Getting Better All the Time...

     The last few days, my life has been put on hold as I took on the flu. It was pretty awful, on the first day of having it, I came down with a 103 fever and walking was rough. Thankfully with some meds and lots of rest, getting out and moving was at the top of today's list!
     I did a double feature of sorts, I began the morning at a new location, Bush Terminal Park. Brooklyn is slowly becoming more and more, parkland along it's waterfront. It's pretty great, and this park has a lot of potential. Don't be off put by it's odd location, behind warehouses and factories, there are then ball fields, a walkable jetty, the nicest looking bathrooms, fashioned out of containers (to go with the theme of the area), and lovely views of downtown Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.
     I then took a break at home to warm up before heading out to Prospect to see the birds on the (frozen) lake and at the feeders.
     Enjoy!

Downtown Manhattan.

Gulls on Ice! Coming to an arena near you! Lots of ring billed gulls today!  

The juvenile great black backed gull just realized something really embarrassing, or is just bathing, happily.

American wigeons on the wing.

Red breasted mergansers braving the waves and wind.

This and other ring-billed gulls were soaring down, and touching the water, were they drinking? eating? performing magical feats? I don't know, but it was lovely to watch.

And once they did this, they would just sail back up into the air!

      After 2 hours of warming up, it was back out to Prospect, and many more charismatic gulls!

A juvenile ring-billed gull, leaving the scene...

The birds were very close because someone tossed cracked corn down and the birds were going bonkers. I love this, because here, your regular, everyday, ring-billed gull looks so absolutely beautiful. The everyday really is lovely, especially if you just take a closer look!

The sun was shining and bright, but ominous clouds were to the north, making for this unreal scene. 

This goose walked across the ice from about 100 yards away, and he did it in such a total gangsta way...This goose means business.

A Northern shoveler drake, they are so handsome!

An American coot gives the side eye...

A floofy American goldfinch at the feeders, they were most fun to watch.

"Showoff..."

Nobody likes a showoff...

Speaking of showing off, that is what I'm doing this May. I am going to be running the Brooklyn Half Marathon this spring. I am terrified and excited, as I have never run that distance! This will be my first half marathon and I am also fundraising for the NY Road Runners' Team for Kids, to bring education about good health, being active, and bringing sports to underserved schools here in NYC. If you would be so kind to support me with any amount, it would be so very appreciated! If you only decide to cheer me on as I take on such a challenge, I would be most happy with that as well! You can find my fundraising page here, Thank You!

Central Park Birding

     I had the chance today to get in a short bout of birding before meeting up with my girlfriends for a talk and lunch. They are such good friends and we make it a point to get together often, making time for each other, and I'm so glad we do that. The talk we went to included a group meditation, which honestly I have never intentionally thought to meditate, but tried it out and during that time and thought about how happy I am. I didn't think at all about work, but after meditation thought about how if I was still teaching in public school I couldn't have a clear mind and relax in the way I did at the moment. I am so thankful and grateful to do what I love, to be able to go bird watching and enjoy it, and not just use it as an escape, like I mostly did last year, and that I have what I have. So reflecting on happiness, I am so happy to be able to live my life in a way that doesn't feel selfish, but makes me truly happy, and that allows me to then be a better person to my friends and family.
     So I hope that the happiness I find in the outdoors and capture in photographs can bring a smile to your face, despite the cold weather we've been experiencing here in the Northeast. Enjoy!

I took the C train to 86th street, got into the park and immediately on the first tree in found white-breasted nuthatches, 3 of them, just crawling up and down this tree.

Also a nice surprise were tufted titmice foraging in the laves below that same tree. This one even has a snowy beak!

Once I walked in a bit further I spotted a Cooper's hawk flying by, over the reservoir, and then in the tree tops ahead, a very floofy American Kestrel, keeping warm. I was in Central Park yesterday, running my very first 10K, and I can tell you that this morning was much warmer than yesterday. Who knew 25 degrees F could feel so warm?!

Near 89th street in the park, someone spread seed along the ground, where pigeons gathered, a mourning dove, and this stunning male cardinal.

Blue jays were all over, and did end up bullying the pigeons out to have access to the seeds for themselves.

On the reservoir 4 hooded mergansers were right close to shore. I loved how this male looked, especially from this angle.

He just seems so proud, these birds are just so pretty with their bold colors, and those gold eyes! That skinny beak is best for catching fish and small invertebrates.

This female hooded merganser popped up with what appears to be a crayfish from the bottom of the reservoir.

They lack the bold colors of the males, but their soft crest of feathers is still lovely. Their colors will help them to blend into their surroundings much better, while the male uses his colors to catch the eyes of a lady.

A raft of about 56 ruddy ducks, resting just offshore.

A squirrel gets ready for his morning forage.

Snowy Coney

     I have the pleasure of working on Coney Island, and with the frigid temperatures and snow today, well how could you not venture out onto the beach?! Also, yesterday was National Bird Day, so in celebration of the snow and National Bird Day, here are some of the locals in the snow. Except these snow birds are not in Florida, just good ol' Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY!

A herring gull takes refuge in the African Penguin exhibit at work today.

Not the typical Coney Island most know...

Ring billed gulls took refuge on the sand, many were plopped down to rest and keep warm.

Snowy sand or sandy snow? The patterns the wind created in the sand were very pretty highlighted in white.

Furious flapping by a herring gull to land on the water near the shore.

A common loon just offshore.

Coney Island is eerily quiet in the winter, even more so in the snow.

Loons or polar bears? You decide! Coney Island is famous for its active Polar Bear Club, definitely not a club I would think to join!

A cozy ring billed gull.

Herring gull fly-by, before I headed back inside to huddle over the office space heater!

New Year, New Birds!

     For Christmas, my husband was generous enough to treat me to a binocular harness, a monopod, and a head to attach our camera to the monopod (isn't that what every girl wants?!). So, of course I wanted to try them all out!
     My first attempt to use the monopod was yesterday, at Drier-Offerman/Calvert Vaux Park. Of course I didn't really use it, because I didn't feel much need to. I saw some wonderful ducks, including my first Gadwall pair! It was cold, and before work, so it was a rather short trip.
     My second attempt to use the monopod was today, in the West Village in Manhattan. It made me look like Papparazzi and folks did ask me who I saw. I was like the Papparazzi in a way, as I joined a group of people who all came to see the Couch's Kingbird, a bird from Southern Texas who came to see NYC for the holidays, but is too cool for 5th Avenue and all the tourist stuff.
     Pretty much, there are a lot of pictures and as usual, I will let them do the majority of the talking:
Drier-Offerman, 1/2/15:

Red Breasted Merganser pair at sunrise. Despite the bone chilling cold, seeing birds in the warmth of the rising sun totally makes getting out in winter totally worthwhile!

Lesser scaup among the wrecks. I am happy to say that I could ID these birds positively as Lesser scaup. I have seen rafts of scaup but could never tell the difference, but am happy to say I now can. If these were greater scaup they'd have a rounder, fuller head, the backs of the heads of lesser scaup slopes. Glad I can put them down in my book!

I love sea ducks! My work at Central Park Zoo, teaching about these birds has given me a major appreciation for them, and they look really great during these cold months!

West Village, New York, NY, 1/3/15:

I walked down west 11th street with my binoculars in hand, ready to peek at any bird I saw. Thankfully the locals know what a person with binoculars is there for. A friendly woman asked me if I'm looking for "the bird" and I said yes, "have you seen it?" She kindly pointed me towards the Bleecker Playground where she saw people looking at "the bird." I thanked her, and with a little skip in my step, got over to where about 7 others were on "the bird." This was my first sight of the Couch's Kingbird. 

The Couch's Kingbird is from South Texas, why it's here? Who knows! This bird is the first of it's species in NY, and in the West Village, of all places!This bird has been reported in the area since Christmas Eve.

Another Kingbird is still in the area, that also is not normally ever in these parts, a Cassin's Kingbird is still being reported over in Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. To tell the two apart? The Couch's has a thicker bill, also note the strong notch in the tail.

A little crouch and ruffle...

...onto the next tree! Incoming!

These birds are flycatchers, they fly with some serious style and grace to grab insects on the wing. This bird has been observed doing so, but today we watched him eat some berries from some trees on Bank street with some robins and cardinals.

Now the whole reason I started this blog was specially because of instances like today. I am fascinated by finding nature in what are considered fairly unlikely places. If you take some time to stop and smell the roses, like I did today, not only did I get a life bird on a fire escape, I also saw in this small urban area, a cooper's hawk and red tail hawk interacting in the sky above us, saw and heard the song of the white throated sparrow, watched a nuthatch walk into view with the king bird and the quarreling hawks above, watched robins gorge on berries, and met the least shy yellow-bellied sapsucker ever on a tree that it appeared to frequent as it was full of sap wells. Just in the middle of the city.

If only the people in this apartment knew...

Just a rare bird on a fire escape in a trendy portion of NYC.

Some more berries were eaten here.

Last saw him here over the playground.

A little blip in the big city, he's up on the upper right. He did fly away and then we got another show to distract us.

Cue the yellow-bellied sapsucker. When I have seen these birds they seem so shy! Not this guy!

How perfect is that camouflage! He matches the lichen on this tree! He was totally picking some insects out that were hiding in the bark.

I am always reminded by the Honeymooner's and now here I am looking at the native yellow-bellied sapsucker, in NYC, and actually looking at the bird that isn't seen for thousands of miles from here! Edward Norton would be so proud!

Having him so close gives a great view of how their tail is pointed and used to help the bird prop up against the tree.

This bird, with its plumage, looks to be an immature bird. And probably a male, as it's developing a red bib (females have a black bib). Adults have much bolder markings.

A happy healthy new year to all, and hopefully a good 2015 for wildlife sightings!