No screech owl for me...... but lots of hawks! :-)

Today I took the subway up to 102 to look for the screech owl.  Someone told me "exactly" where to find her, so I figured, hey, why not take a look around.  Even knowing where to look it's no easy to task to find an owl, and I did not do so well.  But when I was taking a picture of a chickadee, someone asked me if I had seen her.  I said I was looking for her, but no, I didn't even know what tree she was usually in.  The directions I got seemed to apply to about a zillion trees.  She was kind enough to show me her usual spot, which was empty!  Oh well, no owl.  I started walking down towards the reservoir.

 As I walked I noticed a hawk fly in near the pool.  And chase away another hawk which I had totally missed!  They both flew off, and I caught up with this one.  Yay!

And then I kept walking, and at about 97th this one was perched right above the park road.  I mean, really, right above it.

Meanwhile this one flew circles all around, and the one perched just completely ignored it.  This one eventually flew uptown.

At the reservoir this pair of double crested cormorants was swimming around in formation for quite some time.  It was great to see them!

 This pair of northern shovelers was in sync,

 Down to the upper lobe, where yet another hawk was perched, right up at the tip of the upper lobe.  Gorgeous!

 At maintenance meadow I saw this red breasted nuthatch.  Not a good shot (the light was horrible) but it's been so seldom that I've seen them, I took a zillion pictures anyway!  :-)

At the oven, the turtles were displaying courtship behavior.  Here is a male in front of a female trying to court her.  And then another male came over trying to horn in the action, and the first male get upset, and there was a turtle fight.  The female rolled, with a turtle-style eye roll.

This one isn't even getting involved, just looking pretty in the sun.

A pair of downies came over and was apparently having some sort of dispute.  At least that's my guess.  They chased each other around a lot.  And at a couple of points there was just a falling whirlwind of downies that broke apart just before reaching the ground.

 They eventually left together, still chasing each other around.  I guess they didn't resolve whatever.  It looked like they were both female to me, or at least I didn't see any red, and I was looking for it!  I saw them mate here once last year, so I was hoping for a repeat performance.  Not this time!

 This time the male is courting the female and not getting interrupted.  I have no idea if it's the same turtles.

By the stream near stone benchlet I saw this eastern phoebe!  I'm pretty sure.  Everyone is reporting them excitedly, so, it's likely.

Time to head home.  Walking down the park road I saw yet another hawk (it was sort of ridiculous) and found it perched by Strawberry Fields.  What a great ending to this long but owl-free walk!

Owls - 0. Kestrels - 1. Hawks - about 4?

Today I walked up the west side quickly, towards the tree that used to contain the two long-eared owls.  Sadly, the tree only contained a bunch of robins and blue jays today.  Yes, yes, they are very pretty birds.  But let's be honest - long-eared owls they are not!  Oh well.  A couple of other birders were there looking too, we were all disappointed not to see them.  Maybe they'll turn up in another tree, and I did some looking, but not seriously.  I had limited time, and there was more to explore!  :-)

As soon as I got over to the lake, I saw a hawk circling above.  And then another!  They were close together briefly, but they diverged pretty quickly.  I was watching through a veil of branches, so I didn't see any interaction, really.  It was definitely a pick-me-up after that empty owl tree!

Up to the upper lobe, nothing of note.  Actually not a lot not of note either.  Some mallards and geese on the water.  Some sparrows around, a few titmice (titmouses?) etc.  At the feeders, the goldfinches are looking somewhat motley.  Mid-molt birds are hilarious!

Heading from there over to the oven, at that little streamlet before the oven there was a lot of activity.  It was this idyllic woodland scene with lots of birds singing, splashing around, flitting about.  I stood enjoying that for a while.

This hairy woodpecker posed and gave me several different views.  I love the plus sign on the back of their heads!

This titmouse stayed uncharacteristically still long enough for a picture.

This house finch knew I was looking at it.  It didn't stay in one place for long.

As I was leaving the area, this fox sparrow jumped up on a log and looked at me, posed for my camera for a bit, and then hopped off with a coy backward glance.

Not a lot going on at the oven - it was all at the little streamlet!  So, over to see if Pale Male and his new girlfriend are making hawklets today.  I didn't have much time, so I didn't have much hope.  But while I was there I did see both of them fly in, and perch, one on the nest, the other on a nearby building's window rail.

Then after a couple of minutes the one on the nest took off, the perched one stayed there until I left a few moments later.  It was great to see them!

From there I headed down to the Carousel to see if the woodpecker was feeling social.  I did not see the woodpecker, but I did see some squirrels flirting.  And then a kestrel flew in!  Here it is from the back.

And from the side.

And again.  Yes, I'm quite excited, it's my first real kestrel sighting!  :-)

From there, down to the pond where I did see and hear a Carolina wren but was too slow to get a picture.  But then a hawk was flying over, which was quite consoling indeed!  And then another one!

They both landed on the plaza, and then I lost one while I was watching the other one perched.  After a couple of minutes they were both flying overhead again, and then one landed on the plaza again.  At least one of them looked like an adult red-tailed hawk (it showed me its tail as it flew).  I hope they nest here, that would be so wonderful!  It was quite a nice ending to my walk.

Central Park Kestrel

I saw what I believe is a female American Kestrel in Central Park, by the Carousel, perched on the South side of the 65th St. transverse to the West of the Park Drive.  I saw the bird fly in about 2:10 PM and land on a very high branch.  It stayed there for at least 10 minutes, when I left it was still there.  I saw a lot of tail action, I don't know the right word, it looked like a scissoring action to me.

Here are my best pictures, they have been run through Photoshop Elements to crop and color/contrast balance.  I have similar pictures that are unedited if those are helpful to you.

It was not balmy today.

I guess 55 and partly cloudy only seems like it will be balmy after 40 and rainy.  When actually outside in it, with the crazy wind...... not balmy.  Oh well!  We went up to the reservoir to try to see some fancy ducks.  At first we saw a whole lotta windy nothing.

But at the SW corner a few ruddy ducks were hanging out.  Not a good picture, but I've seen so few ruddy ducks this year, I'm saving it anyway!  :-)

Further around to the east were a few buffleheads mostly tucked in, and some northern shovelers just shoveling away like mad.  Hilarious!  Quite a few of the shovelers were paired off, with the pairs keeping quite close together and the males chasing off any other males that got too close.  Jack said he saw some head-bobbing which didn't last, but I missed it.

Walking over to turtle pond we saw a hawk flying above us, circling, circling, circling ...... the moon!  It was really lovely to see.  The picture is not nearly crisp enough for me to tell, but I wonder if this is Pale Male's new girlfriend.  :-)

Heading down to the ramble we saw a birder guy who saw the owls with us last weekend, and he said they are there today!  Jack was then quite impatient to get there.  I insisted on a quick trip by the maintenance meadow (no thrush) and the oven (no hawk) before heading over.

He was right!  A gorgeous long-eared owl, resting peacefully in a green cavern.

A couple of guys were hanging out, one with his son (about 5), so we showed them the owls (they were definitely wondering what we were up to).  I hope they got a view as great as mine was!

There was a squirrel serenely enjoying the peace a couple of feet below the owls.

Here is the second one, tucked away.

I found a spot where I could get both of them in the frame, although it's not a particularly good picture.  Although, I mean, come on - any picture with ~2~ owls is pretty good regardless!

As we were deciding whether to hang out or go this woodpecker came by.  Downy or Hairy?  I really don't know.  When I look in the book, it could be either.  The beak looks like it is exactly midway between the downy beak and the hairy beak.  Oh well, someday I'll be able to tell them apart......  :-)

I can't get enough of these gorgeous owls!

Today I went to the dentist again, for a cleaning but ended up getting a tooth worked on.  Seriously, I thought I was done with that, but apparently not.  Anyway, I went to the park afterwards to console myself and wait for the Novocain to wear off.  All I had to do was not smile or talk, and I would be fine!

To the pond - it's finally thawed, and I enjoyed looking at the water.  The mostly empty water.  Specifically empty of wood ducks!  And the trees were empty of hawks!  Oh, pond, I guess I'll try you again another day.

To the carousel, where the non-red-headed red-headed woodpecker eluded me.  I started to suspect that this would be more a day of walking than of looking at my favorite birds, but pressed on.

To the owl tree, which was a complete success!

I mean, sure, I had to carefully ignore the couple that wanted to make out.  And step gingerly around the sleeping homeless guy.  But it was totally worth it, to see two gorgeous long-eared owls!

Yo, buddy - it was the jays that woke you up, why are you glaring at me???

Eventually I moved on, and went over to the gill, where it really sounded like spring.  I don't know bird songs so I can't say exactly what I heard, but it sounded like a symphony with many different voices.  At one point there was a teeny black-capped chickadee, a small downy, and this red-bellied woodpecker all in the same tree, just sort of lined up in size order.

At the oven someone pointed out this song sparrow to me.  No hawks, but the song sparrow was still a treat!  So energetic - I couldn't even zoom the camera in hardly, it wouldn't stay in the frame!

The turtles were out in force.  It was lovely to see them lined up sunning themselves, pretty much anywhere they could - the lake was just lined with them.

These chickadees chased each other around for a while.  So lovely!

As I was leaving the northern shovelers had woken up and were showing off their best features.  This is I think the most fierce I have ever seen a shoveler look!

It was a great day birding, even though I did end up smiling and talking - or trying to anyway - and my mouth was still a bit numb when I finally made it home.

Owls for Jack at last!

Today was cloudy but warm, and we headed out to see what was going on in the park. At the pond, no wood ducks, some courting behavior on the part of some mallards, but the females seemed generally uninterested.

We did see the red headed woodpecker briefly, but lost him pretty quickly.  Still no red on the head that I could see.  I was hoping to get good pictures from both sides and see if I could find any red, but, that will have to wait for another day.  :-)

On the way to the boathouse we saw the hooded merganser, off the tip of the point and heading towards the oven.

Walking out onto the point we saw this lovely flicker!

And this lovely white breasted nuthatch.  There were also chickadees, titmice, and cardinals keeping these two company.

At the oven, we ran into a birder who gave us a very interesting tidbit - she had heard a rumor about where some long eared owls were!  Well, that made our decision easy - we would go on an owl quest!  She came with us, because she hadn't been able to find them earlier, but maybe with three of us we would have better luck.  Off we went, and when we found the area we split up and looked and looked.

She found them!  Or rather she found someone else looking at them - that always helps.  :-)  My first angle I could definitely see an owl, but not really a face.

This was the best angle, face-wise.

There was another one hidden back in there too!  It was so wonderful to see them again, and I'm thrilled that Jack got to see them this time!

Ducks do it, squirrels do it.......

Today was a strange day in the park.  At the pond, just one wood duck, who was a joy to see of course, but I miss the days when there are two!

I did not see the red-headed woodpecker today on my way up, and just continued on towards the boathouse.  On the way to the boathouse I saw the hooded merganser over by the point, he saw me taking pictures and hid in the fallen branches.  I decided if he's that skittish when I was across the way, it wasn't a good idea to go to that side to get a better look.  I'll just leave him in peace.

But while I was deciding this, I took a look at two mallards mid-lake...... Courting, and then mating!  Okay, either ducks do it ~all~ ~the~ ~time~ or I'm pretty lucky, because I've seen quite a bit of courting and mating this year.  Well, mallards, anyway.

On to the oven, where a Cooper's hawk was hanging out.  Juvenile.  A birder there said it looked like the hawk had just eaten, because its crop looked full.  It also had a smear of blood by the base of its beak, and several white feathers in its talons.  It just sort of sat there for a while, then it got more relaxed with me there and got into the water, trying to get the feathers out of its talons.  Hey, everyone has to wash up after eating!

This hawk is hiding.

The turtles were out again, not in force, but I was happy to see them!

Also at the oven were some squirrels scampering about even though the hawk was right there.  After a while of chasing each other, they started mating too!  Ah, spring.....

After I left the oven I headed over to azalea pond, where this juvenile cooper's hawk had been hanging out for about an hour.  Hahahahaha, two of them, so close together!  It was awesome.

That was about it - no woodpeckers, very few other birds at all.  A strange day!