I went out of my comfort zone yesterday and visited Bronx to do some birding for the first time ever. I am glad I did.
After I saw the tweet by Jack about this bird, I decided to go and try my luck with this species that eluded me on few occasions in Staten Island. I live in Brooklyn near Verrazano bridge. It took me and few other people almost an hour and a half until we finally saw it. We spent more than half an hour with this elusive woodpecker which spent most of its time on the trees by the open field between Hunter Island, Orchard beach and the parking lot. It was not shy at all and it wasn't bothered by our presence. It would fly into the forest for a short distance and come out after less than a minute. It flew above our head few times. Sometimes, it would stay for few minutes drumming on one branch. It was a wonderful experience. here is a video of this bird: https://twitter.com/BirdBronx/status/1071914787951517696 On another note, last Friday was a very special day for me and for Manhattan. I saw the Long-eared Owl, a life bird for me, that was hanging around in Fort Tryon Park in the northern tip of Manhattan. It was very easily seen from the sidewalk of the circle where Fort Washington Ave meets Cabrini Boulevard. Here is a video of it: https://twitter.com/BirdCentralPark/status/1071206627179683841 What was so special for Manhattan is the fact that on that day, Friday December 7th., there was five species of owls in Manhattan reported to eBird. Three in Central park (Great-horned, Barred and Northern Saw-whet), one in Ft. Tryon (Long-eared) and one in Inwood Hill park (Eastern Screech). I wonder if it is a new record for the county or even NYC. On a personal note, I was lucky to see seven species of Owls this year (five in Manhattan and two in Brooklyn) . The only one I missed is the Short-eared Owl which eluded me on few occasions. Oh well, life is not perfect. have a good birding (or owling) rest of the year. Gus Keri -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
