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.
Showing posts with label Red-headed Woodpecker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Red-headed Woodpecker. Show all posts
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Meadowlands and Central Park - better luck in February
Back when NJ Transit had more reasonably priced tickets I used to take the train into Manhattan, but since they jacked the round trip prices by 50% it barely makes sense to give up the flexibility and pay $35 for parking+ticket to get to NYC. So, I drove in and parked on local streets. The upside of this is that I had the chance to go to the Meadowlands early before I went into Manhattan.
In contrast to the previous Sunday, I found a light morph Rough-legged Hawk moving from one landfill dome to another, giving good looks but it was not a bird I refound. Northern Harrier and Red-tailed Hawk were also around. Near the old ballfields I also saw an immature White-crowned Sparrow, but attempts to refind it were stymied by a birder who stopped right in front of where the birds had retreated into the phragmites after a Harrier fly-over.
But not a bad start, so then I went into Manhattan. On the walk up Cedar Hill I saw a Yell0w-bellied Sapsucker, then into the Ramble. I failed to find the Varied Thrush, despite looking around its old locations quite carefully. However the feeders gave good birds - Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Pine Siskin. In a strange moment the Brown Creeper was feeding at the thistle feeder.
Apart from the feeder birds the Ramble was quiet, Turtle Pond was frozen over (the Varied Thrush was seen by others at the west side of it), so I wandered south toward Sheep Meadow. In some places the footing was treacherous with ice, but after the little trek I was rewarded by views of the immature Red-headed Woodpecker on the south side of Sheep Meadow. And now being in the south end of the park I went off to the 59th Street Pond to look for the reported Wood Duck. Most of the pond was frozen, but in the open section there were 120-150 Mallards taking advantage of the people feeding them. In the time I was there they were fed at least 4 times, so despite the high numbers of ducks there really isn't all that much of a food shortage, at least on weekends. Mixed in was a clearly hybrid Mallard, a fairly typical American Black Duck, and two male Wood Ducks. The Wood Ducks, despite being smaller than the Mallards, were fairly vocal and fairly aggressive, and did manage to get a decent share of the bread being thrown.
So not a bad day, in total, at least measured in terms of finding the desired target species.
In contrast to the previous Sunday, I found a light morph Rough-legged Hawk moving from one landfill dome to another, giving good looks but it was not a bird I refound. Northern Harrier and Red-tailed Hawk were also around. Near the old ballfields I also saw an immature White-crowned Sparrow, but attempts to refind it were stymied by a birder who stopped right in front of where the birds had retreated into the phragmites after a Harrier fly-over.
But not a bad start, so then I went into Manhattan. On the walk up Cedar Hill I saw a Yell0w-bellied Sapsucker, then into the Ramble. I failed to find the Varied Thrush, despite looking around its old locations quite carefully. However the feeders gave good birds - Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Pine Siskin. In a strange moment the Brown Creeper was feeding at the thistle feeder.
Apart from the feeder birds the Ramble was quiet, Turtle Pond was frozen over (the Varied Thrush was seen by others at the west side of it), so I wandered south toward Sheep Meadow. In some places the footing was treacherous with ice, but after the little trek I was rewarded by views of the immature Red-headed Woodpecker on the south side of Sheep Meadow. And now being in the south end of the park I went off to the 59th Street Pond to look for the reported Wood Duck. Most of the pond was frozen, but in the open section there were 120-150 Mallards taking advantage of the people feeding them. In the time I was there they were fed at least 4 times, so despite the high numbers of ducks there really isn't all that much of a food shortage, at least on weekends. Mixed in was a clearly hybrid Mallard, a fairly typical American Black Duck, and two male Wood Ducks. The Wood Ducks, despite being smaller than the Mallards, were fairly vocal and fairly aggressive, and did manage to get a decent share of the bread being thrown.
So not a bad day, in total, at least measured in terms of finding the desired target species.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Alpha, Warren, Trenton - Jan 23rd
I started at Oberly Road in Alpha, at the central-western edge of NJ, around 9am and found very little. No snow to push the birds to the roadside, and in any event two people walking down the road would have undone all of that. I saw a few Eastern Bluebirds and one or two Horned Larks and that was it. An inauspicious start to the day.
Heading east, I stopped off at Hoffman (Farm) Park - this is a site I've regularly seen Bobolink and Grasshopper Sparrow in during summer, but it was also very quiet in winter. I stayed there less than 30 minutes and there was a dearth of sparrow activity.
In danger of getting skunked I went 25 miles further east to Glenhurt Meadows (aka Warren Green Acres). Around the parking lot there were two singing House Finches, a few Song Sparrows and a couple of Swamp Sparrows. Northern Flickers milled around. I hiked down to the river - much of the standing water here was frozen although there were dramatic sound effects as it was slowly melting and crashing. En route to the Raritan River I came accross a Common Grackle flock with a Red-winged Blackbird and two Rusty Blackbirds within it, just passing down the edge of the powerline cut. And then after a little searching I did come up with two Red-headed Woodpeckers - one adult and one unseen. Red-bellied Woodpecker was also present. Although not epic in activity it was a good find after the dearth of birds at the other two sites. One especially vocal Blue Jay was doing a very good Red-tailed Hawk impersonation.
Finally I tracked back down to Princeton and went to Hamilton-Trenton Marsh, ostensibly for more Rusty Blackbirds - which I didn't find. However the water was only partly frozen so there was a decent number of waterfowl, including Mallard, Gadwall, Am. Black Duck, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Common Merganser and numerous Ring-billed Ducks. Most of the waterfowl were on the most westerly lake viewed from the wet woods. They were also not entirely happy to see me with quite a lot of vocal nervousness even without me reaching the edge of the tree line. Of the several crows present most of them were American although two let out Fish Crow-like calls - however American can do a pretty good impersonation of this as well. A few White-throated Sparrows rounded out the day.
In more forgiving conditions (less ice) I think it's possible to hike along the southern bank of the Raritan here back as far as the arboretum.
Directions to Warren Green Acres / Glenhurst Meadows (since I often have time finding them): I-78 at exit 36, south on King George Rd perhaps half a mile and then left (east) on Mountain Ave just before the road heads uphill. Mountain Ave curls over the interstate, passes Wagner Farm Arboretum, past 3 houses and then there is an unmarked driveway on the left (north side of the road) opposite a small pond. This is the parking area. Street address is 178 Mountain Ave but on the north side of the road (Google marks is to the south).
Link to google maps.
Heading east, I stopped off at Hoffman (Farm) Park - this is a site I've regularly seen Bobolink and Grasshopper Sparrow in during summer, but it was also very quiet in winter. I stayed there less than 30 minutes and there was a dearth of sparrow activity.
In danger of getting skunked I went 25 miles further east to Glenhurt Meadows (aka Warren Green Acres). Around the parking lot there were two singing House Finches, a few Song Sparrows and a couple of Swamp Sparrows. Northern Flickers milled around. I hiked down to the river - much of the standing water here was frozen although there were dramatic sound effects as it was slowly melting and crashing. En route to the Raritan River I came accross a Common Grackle flock with a Red-winged Blackbird and two Rusty Blackbirds within it, just passing down the edge of the powerline cut. And then after a little searching I did come up with two Red-headed Woodpeckers - one adult and one unseen. Red-bellied Woodpecker was also present. Although not epic in activity it was a good find after the dearth of birds at the other two sites. One especially vocal Blue Jay was doing a very good Red-tailed Hawk impersonation.
Finally I tracked back down to Princeton and went to Hamilton-Trenton Marsh, ostensibly for more Rusty Blackbirds - which I didn't find. However the water was only partly frozen so there was a decent number of waterfowl, including Mallard, Gadwall, Am. Black Duck, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Common Merganser and numerous Ring-billed Ducks. Most of the waterfowl were on the most westerly lake viewed from the wet woods. They were also not entirely happy to see me with quite a lot of vocal nervousness even without me reaching the edge of the tree line. Of the several crows present most of them were American although two let out Fish Crow-like calls - however American can do a pretty good impersonation of this as well. A few White-throated Sparrows rounded out the day.
In more forgiving conditions (less ice) I think it's possible to hike along the southern bank of the Raritan here back as far as the arboretum.
Directions to Warren Green Acres / Glenhurst Meadows (since I often have time finding them): I-78 at exit 36, south on King George Rd perhaps half a mile and then left (east) on Mountain Ave just before the road heads uphill. Mountain Ave curls over the interstate, passes Wagner Farm Arboretum, past 3 houses and then there is an unmarked driveway on the left (north side of the road) opposite a small pond. This is the parking area. Street address is 178 Mountain Ave but on the north side of the road (Google marks is to the south).
Link to google maps.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Round Valley, Alpha, Great Swamp
Showing a startling lack of innovation and general laziness, I birded much the same areas as the previous weekend over the 24th and 25th.
Saturday dawned cloudy but after it started to clear I made a late afternoon run to Round Valley and back to Pole Farm near sunset. Up at the northern end of Round Valley at the boat ramp the Eared Grebe was quite cooperative and near the ramp, but too far away for worthwhile photographs. This turns out to be the first Eared Grebe I'd seen in NJ. A white-ish immature Iceland Gull was also in the Ring-billed Gull flock at the boat ramp. Common Merganser and Bufflehead were also there. Because Round Valley closes at 4pm I didn't check the interior lots but instead came back south and went to Pole Farm as the sun set. There were several hopeful photographers swarming all over the place, and there seemed to be quite a lot of Harriers around - perhaps up to 4 females and one male but the light was bad enough that I left the camera in the car. After sunset, and just as I was headed out, a single Short-eared Owl put in an appearance.
On Sunday morning I was back at Round Valley. The south lot was very quiet but I did at least hear Pine Siskin sound off once - I never did see it. The Eared Grebe was still at the boat launch but still outside photo range. So I went east to Great Swamp NWR and parked at the heronry overlook. After a little effort I got distant but diagnostic looks at the adult Red-headed Woodpecker, then after returning to the lot some other birders found the Northern Shrike which was moderately cooperative at range for a while before it vanished. The Shrike appeared to be an adult but apparently there's also an immature around. The icing on the cake was being told of a Long-eared Owl roost nearby, which had attracted predictable attention. I still don't understand why people hold full-volume conversations about camera gear right in front of an owl roost, but I guess we can call these the "sacrificial owls" in terms of human disturbance. Two of the LEOs showed some stress in posture (narrow and vertical) but the other two seemed more relaxed. Thankfully all were obscured and not viable for photographs, so that probably relieved some of the pressure.
After Great Swamp I made a very quick stop at Scherman-Hoffman to check out the feeders - non-photographable (at least in the PM) but there were Pine Siskins on them. Then on to Alpha where I was primarily looking for photos of Horned Lark and Lapland Longspur. Only one Horned Lark, no flocks, and since the clouds had moved in just as I arrived I contented myself with a couple of sweeps of the area and watching the large Snow Goose flock accumulate in the fields nearby.
On the way home a stop at Round Valley once more produced a Lesser Black-backed Gull but nothing else of note.
Saturday dawned cloudy but after it started to clear I made a late afternoon run to Round Valley and back to Pole Farm near sunset. Up at the northern end of Round Valley at the boat ramp the Eared Grebe was quite cooperative and near the ramp, but too far away for worthwhile photographs. This turns out to be the first Eared Grebe I'd seen in NJ. A white-ish immature Iceland Gull was also in the Ring-billed Gull flock at the boat ramp. Common Merganser and Bufflehead were also there. Because Round Valley closes at 4pm I didn't check the interior lots but instead came back south and went to Pole Farm as the sun set. There were several hopeful photographers swarming all over the place, and there seemed to be quite a lot of Harriers around - perhaps up to 4 females and one male but the light was bad enough that I left the camera in the car. After sunset, and just as I was headed out, a single Short-eared Owl put in an appearance.
On Sunday morning I was back at Round Valley. The south lot was very quiet but I did at least hear Pine Siskin sound off once - I never did see it. The Eared Grebe was still at the boat launch but still outside photo range. So I went east to Great Swamp NWR and parked at the heronry overlook. After a little effort I got distant but diagnostic looks at the adult Red-headed Woodpecker, then after returning to the lot some other birders found the Northern Shrike which was moderately cooperative at range for a while before it vanished. The Shrike appeared to be an adult but apparently there's also an immature around. The icing on the cake was being told of a Long-eared Owl roost nearby, which had attracted predictable attention. I still don't understand why people hold full-volume conversations about camera gear right in front of an owl roost, but I guess we can call these the "sacrificial owls" in terms of human disturbance. Two of the LEOs showed some stress in posture (narrow and vertical) but the other two seemed more relaxed. Thankfully all were obscured and not viable for photographs, so that probably relieved some of the pressure.
After Great Swamp I made a very quick stop at Scherman-Hoffman to check out the feeders - non-photographable (at least in the PM) but there were Pine Siskins on them. Then on to Alpha where I was primarily looking for photos of Horned Lark and Lapland Longspur. Only one Horned Lark, no flocks, and since the clouds had moved in just as I arrived I contented myself with a couple of sweeps of the area and watching the large Snow Goose flock accumulate in the fields nearby.
On the way home a stop at Round Valley once more produced a Lesser Black-backed Gull but nothing else of note.
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