A dozen of us on a City Island Birds walk had a great morning in the park, seeing 39 species. Highlights included a close Great Horned Owl thanks to Bronx Brendan’s great spotting skills, a nearby Killdeer nest, Lesser Yellowlegs, American Oystercatcher. Two juvenile Red-tails that landed 10 feet away, at practically eye level, in front of us, Hermit Thrush, Common Loon and Horned Grebe, both in breeding plumage, Common Goldeneye and a few harbor seals.
Standing out with the warm sun, over looking the bay was glorious and watching an array of waterfowl made it even better. Red-breasted Merganser Common Goldeneye American Wigeon Bufflehead Lesser Scaup Mallard Canada Goose Double-crested Cormorant American Oystercatcher Horned Grebe (breeding plumage) Common Loon (breeding plumage) Lesser Yellowlegs Osprey (few) Great Horned Owl (close and unobstructed view) Red-tailed Hawk (5) Killdeer (nesting) Tree Sparrow Song Sparrow House Sparrow White-breasted Nuthatch Northern Cardinal Tufted Titmouse Downy Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Ruby-crowned Kinglet Eastern Phoebe American Robin Brown Creeper Hermit Thrush Northern Flicker European Starling Greater Black-backed Gull Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Great Egret Brown-headed Cowbird Common Grackle Blue Jay American Crow Jack Rothman cityislandbirds.com -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
