For the weekend at least. I hopped a JetBlue flight over to visit my wife who’s in town for a few weeks on business and to talk to our accountant about last year’s taxes. This morning I had a little free time to hop over to Prospect Park and do some East Coast birding. As you can see, it’s still winter out here. The leaves have not started to come in yet on the deciduous trees.
I did not find the Pine Warbler I was looking for, but I did add several birds to the year list, including one that’s only a rarity out West, Common Grackle:
Spring migration has kicked off in Prospect Park. A lot of the park breeders have returned from their winter quarters and were conspicuous in number. Besides Common Grackles, there were also large numbers of American Robins all over the park. However, the birds that only pass through here on their way north, like the warblers, have not yet arrived for the most part. Their breeding grounds probably don’t have enough food quite yet.
Some of the wintering birds (mostly waterfowl) have left, but the Ruddy Ducks and American Coots were still around, and maybe a dozen or two Northern Shovelers. However, most of the several hundred shovelers that overwinter in the park have already north. There were also four American Black Ducks, two Ring-necked Ducks and three Bufflehead, but that’s about as many of those as you ever see here. They’ll all likely head North soon too. Canada Geese, Mute Swans, and Mallards are all year-round residents. I was pleased to see that my old friends NA 07, NA 23, and NA27 are still hanging in there:
However NA26 hasn’t been seen since he was picked up by the police on Flatbush Ave. some months ago, and is likely no longer with us. Natural selection is very tough on geese that can’t stay out of traffic.
In four hours of intense birding I tallied only 32 species including four woodpeckers:
Brant
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Ring-necked Duck
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
House Sparrow
California has spoiled me. Back in Irvine, 32 species is a casual hour after work. Prospect Park will pick up in the next month as the migrants begin passing through on their way north, but by then I’ll have returned to the sunny O.C.
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