Birding Around Brooklyn

    I spent my weekend birding, the urge to get outside is always there, with working mainly from home. The kiddo and I had a fun day out Friday and I got some alone bird time on Saturday. We visited Prospect Park together on Friday, birding a few areas and visiting my old haunt, the zoo to see the goats and have lunch. On Saturday I traveled to Floyd, Hendrix Creek on the Spring Creek Park Side, then to Shirley Chisholm, where I birded the opposite side of the creek out to Jamaica Bay.

    The temperatures again dropped, but the baby didn't seem to mind as she napped through most of it in her cozy little cocoon bag. By Saturday, the wind had picked up, I literally had to hold on to my hat at some points, hoping not to lose it. I had almost thought Saturday a dud, but Shirley Chisholm Park was hopping.

On Friday, we began at the feeders. We enjoyed some American Goldfinch, chickadee, blue jays, and many red-winged blackbirds among other.

One unusual visitor at the feeders was this gray catbird. Normally they are south for the winter, but this one is sticking it out on free handouts.

Always to be found at the feeders, handsome Northern Cardinals.

And of course we had to go see the Northern shovelers just shoveling, After walking the very quiet Ravine and through part of the also very quiet Midwood, we birded our way to and through the zoo. It was a fun morning and afternoon with a very agreeable baby.

On Saturday, after Floyd proved barren, Hendrix Creek had a lovely showing of waterfowl, including this and a few other green-winged teal.

Out further of the shores at Shirley Chisholm State Park, both handsome male and female gadwall paired off and dabbled through the waterway.

And every look at a bufflehead panned out as such. This female, diving and hunting for her food, she didn't stop for more than a breath of air.

A bird I was hoping to see, a female common merganser, who was well hidden within a group of female red-breasted mergansers. Her white chin a differing factor between the two.

A red-breasted merganser female.

Along the paths, sparrows revealed themselves. With this song sparrows were even a few American Tree sparrow who I failed to photograph.

A nice duck to see, a common goldeneye, was happy to run into this very far off drake on a windy Jamaica Bay.

And then as I was trying to leave and this Northern Harrier just mesmerized me as it passed right overhead and quite low, due to the strength of the winds.

Grassland hunters, they are absolutely a guarantee here in the colder months.

That white tail band is a dead giveaway of a northern harrier.

More owl-like than hawk, they use their facial disks just like an owl to amplify and hunt by not just sight but also sound.

And they just sail over the grasses without much effort as the wind is strong enough to catch me off balance, this bird keeps gliding forward, nothing stopping it.