I stopped by Central Park’s Pond on my way home.  The Pond is located just north of the Plaza Hotel at the south east end of the park.  The usual suspects were there, including a Wood Duck, a Black-crowned Night Heron, Mallards and Canada Geese, plus the hundreds of Common Grackles coming home to roost in the trees surrounding the Pulitzer Fountain of Grand Army Plaza.

What I didn’t expect to find were two Eastern-Red Bats feeding at around 6 p.m.  Usually, I need to rely on my Echo Meter Touch to identify my bats, but these were clearly Eastern-Red Bats just by watching them.  I did my best to get some pictures without flash in the low light.

After sunset, a Red-tailed Hawk flew around the Pond and the buildings on Central Park South.  I suspect one of the adults we saw bringing nesting materials to Crown Building earlier this year.  These hawks continue to be a mystery, but it was good to see they’re still around.