From Rob Jett:
In addition to the good number and diversity of sparrows around the park, I had a few interesting observations:
- I flushed a Wilson's Snipe from the edge of the lake while on the peninsula.
- A single American Pipit was flying over the Long Meadow then dropped down near the baseball fields.
- A juvenile Cooper's Hawk was chasing a flock of 10 American Crows on the Long Meadow (not sure why, crows bigger and outnumbered her).
- There were 10 Wood Ducks on the Upper Pond
- Northern Shoveler flock on Prospect Lake has swelled to over 200 birds.
Good birding,
Rob
FYI - The eBirds database shows Prospect Park at 192 species this year, so far
Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 10/16/09
Number of species: 51
Canada Goose 150
Wood Duck 10
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler 240
Ruddy Duck 25
Pied-billed Grebe 3
Great Blue Heron 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Merlin 1
American Coot 3
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Wilson's Snipe 1
Herring Gull (American) 1
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove 12
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 25
Eastern Phoebe 30
American Crow 10
Black-capped Chickadee 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 3
Winter Wren 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 45
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 30
Hermit Thrush 15
American Robin X
Gray Catbird 3
European Starling X
American Pipit 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 30
Palm Warbler 4
Eastern Towhee 4
Chipping Sparrow 50
Field Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 13
Song Sparrow 35
Swamp Sparrow 20
White-throated Sparrow 200
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 6
Northern Cardinal 5
American Goldfinch 12
House Sparrow X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
=====================
I knew it was going to be active today ( and seeing Rob Jett's report, it was) , particularly in some spots in Prospect. But too busy planting 126 plants on Lookout Hill ,plus a meeting with a reporter from scienceline.org at lunchtime prevented me from enjoying the fruits of fall sparrows and other good things. But i was able to get some good quality time after work from 3:45 on along the south lakeshore where birds were showing themselves well.
As soon as I rounded the shore opposite Duck Island , Yellow-rumped Warblers and Eastern Phoebes were prominent. The "rumps" took delight using the stone wall that makes up the shore a jumping platform, to get at the stunted smartweed seeds that i guess harbored insects, while the Phoebes took more to the air, all over the place, using Duck Island perches. A nonchalant BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON watched sleepily from its poison ivy abode.
But further on was the real action, a sparrowfest. Around the bend that i mentioned recently was a weedy spot --marked by three Gray Birches --that held quite a number of sparrows. Numerous SONG , with a decent number of SWAMP, took a backseat to a LINCOLN's i observed with pleasure. Palm Warblers, Ruby Crowned Kinglet, White-throated Sparrows accompanied the sparrow bunch.
More nice sightings with PINE WARBLER on Three Sister Islands, late LAUGHING GULL offshore on the lake, and three SPOTTED SANDPIPERS , two at West Island, and one previously on the main shore near Duck Island makes up a pretty productive 1 hr and a half birding when i couldn't get out earlier. Oh, throw in all those Shoverlers and three PIED -BILLED GREBES for good measure. Between the storms can be terrific birding...
--Peter
All south lakeshore
Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 10/16/09
Number of species: 30
Canada Goose X lake
Mute Swan 2 lake
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler 210 lake
Ruddy Duck 7 lake
Pied-billed Grebe 3 lake
Black-crowned Night-Heron 3--1 duck isl;2 three sisters
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 mainland opp Duck Island, perched then flew into Duck Island
Red-tailed Hawk 1 perched on snag West Island
American Coot 3 lake
Spotted Sandpiper 3 --2 west isl; 1 mainland opp Duck
Laughing Gull 1 lake (late)
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Downy Woodpecker 1 west island cove, pecking Japanese knotweed
Eastern Phoebe 8 along south shore
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1 near west island
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 7 along south shore
Hermit Thrush 3 along south shore
Gray Catbird 1 west island cove
Yellow-rumped Warbler 35 along south shore
Pine Warbler 1 three sisters
Palm Warbler 6 along south shore
Song Sparrow 22 weedy site southeast shoreline
Lincoln's Sparrow 1 weedy site southeast shoreline
Swamp Sparrow 11 -- 9 weedy site southeast shoreline; 2 west island area
White-throated Sparrow 12 --3 se lakeshore; 9 west island woods
House Sparrow X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
From Orrin:
Highlights included white-crowned sparrow and at least 6 wood ducks, mostly drakes, on the upper pool, and a red-winged blackbird incongruously singing, a harbinger of--what?--at West Island cove. Other sightings included a lifetime supply of hermit thrushes, phoebes, and ruby-crowned kinglets, some of whom acting like brown creepers, feeding on lampposts and otherwise acting disoriented, flickers, yellow-rumped warblers acting like phoebes over the lake, and two probable spotted sandpipers.
