Today was noted for a roving flock of COMMON GRACKLES, about 325 seen working the lawn and leaf clutter south of West Island, adjacent to the south Lake drive ,where some ignorant grackles were on. Later, they also moved among leaf clutter just north of the Vanderbilt Street Playground,next to the park's border. Another mid afternoon note from Rob Jett places this large unusual winter flock back near the southern area .It a roaming flock , certainly hungry , and spectacle to watch.
The standout "winter" warblers continue to delight, an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER moving about, maybe the same bird ,seen first on the western side of Lullwater ( boathouse) bridge ( Rob Bate) , then reported by Rob Jett at the Oval grass lawn on Breeze Hill. BLACK&WHITE WARBLER is still plugging on, amazingly resilient against the recent cold snap...enjoy the bird if you can find it. For Rob Bate, a special treat seeing a trifecta of nice birds with the Orange-crowned Warbler, sharing the spotlight with uncommon RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET & WINTER WREN
On the lake, inundated by a very large Ring billed Gull flock, only water open at the western shore provided refuge for a lone drake RING-NECKED DUCK , 61 NORTHERN SHOVELERS, some Ruddy Ducks with 279 Canada Geese during a early morning count. Pied-billed Grebe was noticeably absent..I guess they had enough of cramped quarters.
In the Lily Pool , a statuesque GREAT BLUE HERON stood very still on the ice in front of the island.
The feeders are dominated by HOUSE FINCHES, about 26 seen, but one special guest crammed in,a CAROLINA WREN taking its time plucking seed from one of the bottom feeders.
A drippy day, but some nice things to see with not much moving around...but that's winter !
--KB
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From Rob Bate:
I found an Orange-crowned Warbler on the western Lullwater just south of the Bow Bridge by the Audubon Center. With it were a Winter Wren and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Later, behind the shipping containers on Center Drive i found the B&W Warbler around the fallen tree across the wood chip path, where it has been lately. I tried for the Redstart in the BBG but I guess he's long gone so no warbler hat-trick today.
33 species
Canada Goose 100
Mute Swan 5
Mallard 25
Northern Shoveler 2
Double-crested Cormorant 1
American Coot 5
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull 4
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Red-bellied Woodpecker X
Downy Woodpecker X
Hairy Woodpecker X
Blue Jay X
Black-capped Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
White-breasted Nuthatch X
Carolina Wren X
Winter Wren 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 2
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling X
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Song Sparrow X
White-throated Sparrow X
Northern Cardinal X
Common Grackle 250
House Finch 20
House Sparrow X
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From Adam:
Prospect Park, Kings, US-NY
Jan 17, 2012 2:50 PM - 4:05 PM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 kilometer(s)
Comments: mostly rainy, overcast, not too cold
27 species (+1 other taxa)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 8 including 1 bird with leg band 1048-75726 reported to Bird Banding Lab
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 9
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) 5
American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) (Anas rubripes x platyrhynchos) 3
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) X
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) 60 approx count
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) 1
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) 6
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1
American Coot (Fulica americana) 20 approx count
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 450 approx count
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) X
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) 2
Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) X
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 8
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) 1
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) 4
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 15
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 1
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) X
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) X
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 4
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 2
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) 5
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) 25 inc 1 yellow-form bird at feeder with blue band on left leg, purple band with ?lettering on right. Escapee?
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org/)
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Peter's lists:
Prospect Park--Prospect Lake, Kings, US-NY
Jan 17, 2012 9:00 AM - 9:35 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments: frozen lake 90%
11 species
Canada Goose 279
Mute Swan 7
American Black Duck 4
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler 61
Ring-necked Duck 1
Ruddy Duck 5
American Coot 15
Ring-billed Gull 1600
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull 7
Prospect Park--Feeders, Kings, US-NY
Jan 17, 2012 12:00 PM - 12:20 PM
Protocol: Stationary
9 species
Downy Woodpecker 3
Blue Jay 2
Black-capped Chickadee 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 1
White-throated Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 1
House Finch 26
House Sparrow 1
Prospect Park, Kings, US-NY
Jan 17, 2012
Protocol: Incidental
9 species
Great Blue Heron 1 Lily Pond
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
European Starling X
Song Sparrow 4 breeze hill
White-throated Sparrow 12 breeze hill
Northern Cardinal 2
Common Grackle 325 roaming single flock,ground feeding leaf clutter south woods lakeside
House Sparrow X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
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From Rafael:
Prospect Park, Brooklyn, Kings, US-NY
Jan 17, 2012 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 kilometer(s)
Comments: Short walk, the rain came around 11 am, and no much bird activity.
25 species
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) X
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) X
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) X
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) 1
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) 1
American Coot (Fulica americana) X
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) X
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) X
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) 10
Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) X
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) X
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 2
Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus) 2
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) X
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) 1
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) X
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) X
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) X
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) X
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 3
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) X
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) X
Brooklyn is great birding!!!: Rafa Campos R.
