While watching Eastern Red Bats and Big Brown Bats on Thursday, I ran into a bird watcher studying Chimney Swifts that roost at 944 Fifth Avenue at 75th. It turns out the best place to watch them is the “hawk bench” where “regulars” watch Pale Male’s nest in the spring.
The swifts swarm around the roost and then around 6:30 into the video they start to enter the roost. In a few minutes, they are almost all inside. Thank goodness for pre-war buildings.
Early on Saturday, Ben Cacace found a Swainson’s Hawk on Governors Island. While the chances of others finding it was slim, it was such a rare bird for Manhattan, lots of very good birders made a trip to the island. As is bound to happen with so many good birders on the island, Loyan Beausoleil found a Western Kingbird about 150 feet west of Tango Pier, a life bird for me.
A Black-throated Green Warbler was in a Cypress Tree near the Turtle Pond dock. It was very active eating insects.
At Turtle Pond, a Belted Kingfisher made a meal of a nice sized fish this afternoon. It took a bit of work to kill it but then it was quickly down the hatch.
While this hawk was in Pale Male’s territory, I don’t think this hawk was Pale Male. Pale Male has a clean white neck and his chest pattern reminds me of Oak leaves. This hawk while having a light belly band, seemed a bit different. The markings are more like paint drops.
No mater who it is, I’m glad to see one less rat in the Ramble.
Also in the northeast of Central Park was another nice sparrow this past week, in the Compost Heap, a Lark Sparrow.
