feeding frenzy though i now saw two Red-breasted Nuthatches working up a locust tree. Our overwintering Eastern Towhee fed briefly under the feeders with Fox Sparrow and the usual assortment. But a highlight for me was spotting the Peregrine Falcon frequently reported by Alex Wilson in past reports, on the "Signal tower" which i suspected was the one by the Garden. Sure enough , making my way thru the Nethermead, I was able to see that tower which is next to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's library on Empire Boulevard; on it was the perched Peregrine. I just happened to glimpse it when it dove off and straight down towards the park ( above Flatbush Ave) for prey attempt. Minutes later, it flew back up to the tower perch with two red strobes. Fortunately, i happened to have my Kowa scope and watched it quite well from that distance. A cool moment for sure on a lovely winter day..
Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 2/21/09
Number of species: 35
Mute Swan 3 lake
American Black Duck 3 lake
American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) 1
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler 126 lake
Ring-necked Duck 1 drake Upper pool
Bufflehead 2 ---1 drake upper pool, one drake Lake
Red-breasted Merganser 1 drake near Peninsula tip or shelter
Ruddy Duck 74 lake
Great Blue Heron 2-- 1 upper pool island, 1 back of duck island
Red-tailed Hawk 2 flyover soar above Binnen pool
Peregrine Falcon 1 perched on signal tower at Empire blvd and Washington Ave
American Coot X lake
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove 26
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 feeders
Downy Woodpecker 1 feeders
American Crow 22
Black-capped Chickadee 4 feeders
Tufted Titmouse 1 feeders
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 feeders
White-breasted Nuthatch 2 feeders
American Robin 3 Lily Pool meadow
European Starling X
Eastern Towhee 1 male feeders
Fox Sparrow (Red) 1 feeders
Song Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 11 feeders
Northern Cardinal 5
Red-winged Blackbird 3 feeders
House Finch 3 feeders
American Goldfinch 4 feeders
House Sparrow X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
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from Mike Corzine:
The Red tails are at it again on Nellie's lawn. When I got there about 12ish, one of them was in the nest, doing stuff. The hawk flew out, went around the lawn and sat with it's partner on the Tulip tree. They stayed above Nellie's for a while, eventually soaring high and out of sight towards the zoo. There was a third bird for a while. Strange, they didn't seem hostile towards it.
1ish- Cooper's Hawk in the Midwood. I'm not a 100%, but I took a photo. It's a little washed out, but the horizontal banding on the chest can just barely be seen. I think it was too big to be a Sharp-skinned. Also, the tail was a bit more rounded.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77693241@N00/3298847190/
The Ring- necks were still on the Upper Pool, along with a Bufflehead and G.B. Heron.
1:30- A pair of Merlins were on the Quaker Hill side of Center Drive. A male and female!
2ish- Red- breasted Merganser between Peninsula Thumb and Duck Island. A Bufflehead there too. Several Ruddy Ducks, a few Coots, and N. Shovelers.
Didn't stop by feeders.
Hope all is well,
Michael
