Thursday, January 2, 2014

January 1st Green-wood Cemetery (Brooklyn)

A small start to the year list targeted two interesting species in Brooklyn's Green-wood Cemetery.  The first was Monk Parakeet, a species I'd made no effort to find in NY state or NYC, despite having seen them in FL, NJ and TX.   There are well-known populations within NYC, one of which is at the main gate to the cemetery, so despite hearing them before seeing them it took no more than 20 seconds to find one.  That was the easier of the two species, with the nearby Red-headed Woodpecker proving elusive.  In fact it was only because the other entrance was locked, forcing us to retrace our steps to the main entrance, that I managed to find it by virtue of it calling - it seemed to be moving around with a mixed flock so I was just at the right place and time.

Otherwise the cemetery understandably lacks understory so bird life was relatively low, with a few White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos and with Red-headed Woodpecker the most obvious bird.

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