Expectations for bird life after a major blizzard were low as I set out for the arduous trek into the deep depths of snow. Battling high gusty winds, swirling snow and occasional mini whiteouts, I don't know how I managed. But I was exhausted when I got back home.
With my snowshoes to aid me , though not the "missing I-COULD-NOT-FIND " wooden old fashioned "tennis rackets" :( that would have given me wider area and less sinking with each step, I exerted more energy with each step thru the deep snow with the second pair of aluminium lightweight snowshoes. It took me almost an hour (well...I had a little fun zigzagging on the way thru the woods) for a normally 15 minute trek from my Greenwood Ave entrance to the feeders that were near empty as reported earlier. I had new seed , but this last minute purchased seed I bought were too large --Striped Sunflower--for the mesh feeders' holes ( so I made makeshift carton ones ) since my work stored seed is inaccessible for me as I am off today .
En route, several surprising birds revealed themselves, not something I expected with all this heavy snow around and after effects. By the Well Drive picnic tables , as I heard the joyous cries of kids and toddlers sledding down the popular hill, a CAROLINA WREN perched in a birch tree ( later on the return home, 6 AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES were feeding upon birch catkins, something we should look for with Redpolls feeding on the same staple if they passed thru). Farther up , by the Ginkgo grove, overshadowing the three shipping containers, a GRAY CATBIRD somehow braving the harsh elements , worked its way up the slope. Then , as I near the Maryland Monument, a midsized raptor flew down above the slope by the monument, the hawk flying over the Terrace Bridge and southern Lullwater; I caught sight of the bold upper wing crescents, and basing on its body /wing shape as well as the longish tail , I concluded it was a juvenile RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. Totally unexpected !
Finally, arrival at the feeders found me gazing at the high bird activity for almost 20 minutes from afar before I attempted a seed refill with the new feeder cartons I had. While watching , I observed a blackbird invasion of COMMON GRACKLE and RED-WINGED battling out with the usual bird feeders;but also well noted, single CHIPPING SPARROW on the ground and single PINE SISKIN on the thistle sock before the latter flew away to the larger feeder and attempted to pull out a black sunflower seed...I asked myself how in the devil will it....? I figured winter's cold play will do anything to birds psyche. I couldn't even put up the new emergency feeders due to high winds that would simply blow out all the new seed. But I received word Rob Bate refilled the feeders from seed he received as a gift.It will be good for now till Wednesday when I get back to work.
Facing the long difficult trailblazing home a little tired, I met another surprise from the Peninsula lakeshore, a species I didn't see earlier on the lake. Against the backdrop of over 250 wind battled Canada Geese huddling against Three Sisters Island shore, a lone hen COMMON MERGANSER was never expected by me. It glided in the now much wider open water, along ice edges for a good 10 minutes until it reached the southeast end of the water before it simply took off. I watched it faithfully with frostbitten cold fingers ( blame it on multiple text messages with my very small qwerty board I can't press with gloves on) until it disappeared in the winter western sky. Wow....
All I can say for this very surprising morning that was bird rich after a blizzard impacted day : Thank goodness someone invented snowshoes!
Observation date: 12/27/10
Mourning Dove X
Black-capped Chickadee 8
Tufted Titmouse 1
Chipping Sparrow 1
Fox Sparrow (Red) 3
White-throated Sparrow 7
Dark-eyed Junco 5
Northern Cardinal 8
Red-winged Blackbird 3
Common Grackle 5
House Finch 11
Pine Siskin 1
American Goldfinch 12
House Sparrow 3
Prospect -elsewhere
225 Canada Goose --against 3 sisters island shoreline
X Mallard
125 Northern Shoveler lake west shore
1 Common Merganser hen middle Lake, subsequently flew out after 10 minutes
1 Red-shouldered Hawk juv flyover Maryland -Terrace Bridge
1 Red-tailed Hawk perched above Wellhouse
X American Coot
X Ring-billed Gull
X Herring Gull
2 Great Black-backed Gull lake
X Rock Pigeon
X Mourning Dove
X Black-capped Chickadee
1 Carolina Wren Well Dr Picnic Tables
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet Peninsula lakeshore
1 Gray Catbird Lookout Hill south slope by Ginkgo grove
X European Starling
1 Song Sparrow
X White-throated Sparrow
X Dark-eyed Junco
X Northern Cardinal
14 Common Grackle reported at Mary Eyster's feeder
6 American Goldfinch Well Dr picnic tables, in birch trees, feeding on catkins
Total species reported: 23
From Rob Bate :
I filled the feeders with the seed mix, the birds seemed happy and the seed should last a day or two.
I saw the Pine Siskin and also a Chipping Sparrow, maybe the same one that has been around recently. Also, back at Winthrop St we had a Brown-headed Cowbird eating cheap seed with the House Sparrows. There were 20 House Finches and 10 Goldfinches on the feeders at one time and about 20 White-throated Sparrows feeding with Juncos and 2 Fox Sparrows below the feeders.
From Adam Welz December 26th report
Hi Peter
I made it out to the park today as the snow was getting going well. Made a trip to the feeders and had a look at Prospect Lake.
Notable: A small group of Pine Siskin in company of a larger group of Goldfinch at the feeders. A single Jay heard nearby -- haven't seen them much lately. I saw some Shoveler flying off the lake and northwards -- have no idea where they were going in the blizzard, but good luck to them. No Mourning Dove anywhere.
Cheers
Adam
Date: Sun, Dec 26, 2010 at 9:38 PM
Subject: eBird Report - Prospect Park , 12/26/10
Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 12/26/10
Notes: Snowing heavily, many observations of passerines made at feeders.
Number of species: 21
Canada Goose - Branta canadensis X not fully counted -- over 50 birds
Mute Swan - Cygnus olor 5
Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos X not fully counted -- over 50 birds
Northern Shoveler - Anas clypeata X not fully counted == probably over 200 birds
American Coot - Fulica americana 7
Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis X not fully counted -- approx 100 birds?
Herring Gull - Larus argentatus X about 10 birds? Not fully counted
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - Sphyrapicus varius 1
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens 2
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata 1
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus 20
White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis 1
Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus 1
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia 1
White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis 20
Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis 10
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis 6
House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus 6
Pine Siskin - Spinus pinus 5
American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis 10
House Sparrow - Passer domesticus 3
From Doug Gochfeld:
Hey Peter,
Wandered through the Park with my Dad late this afternoon and we had a couple of incidental sightings:
South slope of Lookout (between Wellhouse and Lamppost 249): Eastern Towhee, Gray Catbird, 2 Fox Sparrows
Feeders: Chipping Sparrow
Happy Holidays
-Doug
