Hilight in BBG between noon and 1:30 pm was Three BALTIMORE ORIOLES seen in the Ilex Macrocarpa tree at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden , reported by Rob Jett ; I saw two at noon. The Ilex Macrocarpa with medium sized black fruit is located on the lawn between the path and the brook opposite the Conservatory building, in the ILEX section (a big Holly Tree with red fruit is obvious) .There's also a big Willow tree next to it. More later on these sightings.
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Hilights in Prospect : Turkey Vulture, Lesser Scaup (see Jett Photos and video) + duck variety
From Rob Bate:
Peter
I saw a Turkey Vulture being chased by 9 Crows, a pair of Red Breasted Nuthatches on Breeze Hill and a late Catbird behind the rink in a short walk in the park.
Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 11/10/09
Number of species: 26
Canada Goose X
Mute Swan X
American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) X
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler X
Ruddy Duck X
Turkey Vulture X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Red-bellied Woodpecker X
Downy Woodpecker X
Northern Flicker X
American Crow X
Black-capped Chickadee X
Red-breasted Nuthatch X
Brown Creeper X
Carolina Wren X
Hermit Thrush X
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
Song Sparrow X
White-throated Sparrow X
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
House Sparrow X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/)
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From Alex Wilson :
Begin forwarded message:
> Location: Prospect Park
> Observation date: 11/10/09
> Number of species: 53
>
> Canada Goose 200
> Mute Swan 9
> Wood Duck 3
> American Black Duck 8
> American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) 1
> Mallard 200
> Northern Shoveler 35
> Ring-necked Duck 1 (Upper Pool.)
> Lesser Scaup 5 (4 male, 1 female, Lake.)
> Hooded Merganser 1 (Drake, Lake.)
> Ruddy Duck 100
> Pied-billed Grebe 3
> Great Blue Heron 2
> Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
> Turkey Vulture 1 (Passed low over Boathouse/Breeze Hill
> twice, about 15 minutes apart, mobbed. Presumably same bird.)
> Cooper's Hawk 1
> Red-tailed Hawk 2
> Merlin 1
> Peregrine Falcon 1
> American Coot 10
> Ring-billed Gull 100
> Herring Gull (American) 30
> Great Black-backed Gull 4
> Rock Pigeon 50
> Mourning Dove 10
> Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
> Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4
> Downy Woodpecker 6
> Hairy Woodpecker 5
> Blue Jay 15
> American Crow 30
> Black-capped Chickadee 10
> Tufted Titmouse 1
> White-breasted Nuthatch 7
> Brown Creeper 2
> Carolina Wren 3
> Golden-crowned Kinglet 3
> Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
> Hermit Thrush 1
> American Robin 50
> Gray Catbird 1
> European Starling 150
> Cedar Waxwing 25
> Eastern Towhee 1
> Song Sparrow 7
> Swamp Sparrow 1
> White-throated Sparrow 50
> Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 25
> Northern Cardinal 15
> Red-winged Blackbird 30
> Common Grackle 10
> House Finch 10
> American Goldfinch 20
> House Sparrow 30
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From Rob Jett:
Here's a link to my Picasa album with some poor digi-binned photos and 1 video of that weird scaup. It is likely just a smallish juvenile male Lesser Scaup in the process of molting. In photos 3 & 4 he is the one all the way to the right.
Lesser Scaup photo link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/citybirder/LesserScaupProspectLake?feat=directlink
Rob Jett's lake list:
> Date: November 10, 2009 5:04:56 PM EST
> Subject: eBird Report - Prospect Park , 11/10/09
> Location: Prospect Park
> Observation date: 11/10/09
> Number of species: 10
>
> Canada Goose X
> Mute Swan X
> Mallard X
> Northern Shoveler X
> Lesser Scaup 5
> Hooded Merganser 2
> Ruddy Duck X
> Great Blue Heron 1
> Red-tailed Hawk 1
> American Coot X
>
> This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
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Peter's lunch list at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden:
All sightings at the Ilex section.See first reading at the top of this dated posting for exact location. The Ilex section looks pretty popular with the birds, all the holly and relative planting attracting robins, waxwings and finches alike in good numbers. The macrocarpa fruit is quite a delicacy.Its worth checking out this area often for any possible unusual sightings.
Location: Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Observation date: 11/10/09
Number of species: 7
American Robin 15
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing 6
Baltimore Oriole 2
House Finch 4
House Sparrow X
